SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)

"A federal judge on Friday (Feb. 13) dismissed a controversial wetlands damage lawsuit filed by the east bank levee authority against more than 80 oil, gas and pipeline companies, ruling that the authority failed to make a valid claim against the energy firms."

"On a postcard-perfect winter morning, harbor pilot Charlie Hand steers his boat up the crowded Seybold Canal, a 2,000-foot stretch of Wagner Creek dredged and straightened a century ago, scooping up discarded plastic bags."

"After a 20-year ban, Florida may bring back bear hunts to control a growing population of black bears that is increasingly seen as a menace in suburban neighborhoods."

"Explosions used to be no big deal for residents of sleepy rural towns in north Louisiana's piney woods near the Arkansas border. Blasts meant jobs."

"Federal agency reports community of slave descendants on nearby island exposed to pollution from site"

"Streams of oil slid into the bayous of southeastern Louisiana after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, damaging the marsh grasses, the wildlife and the livelihood of the 17,000-member Houma tribe."

"RALEIGH — New coal ash regulations issued by the Obama administration last month are not expected to greatly impact North Carolina, where the state law passed in the wake of February's massive Dan River spill generally exceeds the federal requirements."

"Over the past four years, the Tennessee Valley Authority has decided to shutter more than half of the 59 coal-fired power generators it once operated within its 7-state service territory to cut air pollution and comply with stricter environmental regulations."

"ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Developer Richard Green had nearly everything in place to build upscale homes on the heavily polluted land next to an old electronic components plant in the mountains outside Asheville. All he needed was a permit."