Water & Oceans

"New Jersey is projected to experience “dramatic” sea level rise through the rest of this century, bringing worsening storm surges and more regular flooding to the Garden State, according to a new report released by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday."

"The Senate today [Thursday] confirmed Aurelia Skipwith as director of the Fish and Wildlife Service on a mostly party-line vote of 52 to 39."

"Federal agencies have approved nearly $226 million for 18 projects to restore open ocean and marine habitats that were decimated in the Gulf of Mexico by the 2010 BP oil spill."

"One of the companies responsible for polluting an 80-mile (129-kilometer) stretch of river and floodplains in southwestern Michigan with toxic chemicals will pay at least $245.2 million to advance a cleanup effort that began more than 20 years ago, federal officials said Wednesday."

"Los Angeles beaches are plagued by stormwater pollution that can make people sick and damage ecosystems, and local governments are largely failing to address the hazards, according to a new report."

"Executives at one of the world’s largest utilities companies knew that families in Flint, Michigan, might be at risk of being poisoned by lead in their tap water months before the city publicly admitted the problem, according to internal company emails."

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Tuesday proposed a “Blue New Deal” plan in what she calls an effort to protect oceans and rebuild the economy associated with oceans."

"It came as a bittersweet surprise to biologists and government agencies monitoring the steadily shrinking Salton Sea’s slide toward death by choking dust storms and salt."

"When John Hiatt moved to southwest Las Vegas in 1976, the water level for his domestic well was 115 feet below the surface. A decade and a half later, it dropped to 140 feet."