EPA finds spills, leaks, heavy metals at hazardous waste landfill in Westmoreland County
Residents have been complaining about the MAX Environmental landfill in Yukon for years. An EPA inspection found it may be violating federal laws.
Water
Chesapeake Bay states hit land preservation milestone
Pennsylvania leads among bay states with 3.6 million preserved acres. There are now 9.1 million acres of land in the watershed that are protected from development.
Pa. Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts to get federal money
$9.6 million in federal grants will reduce pollutants to the Bay. Another $3.8 million of state funds will help restore watersheds across Pa.
We’ve got jellyfish! How the invertebrates got into the Great Lakes
Researchers think the species hitched a ride here on ornamental aquatic plants shipped from China. But we still don’t know all that much about them.
Groups threaten to sue Beaver County plastics manufacturer for releasing ‘nurdles’ into Ohio River tributary
The groups say they found plastic pellets called nurdles near the outfall of the Styropek plant along Raccoon Creek.
Pennsylvania to increase PFAS monitoring in rivers and streams
DEP will increase sampling in PFAS hotspots after the USGS found 76% of the waterways in Pa. contained these toxic chemicals.
Surveying Salamanders in Hopes of Finding an Imperiled Mussel
Mussels once numbered the millions in local rivers. Now researchers are hoping to find a type of salamander that an endangered mussel needs to survive.
Chemical companies to pay Pennsylvania $100 million for PCB contamination
The Monsanto Company and two other companies manufactured products containing the toxic chemicals, which damaged waterways across Pennsylvania.
An author revisits the Youghiogheny River and finds many changes for the better
Tim Palmer updated his original 1984 biography of the river he first knew as a child.
The Stone Skipping Philosopher
World record holder Kurt Steiner, who got his start on Lake Erie, considers stone skipping a "middle finger at the technological capitalist system."
