Disasters

"Scientists are beginning to get a picture of the environmental impact of Tropical Storm Irene, which ripped through some of the East Coast's most pristine rivers, triggering hundreds of oil, chemical and sewage spills. Now, some environmental groups worry that the cleanup could cause even more harm."

Brian Mann reports for NPR's All Things Considered September 14, 2011.

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"BP, running weeks behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget in trying to complete its troubled Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, took many shortcuts that contributed to the disastrous blowout and oil spill there last year, federal investigators concluded in a report released on Wednesday."

"Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff recommended Monday that the agency act quickly on recommendations put forward by a federal task force to ensure reactors aren’t vulnerable to major natural disasters."

"PARIS — One person was killed and four were injured Monday afternoon in an explosion at a nuclear waste treatment site in southern France, according to the French Nuclear Safety Authority."

"Nairobi, Kenya, and Johannesburg -- More than 60 people died Monday in a densely populated Nairobi slum after an explosion and fire caused by gasoline from a leaking pipe. At least 116 badly burned people, many of them children, were taken to hospitals. Many were not expected to survive, as medical staff struggled with shortages of blood for transfusions."

"Six months after the nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture, the public's awareness of the threat posed by radiation is entering a new phase: the realization that the biggest danger now and in the future is from contaminated soil."

"ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani sought international help on Saturday after weeks of monsoon rains killed 141 people and displaced more than 4 million in southern Sindh province."