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Cleanup begins from Southern U.S. storms that left 14 dead
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on December 26th, 2015
Reuters: Recovery crews and utility workers began cleaning up widespread damage on Thursday left by severe storms that spawned tornadoes across six states in the U.S. South and Midwest, killing at least 14 people and destroying scores of homes.
Emergency declarations were issued in Mississippi and Tennessee, the two states hardest hit by severe weather on Wednesday that also complicated getaway plans for travelers looking to make the most of the long holiday weekend.
With about 100 million Americans...
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Duke ordered stop groundwater pollution at North Carolina coal plants
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on March 6th, 2014
Reuters: A North Carolina judge ruled on Thursday that Duke Energy Corp must immediately stop the sources of groundwater pollution at its 14 coal-fired power plants in the state.
The issue of pollution from coal ash gained momentum in North Carolina last month, when a spill from a retired Duke power plant dumped at least 30,000 tons of ash in the Dan River.
In the ruling, Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway reversed a decision by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission. He...
More West Virginia customers cleared to drink tap water after spill
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on January 15th, 2014
Reuters: West Virginia's top law enforcement officer on Wednesday vowed a full investigation of a chemical spill that contaminated tap water for hundreds of thousands of people.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said there was a lot of speculation surrounding the spill into the Elk River at Charleston, the state capital, on Thursday that shut off water to more than 300,000 people.
"We had an absolute unmitigated disaster here for six days now where people are without water. This is not only utterly...
Chesapeake Bay shows signs of recovery, but pollution persists
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on January 31st, 2013
Reuters: The Chesapeake Bay, North America's biggest estuary, is still ailing but making some progress as it struggles to recover from over-fishing and pollution, a partnership overseeing its revival said on Thursday.
The number of juvenile crabs is the highest in two decades, rockfish are stable and last year's "dead zone," the part of the bay without enough oxygen to support life, seems to be the smallest since 1985, the Chesapeake Bay Program said in its 2011-12 "Bay Barometer."
On the down side,...
Winter storm hits eastern U.S., snarls holiday travel
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on December 27th, 2012
Reuters: A powerful winter storm that has claimed at least five lives pounded the U.S. Midwest and Northeast and snarled post-Christmas travel on Wednesday after rare tornadoes pummeled the Gulf Coast.
Heavy snow and high winds prompted National Weather Service blizzard and winter storm warnings for the Ohio River Valley and into the Northeast. Fifteen inches of snow were recorded at New Baltimore, Michigan, as the storm headed north and east.
About 1,500 U.S. flights were canceled on Wednesday, according...
Huge swaths of U.S. swelter amid prolonged outages, new storms
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on July 7th, 2012
Reuters: Weary West Virginians dumped rotting food from their refrigerators and tried to clear fallen trees from the roads on Friday as new storms prolonged the power outages that have already lasted a week.
The forecast for the weekend called for more record-breaking heat across the Midwest and into the Eastern United States, with heavy rains and severe storms in the upper Midwest, the National Weather Service said.
The temperature in Chicago hit 100 Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) for the third day in a...
Whooping crane migration grounded in regulatory flap
Posted by Reuters: Ian Simpson on January 9th, 2012
Reuters: A flock of rare whooping cranes on its inaugural winter migration to Florida are grounded in Alabama while a government agency decides whether a plane guiding them will be allowed to proceed.
The whooping cranes, part of North America's tallest flying bird species, have been in pens in Alabama since last month as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) looks into whether the 1,285-mile flight violates regulations.
The pilots of the ultralight plane guiding the flock from Wisconsin to two...