Disasters

"Nearly six years after a defective natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes, a federal court jury convicted Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Tuesday of obstructing the federal probe of the blast and of violating pipeline safety laws both before and after the disaster."

"One year ago — on Aug. 5, 2015 — an EPA crew at the Gold King Mine in southwest Colorado accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of orange water filled with mercury and arsenic."

"A Southern California wildfire has surged in size and put thousands of homes in potential peril. Smoke plumes roiling from flaming ridges of the San Bernardino Mountains blew all the way across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas as the blaze on Monday forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes."

"The clandestine group’s goal was clear: Obtain the building blocks of a radioactive 'dirty bomb' — capable of poisoning a major city for a year or more — by openly purchasing the raw ingredients from authorized sellers inside the United States."

"Hurricane Earl is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm later Thursday morning and to a tropical depression by Friday morning as it moves farther inland over Belize, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday."

"Being underwater will soon mean exactly what it says. Especially in Florida."

"Abruptly and without explanation, federal prosecutors slashed potential criminal penalties for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. from $562 million to $6 million Tuesday while a jury was considering whether the company violated safety laws both before and after the lethal 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno."

"Wildfires are burning in seven Western U.S. states, from California's famed Big Sur region to tribal towns and hamlets near Reno, Nevada. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in Montana, and evacuations were ordered in Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming. Firefighters were trying to stop a Washington blaze from reaching a thickly forested security zone at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation." The Associated Press had an overview of some of the fires August 2, 2016.

"A wildfire burning along California's Big Sur coastline keeps growing a week after it broke out, and looks to be a problem for the scenic region for weeks to come."

"Firefighters scrambled on Thursday to contain a deadly wildfire that has forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents and gutted dozens of homes near the coast of central California."