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"Duke Energy said Monday that 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash and up to 27 million gallons of water were released from a pond at its retired power plant in Eden [N.C.] into the Dan River, and were still flowing."

"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — More than 90 whales have become stranded on Florida beaches in the past two months, almost three times the average, baffling marine biologists and making them wonder if a deadly common denominator is at play."

"A rare blast of snow, sleet and ice hit the U.S. South on Tuesday, prompting five states to declare a state of emergency, closing the New Orleans airport and causing chaos on roads for drivers unaccustomed to the dangerously slick conditions."

"Looking overseas for profits, industry giants are building shipping terminals that pollute nearby communities."

"The neat, modest homes of Cannon's Campground and Bellview Acres conceal tales of frustration and heartbreak."

"Environmentalists say swaths of Southeastern woodlands are being cut down for 'green' energy efforts across Atlantic."

"A federal judge in Charlotte has delivered a startling victory for industries that are part of the country’s long-running asbestos-liability fight, cutting more than $1 billion from what a company owes to current and future victims."

"Cannonball jellyfish are bland at best. In China, where slivered, dry jellyfish are commonly served before banquets and strewn across salads, cooks don't use the cellophane-like strips without first dousing them in soy sauce or sesame oil."

[Sick orange trees are] "the new norm in the Sunshine State, where about half the trees in every citrus orchard are stricken with an incurable bacterial infection from China that goes by many names: huanglongbing, “yellow dragon disease” and “citrus greening.” Growers, agriculturalists and academics liken it to cancer. Roots become deformed. Fruits drop from limbs prematurely and rot. The trees slowly die."