A July 19 fire at Citgo's Corpus Christi refinery released deadly hydrogen fluoride, maimed one worker, and threatened a poor, largely minority community at its fenceline. Now larger questions are being asked -- about how authorities responded to it and whether it could have been prevented.

"Drinking water containing a common herbicide could pose a greater public health risk than previously thought because regular municipal monitoring doesn't detect frequent spikes in the chemical's levels, according to a report released Monday by the Natural Resources Defense Council."

Critics complain that "McMansions" have ruined neighborhoods. The McMansion fad fizzled with the real estate bust -- but could it return?

"Age-old farming methods helped to cultivate this country's wealth of plant and animal species. But now, as rural areas empty of people, that rich biodiversity is put at risk."

"A dangerous oil spill off the far north coast of Western Australian will take at least seven weeks to clean up and cost the company that owns the drilling rig tens of millions of dollars."

In Brazil's epicenter of deforestation, an environmental group is offering farmers cash to let the forest stand. The question is whether they can make more by clearing the land and farming it.

Blue-collar residents near New York's only hazardous waste incinerator worry about strange odors. An investigation showed the plant's emissions are not what they are supposed to be.

Some residents are worried about a rural Nevada dump where decades of toxic refuse lie buried in shallow trenches.

"Midwestern Democrats, who want duties placed on countries who don't limit greenhouse gas emissions, are at odds with Obama."