Publication Items

US EPA, under a court-ordered deadline of Oct. 31, 2011, is to release a final rule establishing a Pesticides General Permit process, which would establish ways to reduce certain pesticide applications on or near waterways for control of mosquitoes, other flying insects, weeds, algae, animals, and forest canopy pests.

The latest episode is an internal Interior Dept. probe into the work of two scientists who study the tiny but endangered smelt which live in the Sacramento River delta that feeds into San Francisco Bay.

Reporters can now get a better picture of breaking environmental pollution events via SkyTruth Alerts on air and water pollution incidents, toxic spills, and more.

Here's a sampling of coverage of recent extreme weather disasters, with particular focus on a few of the many enterprise stories that emanated from four clusters of events — the tsunami-caused crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, drought and wildfires in Texas, death-dealing tornadoes in the Southeast and massive flooding in the Mississippi River system.