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"Heavy rains and high winds from a storm system moving north from Mexico flooded parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, leaving at least one person dead, officials said on Wednesday."

"Duke Energy has appealed the state’s $6.8 million fine involving the Dan River coal ash spill, calling the action “entirely arbitrary and capricious” and requesting “dismissal of the ... civil penalty in its entirety.”"

"Raleigh, N.C. — The state Department of Environmental Quality on Friday issued violations against Duke Energy for allowing wastewater to leak from coal ash basins at 12 facilities."

"KURE BEACH, N.C. — On a recent frigid night, anxious residents, many in “Protect Our Coast” sweatshirts, packed the town hall here, spilled onto the lawn, and then erupted in cheers as their town government gaveled in a resolution urging President Obama to block oil drilling off their shoreline. “Some things are just too precious to risk,” Mayor Emilie Swearingen said."

"French-speaking Indians who live deep in Louisiana bayou, some 50 miles south of New Orleans, became the United States' first official climate refugees last week when the federal government awarded them $48 million to relocate."

"TALLAHASSEE -- Amid growing public opposition to the controversial practice of fracking for oil and gas, a divided Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday rejected a bill to regulate and authorize the technique in Florida beginning in 2017."

"WAVERLY, Va. -- Residents and rescue crews on Thursday combed through wreckage left by storms that lashed the eastern United States, killing at least eight people and injuring scores across a number of states, officials said."

"The Gulf of Mexico is now open for commercial fish farming.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last month that, for the first time in the U.S., companies can apply to set up fish farms in federal waters.

The idea is to compete with hard-to-regulate foreign imports. But opening the Gulf to aquaculture won't be cheap, and it could pose environmental problems."

"It's not simply Flint that has bad water. The Michigan city, which has grabbed headlines recently for its rampant water contamination, is joined in that dubious distinction by another town, much farther south: St. Joseph, La."

"The group's anger was a slow burn. But after decades of being ignored by federal authorities, its members decided to take a very public stand against what they saw as an unjust land grab by the U.S. government."