"U.S. officials responsible for the Aug. 5 spill of toxic mine waste in southwestern Colorado had no plan in place for dealing with a catastrophic breach of the kind that fouled a long stretch of the state’s Animas River, an internal inquiry has concluded."
"A coalition of environmental groups and Native American tribes is asking officials to overhaul federal mining standards ahead of new uranium mining near the Grand Canyon."
"U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she has asked President Obama to bypass Congress and create three new national monuments in California, giving federal protection to more than 1 million acres of mountain ranges, sandy expanses and forests lying roughly between Palm Springs and the Nevada border."
"'Conditions may exist that could result in a... release of large volumes of contaminated mine waters,' stated a 2014 EPA report on the inactive Gold King Mine, whose toxic waters befouled rivers in 3 states earlier this month."
"As far away from society as you might seem while floating on the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, or hiking along its shorelines, heavy metals are polluting the river in concentrations that could pose a health risk."
"Visitors to the San Gabriel Mountains can be forgiven if they see overflowing trash bins, broken marijuana pipes, graffiti and road kill and wonder what became of President Obama's vision for the wilderness."
"YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Even for a park with a history of unhappy encounters between people and wildlife, 2015 is shaping up as an eventful year for Yellowstone and its bison. Since mid-May, five visitors have been hurt — gored, trampled or tossed into the air — in run-ins with the park’s most famous residents."
"A stretch of river fouled by toxic waste from an abandoned gold mine in southwestern Colorado last week was reopened to kayaking and rafting on Friday while water from river-fed irrigation canals was deemed safe for crops and livestock."
"The annual Burning Man festival received a permit to use federal land in Nevada’s desert after a clash over federal land managers’ expensive requests."
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