Several journalists have raised questions about why more was not known publicly about the safety defects that led to the deaths of 29 miners at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine in April 2010.
Sixty-two U.S. urban areas are threatened by hazardous rail cargoes, but federal agencies still refuse to let many firefighters, governments, and citizens know the rail routes used to transport cargoes that could kill tens or hundreds of thousands.
"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspectors say a large ash pond at LG&E's Mill Creek power plant is close enough to homes and a school to be classified as high risk."
"An attempt by the Army Corps of Engineers to correct old data on water flows in the Mississippi may have led to underestimates of the current risk of flooding along the river, scientists argue in a new study."
"A huge cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland turned the skies of northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded."
Parts or all of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine were ordered closed more than 60 times in 2009 and 2010, and the mine was repeatedly cited in recent months for allowing potentially explosive coal dust to accumulate, according to newly released government documents."
"The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will produce an above-average eight hurricanes, four of them major, posing a heightened threat to the U.S. coastline, the Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team predicted on Wednesday."
Rescuers continue to search for four missing miners in West Virginia. "The company that owns the West Virginia coal mine where at least 25 workers died this week has pressed its employees for higher productivity rates, sometimes at the expense of safety, according to regulators, lawyers who have sued the company and documents."
"113 facilities in the Houston area have been identified as potential targets, yet nearly a decade after 9/11, securing them remains a work in progress."
Rescue operations continue at the West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 25. "The Massey Energy Company, the biggest coal mining business in central Appalachia and the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine, has drawn sharp scrutiny and fines from regulators over its safety and environmental record."
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