Public

"The amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment nationwide in 2010 increased 16 percent over the year before, reversing a downward trend in overall toxic releases since 2006, according to a report released Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The spike was driven largely by metal mining, but other sectors — including the chemical industry — also contributed to the rise in emissions, according to the new analysis from the annual federal Toxics Release Inventory.

"The toxic cocktail that is the Gowanus Canal took a century to mix. Now plans for the federal government to transform it in 10 years from an environmental blight into a healthy urban waterway are taking shape amid optimism from neighbors and frustration from City Hall."

"NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected a bid by Entergy, owner and operator of the Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River, to reverse an order to complete legally-required analyses of the facility's severe accident mitigation measures before it can be relicensed."

"In July, New York Attorney General Schneiderman's office won that decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

"Farmers and the food industry are asking the Obama administration to ease coming federal guidance that will advise consumers to minimize their intake of dioxins, chemicals that may be harmful at certain levels."

"ATLANTA -- For the first time in 20 years, a federal panel is urging the government to lower the threshold for lead poisoning in children."

"A heap of dead bees was supposed to become food for a newly captured praying mantis. Instead, the pile ended up revealing a previously unrecognized suspect in colony collapse disorder -- a mysterious condition that for several years has been causing declines in U.S. honeybee populations, which are needed to pollinate many important crops."

"Public elementary schools in low-income neighbourhoods are more likely to be located near a major road or highway, exposing students to higher levels of air and noise pollution, according to a new B.C. study."

"The 'miracle fibre' that helped drive Quebec's economy for more than a century now represents an industry near death, despite government efforts to keep it afloat."

"The World Health Organization issued a stern warning on Friday to scientists who have engineered a highly pathogenic form of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, saying their work carries significant risks and must be tightly controlled."

"The United Nations health body said it was 'deeply concerned about the potential negative consequences' of work by two leading flu research teams who this month said they had found ways to make H5N1 into a easily transmissable form capable of causing lethal human pandemics."

"The Food and Drug Administration plans to restrict a family of antibiotics commonly used to treat livestock, citing concerns that overuse might promote the development of drug-resistant bacteria that can infect people."