"Pennsylvania regulators halted work Monday at dozens of unfinished natural gas wells being drilled by the company whose out-of-control well spewed out explosive gas and polluted water for 16 hours last week."
"A natural gas explosion in north Texas killed one member of a crew installing utility poles, and authorities were trying to figure out if the gas line had been marked before digging started."
"A series of internal investigations over the past decade warned senior BP managers that the company repeatedly disregarded safety and environmental rules and risked a serious accident if it did not change its ways."
"More than half of the federal judges in districts where the bulk of Gulf oil spill-related lawsuits are pending have financial connections to the oil and gas industry, complicating the task of finding judges without conflicts to hear the cases, an Associated Press analysis of judicial financial disclosure reports shows."
"Over-reliance on the popular weed-killer Roundup has sped the evolution of weed species resistant to the herbicide, forcing some farmers to return to costlier and less environmentally-friendly methods of controlling crop-destructive infestations."
Impacts of the Gulf oil spill on wildlife, beaches, and tourism continue to spread.
"During President Obama's visit to the Louisiana coast, he got an earful from local officials about his six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Many people -- from work boat captains to offshore caterers -- say shutting down the industry for that long could be a bigger economic blow to the region than the oil spill itself."
"The market for solar modules, a key element in solar power systems, is so strong that industry leader First Solar will not be able to meet demand this year, a senior executive was quoted as saying on Saturday."
"llinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced criminal charges today in connection with dumping of a chemical cleaner into a South Elgin creek that leads to the Fox River in May. The chemical is alleged to have caused a fish kill in the creek."
Oil spill National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen has put out a written directive that news media have "uninhibited access" to spill response operations unless security or safety problems prevent it. It is not clear whether his order will have any impact on BP.
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