Pollution

"Texas state regulators have detected elevated levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene near Dish, raising fears that drilling more than 12,000 gas wells across the Barnett Shale could be a health hazard."

"Industry representatives have repeatedly visited the White House to discuss pending regulation of coal ash, raising suspicions that industry may be influencing the rule. In December, amid these meetings, EPA announced it was backing away from its earlier pledge to propose coal ash regulations by the end of 2009."

"Stormwater runoff can be one of the main ways that urban areas create pollution. In some cases it can dramatically suffocate marine life. It can also cause flooding. One small town in Maryland is on the receiving end of its region's runoff. ... It's trying to set a national example with its approach to solving the problem."

"The Obama administration is engaged in an unusual internal spat as the White House and Environmental Protection Agency tussle over how to handle millions of tons of waste from coal-fired power plants."

"The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. entered into a $5 million consent decree to remove toxic nitrates and perchlorates from groundwater and to monitor the progress. at the Apache Powder Superfund Site, near David [Arizona]."

"The tap water that Tampa residents consume is contaminated with low levels of antibiotics, nicotine byproducts and a chemical used to produce firefighting foams."

"A spill of around 150,000 litres of diesel oil from a broken pipeline in northwestern China into a river has started reaching the Yellow River, but drinking water is safe for now, state media said on Monday."

"Environmental groups gathered along the Delaware River Wednesday to call on the Delaware River Basin Commission to protect the Delaware from toxic chemical contamination related to natural gas drilling."

Dust is everywhere, is likely to increase, and will cause unknown environmental impacts.

"The federal Environmental Protection Agency told New York State on Wednesday that it had major concerns about how proposed hydraulic drilling for natural gas would affect public health and the environment, and urged it to undertake a broader study of the potential impact."