Water & Oceans

"With Lake Okeechobee continuing to drop, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Thursday that it would further reduce harmful water releases to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers."

"More than 36 million people face hunger across southern and eastern Africa, the United Nations has warned, as swaths of the continent grapple with the worst drought in decades at a time of record high temperatures."

"While a harsh national spotlight focuses on the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation has identified almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years."

"Researchers have created the first reliable population estimates for the now-rare New Zealand southern right whale."

"The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality repeatedly gave assurances that water from the Flint River was safe, when in reality it had dangerous levels of lead, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says." CBS News/AP had the story March 17, 2016. The House Oversight Committee will hear testimony from Mich. Gov Rick Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Thursday, March 17, at 9 am ET. The hearing will be cablecast/livestreamed via CSPAN3.

"NORTH BENNINGTON, Vt. — Above the Walloomsac River, where ramshackle farmhouses sit just downhill from tidy homes with organic gardens out back, the old ChemFab plant was, for many, a respected local employer from the days when this village’s prosperity depended on industry."

"An environmental watchdog group analyzed a decade worth of water data in Texas, finding that 65 communities have exceeded federal limits on arsenic. The state has reassured residents that the water is still safe to drink."

"Members of a congressional oversight committee excoriated a former Environmental Protection Agency official on Tuesday for not responding more forcefully when she learned last year that Flint, Mich., was not adding a chemical to its new water supply that would have prevented the city’s pipes from corroding and leaching lead."

"The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it is dropping its year-old plan to allow companies to search and drill for oil and natural gas in the Atlantic Ocean off of four southeastern states."