"A federal judge in New Orleans ruled Thursday that 3.19 million barrels of oil were spilled during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. The ruling means BP now faces up to $13.7 billion in pollution fines for the spill, well below the amount federal prosecutors want the company to pay."
Nobody has ever explained why Congress refuses to release the tax-funded explainers produced by the Congressional Research Service. They are a gold standard for journalists needing quick background. Here are some recent CRS reports relevant to environmental journalists, helpfully released by the Federation of American Scientists.
"The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed new requirements for testing the toxicity and effectiveness of chemical dispersants used to break up oil spills."
"It was a few minutes before 8 on a cool spring morning at an oil well in West Texas last year when truck driver Roberto Magdaleno walked over to the site supervisor to get some papers signed. At that moment, a sand separator at the well site exploded, spraying shrapnel more than 1,400 feet, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials who investigated the April 30, 2014, explosion outside Orla, Texas."
"In its most frank assessment since last year’s leak at Freedom Industries, the Tomblin administration said Friday that West Virginia had inadequate environmental regulations to prevent such an incident and lacked sufficient training and planning to respond once toxic chemicals had contaminated the Kanawha Valley’s regional water supply."
"The 13 white tanks that lined the Elk River just north of downtown Charleston are all gone now. Bankrupt Freedom Industries ripped them apart, tore them down and sold them for scrap."
"Up to 70,000 homes have been left without power in Scotland and trains canceled after high winds battered the northern parts of Britain on Friday."
"KETI BUNDER, Pakistan -- For fisherman Sammar Dablo, it was as if "the seawater stole our homes" when land erosion forced his village to relocate further inland on Pakistan's south coast."
SEJ mourns the tragic loss of Charlie Hebdo journalists Stéphane Charbonnier, Georges Wolinski, Berbard Verlhac, Jean Cabut and others who died in Paris January 7, 2015 at the hands of terrorists.
"BOISE, Idaho — Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is calling for a new wildfire-fighting strategy to protect a wide swath of sagebrush country in the intermountain West that supports cattle ranching and is home to a struggling bird species."
Advertisement 
