In The News / Sep 8

• Lawn care products face ban in NJ.

  Called the most comprehensive and prohibitive legislation of its kind in the nation by supporters and opponents alike, a bill making its way through Trenton would ban many lawn care products on the shelf today. Bergen County Record, New Jersey

• Birds dying in oilsands at 30 times the rate reported, says study.

  A new study says birds are likely dying in oilsands tailings ponds at least 30 times the rate suggested by industry and government, adding weight to arguments that depending on industry to monitor its own environmental impact isn’t working. Canadian Press

• 8 of the most toxic energy projects on the planet.

  While Deepwater Horizon may have attracted the lion's share of media attention this past Spring and Summer, there are a number of other toxic projects still going on. Below, we look at some of the worst. Fast Company

• BP report says series of failures led to oil spill.

  The oil giant BP said Wednesday in its internal report that a series of failures involving a number of companies ultimately led to the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. New York Times

• Oil from Gulf spill will not create dead zones,' study says.

  Millions of barrels of crude spewed by BP's blown-out well have reduced deep-sea oxygen levels - but nowhere near enough to create another of the "dead zones" that periodically plague the Gulf of Mexico, a federal study said Tuesday. McClatchy Newspapers

• U.S. to use BP cash to study spill health effects.

  The U.S. National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday it would use $10 million from BP to start a multiyear study to look at the potential health effects from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Reuters

• Marine scientists seek standards for spill research.

  Much of the scientific effort that has followed the Gulf spill has focused on how much oil escaped and where it's gone. But biologists want to know how that oil might affect marine life over the long term, and many say they're puzzled by the lack of an organized research effort to measure the damage. All Things Considered, NPR

• Ten million without shelter in Pakistan floods: UN.

  Pakistan's devastating floods have left 10 million people without shelter, the United Nations said Tuesday, as authorities rushed to bolster river defences to save two towns from catastrophe. Agence France-Presse

• Disaster plan: cities need to adapt for climate change.

  Playing out simulations of disaster-movie scenarios such as terrorist attacks, earthquakes and hurricanes is something many governments do periodically to test the capabilities of their emergency response teams. In the past few years, the list of possible disasters has been expanded to include a new one: climate change. London Financial Times, United Kingdom

• Disasters drive mass migration to Dhaka.

  Bangladesh sits on one of the largest river deltas on earth, where cyclones and rising sea levels drive people from coastal hamlets every year. As global temperatures inch upward, the frequency of cyclones, the intensity of seasonal flooding and the salinity of Bangladesh’s coastal river mouths are all on the rise. GlobalPost

• Advocacy groups find little to like in Interior's new scientific policy.

  The Interior Department released its new scientific integrity policy last week, but scientists and advocacy groups are miffed at what they view as an incomplete and disingenuous set of rules. Greenwire

• Deal to clean up LA-area nuclear accident site.

  More than five decades after a partial nuclear meltdown just outside Los Angeles, state and federal officials Friday announced agreements to remove all contamination and return the atomic energy and rocket engine test site to its natural state. Associated Press

• Yakima Valley wells still contaminated with nitrates.

  A colorless, odorless poison is seeping into the water and sickening families in eastern Washington's Yakima Valley. The federal government has launched an investigation to find the source of this contamination. Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oregon

• Clean water advocates petition DEP to clean up contaminants.

  At a time when New Jersey is assessing how to deal with hundreds of unregulated chemicals in the state's drinking water, an advocacy group is petitioning the Department of Environmental Protection to order the monitoring of compounds and require water systems to treat the drinking water. Montclair NJ Spotlight, New Jersey

• Gas-drilling moratorium won't happen here, governor says.

  Gov. Ed Rendell told a group of protestors worried about Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling that a moratorium on drilling like New York state has enacted will never happen in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania