Disasters

"The fire that destroyed part of Chevron's Richmond refinery happened because weak state regulations allowed the company to monitor rather than simply fix potential problems, federal investigators said Monday."

"MAYFLOWER, Arkansas -- Warren Andrews had just finished putting up balloons for his stepdaughter's 18th birthday party at their suburban home in Mayflower, Arkansas, when his wife came inside and said something was wrong."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should look at evacuation plans for areas beyond a 10-mile radius around America’s nuclear power plants, the independent research branch of Congress advised Wednesday."

"WASHINGTON -- Last year's huge drought was a freak of nature that wasn't caused by man-made global warming, a new federal science study finds."

"High winds and heavy snow and rain whipped through parts of the central United States on Wednesday, knocking out power for thousands of people and closing schools and businesses."

"Edison International’s request for a license amendment for a proposed restart of its crippled California nuclear reactor doesn’t pose significant safety risks, federal regulators said in a preliminary finding."

"The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season will be 'above average' with 18 tropical storms, nine of which will intensify into hurricanes, forecasters at Colorado State University predicted on Wednesday."

"Oil industry efforts to develop the American Arctic took another hit today as ConocoPhillips scrapped plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea in 2014."

"After years of internal deliberation and controversy, the Obama administration has issued a document suggesting that when dealing with the aftermath of an accident or attack involving radioactive materials, public health guidelines can be made thousands of times less stringent than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would normally allow."