US EPA withheld information, and twice during the five-day operation BP cut off the mud pumps for long periods without letting the public know, making statements that left the impression the operation was ongoing.
The WatchDog's special Gulf oil spill issue includes stories on media access problems, withholding of information by US EPA and misleading statements by BP, mystery dispersant ingredients, BP's new ex-Cheney spokesperson, prohibiting cleanup workers talking to media, and detaining rig survivors till they sign two statements.
"Australia will initiate legal action in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling in the Southern Ocean, three Rudd government ministers announced today."
Oil-soaked pelicans in some coastal marshes, coated with oil from the Gulf spill, can no longer fly. The number of miles of shoreline smothered in oil continues to grow, and the oil pushes further inland.
The nonprofit conservation group SeaWeb will host a news conference in Washington, DC on the state of the world's oceans and the most challenging ocean conservation issues, including the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and what to expect in the way of long-term consequences of this disaster.
A new US Geological Survey report indicates about 105 million US residents drink water from contaminated systems, often at pollutant concentrations that potentially pose a human health risk.
"When the word water appears in print these days, crisis is rarely far behind. Water, it is said, is the new oil: a resource long squandered, now growing expensive and soon to be overwhelmed by insatiable demand. Aquifers are falling, glaciers vanishing, reservoirs drying up and rivers no longer flowing to the sea. Climate change threatens to make the problems worse."
About 75,000 acres of wetlands in 22 states and Puerto Rico will split $175 million of Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wetlands Reserve Program funding, but recipient properties or owners will not be identified.
Water and energy -- two critical and often finite resources -- are today more than ever connected in complex ways. A new feature package explores the connection in stories that range from solar thermal plants in the Mojave Desert to an ocean thermal project near Tahiti. And the ongoing Gulf oil spill provides yet another lurid example.
Local officials in Carlsbad, Calif., see salvation for their water-starved community in a huge proposed desalination plant. Poseidon Resources, the company hoping to build it, says building it won't cost taxpayers and ratepayers a dime. But tough investigative reporting shows that southern Californians would pay at least $640 million over 30 years for the project.
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