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North Carolina lawmakers said Thursday they still haven't reached agreement on legislation requiring Duke Energy to limit pollution leaking from its coal ash dumps across the state, nearly six months after a spill coated 70 miles of the Dan River with gray sludge."

"An 8-acre mound of oven-baked dirt -- so sterile that no worms or weeds can live in it -- is all that remains after an $82 million Superfund cleanup at the site of Ward Transformer Co., the Triangle’s nastiest industrial polluter."

"Most of the Duke Energy coal ash that spilled into the Dan River in February will stay there, creating a rift between regulators and river advocates over the cleanup."

"A new barrage of TV ads criticizing state lawmakers over environmental issues will begin airing this week, this one singling out House Speaker Thom Tillis."

"Lack of land for endangered puma has US officials preparing payment plan to ranchers, many of whom resent the cats."

"ASHEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina's environmental agency has ordered Duke Energy to install monitoring wells in a residential neighborhood outside Asheville to determine whether toxic chemicals from the company's coal ash pits are contaminating homeowners' drinking water."

"South Florida's coastal real estate may become uninsurable as the sea level rises unless Miami's county government takes urgent action, a task force said on Tuesday."

"In southwest Florida, county officials are fighting the state over a new oil drilling process that's known by many different names: acidification, acidizing, acid stimulation and acid fracking."

"Tropical Storm Arthur has strengthened into a hurricane taking aim at North Carolina's Outer Banks, a thin ribbon of barrier islands and popular vacation spot, before the Fourth of July holiday."

"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The manatee's 47-year run as an endangered species may soon come to an end, as the federal government assesses whether the tubby marine mammal can look forward to a brighter future."