Water & Oceans

"The California coast grew and prospered during a remarkable moment in history when the sea was at its tamest."

"Nobody knows exactly when the truck will arrive. Its schedule varies. But when it pulls up — sometime in the morning and then again after dusk — it's often the neighborhood children, playing cricket in the street, who are first to sound the alarm."

"A fire in Kentucky destroyed a warehouse containing about 45,000 barrels of Jim Beam bourbon after officials let the blaze run its course to avoid ethanol contamination in a nearby creek that runs into the Kentucky River."

"The Trump administration said Tuesday that it won’t require electric utilities to show they have money to clean up hazardous spills from power plants despite a history of toxic coal ash releases contaminating rivers and aquifers."

"Federal public health officials are urging people to take precautions to protect themselves against a microscopic parasite that can live for days in swimming pools and water playgrounds and cause severe intestinal problems."

"The vast expanse of sea ice around Antarctica has suffered a “precipitous” fall since 2014, satellite data shows, and fell at a faster rate than seen in the Arctic."

"A Texas federal judge has found a huge Formosa plastics complex northeast of Corpus Christi to be a 'serial offender' with a history of allowing plastic pellets to wash into wetlands and bays along the Gulf of Mexico, and said that the company has committed 'enormous' violations of state law and the U.S. Clean Water Act."

"Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit in Ingham County Circuit Court on Thursday that seeks to decommission the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline across the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac."

"Wisconsin wastewater plants were built to keep pollutants out of the environment, but state regulators have come to realize the facilities may be spreading hazardous industrial chemicals in ways that increase health risks."

"Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay is already struggling with a species of toxin-producing algae, another sign that the rest of the lake’s western basin is likely headed for another massive bloom this summer."