Disasters

"Within the oil industry, Chevron Corp. has long enjoyed a reputation for safety. But the last two years have put that reputation to the test."

"In June 2011, an explosion ripped through a Chevron refinery in Wales, killing four men. Later that month, a Bakersfield man died after falling into a sinkhole filled with steam in one of the company's Kern County oil fields.

"Firefighters battled wildfires across the U.S. West on Tuesday, including a massive out-of-control blaze that has destroyed 60 homes and burned more than 20,000 acres between two national forests in Washington state."

"Hundreds of firefighters battled a pair of wildfires that burned out of control in Northern California for a second day on Monday, threatening a clothing-optional resort and forcing the evacuation of some 500 homes. Meanwhile, authorities said a U.S. Forest Service firefighter was killed in Idaho while battling a blaze there."

"If you had to pick ground zero for climate change, you might pick the Sahel, the grasslands between the Sahara in the north and African tropical rainforests in the south. The region is immensely fertile—when it isn't being slammed by recurrent droughts and floods. Many human lives are suspended in a fragile balance with the volatile climate of this region."

"President Barack Obama moved to stem the impact of the worst drought in 50 years as he directed the department of agriculture to buy up to $170m of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish."

"In southern Illinois, farmer Jim Unverfehrt steered his pickup beside a corn crop already lost, then hopped out to search for the soybeans he planted six weeks earlier."

"GHENT -- The head of a Columbia County chemical recycling company whose plant was destroyed in an inferno last week knows hundreds of gallons of toxic hazardous PCBs were at the site before the fire, but won't know how much burned until the tangled wreckage can be examined."

"Lead radiation shields forced on workers at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to cover their dosimeters masked radiation readings by about 30 percent."