Southwest (AZ NM OK TX)
"EPA, State Underestimated Colo. Mine Spill Potential: Investigation"
"An internal investigation reveals regulators had wrongly assessed the water pressure built up inside the Gold King mine before releasing toxic wastewater".
"Power Plants on Indian Reservations Get No Break on Emissions Rules"
"Four of the dirtiest plants, which sit on Native American soil, were expecting more lenient goals under the Clean Power Plan, but the EPA shifted gears."
"Oft-Shaken Oklahoma Tops Last Year's Quake Record"
"The 585 earthquakes that Oklahoma had in 2014 was a lot. But this year, Oklahoma has had more than that in less than nine months."
"River Fouled By Mine Waste in Colorado Reopens for Recreation"
"A stretch of river fouled by toxic waste from an abandoned gold mine in southwestern Colorado last week was reopened to kayaking and rafting on Friday while water from river-fed irrigation canals was deemed safe for crops and livestock."
Shell Spills Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds of Toxic Gas in Deer Park
"On Sunday morning, hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic gas were accidentally released from the Shell Oil facility in Deer Park [Texas]."
Lustgarten Says Data on Who Gets Ag Subsidies Is Rare as Hens' Teeth
Abrahm Lustgarten (left) wrote a nine-part series delving into farm subsidies and water policy. But his efforts to get the actual names of farm subsidy recipients or individual water users were largely thwarted. Read how info flows less quickly to the public than money and water flow to farmers in SPJ's FOI blog. Photo credit: Lars Klove.
"Oklahoma Regulators Impose Water Injection Cut To Stem Earthquakes"
"Oklahoma regulators are imposing new restrictions on energy companies injecting wastewater underground, in the latest effort to stem a sharp increase in earthquakes."
"Comply Or Not? Texas Officials Now Must Decide About Emission Rules"
"To comply or not to comply. That’s the question now facing Texas officials regarding the Obama administration’s ambitious Clean Power Plan. The sweeping regulatory initiative, unveiled [Monday] in its final form, aims at transforming the nation’s electricity-production system to slash emissions of climate-disrupting air pollution."
"More And Bigger Drilling-Linked Earthquakes Rattle Oklahoma"
"Several earthquakes shook Oklahoma on Monday as the state experiences a sharp increase in the frequency of tremors linked to wastewater disposal from gas and oil drilling, including from fracking, state and federal officials said."