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No fish can escape mercury pollution. That's the take-home message from a federal study of mercury contamination released Wednesday that tested fish from nearly 300 streams across the country. The toxic substance was found in every fish sampled, a finding that underscores how widespread mercury pollution has become. But while all fish had traces of contamination, only about a quarter had mercury levels exceeding what the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe for people eating average amounts of fish. The study by the U.S. Geological Survey is the most comprehensive look to date at mercury in the nation's streams. From 1998 to 2005, scientists collected and tested more than a thousand fish, including bass, trout and catfish, from 291 streams nationwide.

The hazardous-waste disposal facility in Andrews is set to begin receiving approximately 3.2 million tons of contaminated river silt from a government-mandated cleanup project of the upper Hudson River in New York. Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists reached an agreement in November 2007 with General Electric to receive record amounts of PCB-laden waste at the West Texas facility.

The natural gas industry refuses to reveal what is in the mixture of chemicals used to drill for the fossil fuel State regulators and Washington lawmakers though are increasingly impatient with voluntary measures and are seeking to toughen their oversight. In September U.S. Congresswoman Diana DeGette and Congressman John Salazar, from Colorado, and Congressman Maurice Hinchey, from New York, introduced a bill that would undo the exemptions in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. Wyoming, widely known for supporting energy development, has begun updating its regulations at a local level, as have parts of Texas. New Mexico has placed a one year moratorium on drilling around Santa Fe, after a survey found hundreds of cases of water contamination from unlined pits where fracking fluids and other drilling wastes are stored. "Every rule that we have improved . . . industry has taken us to court on," said Joanna Prukop, New Mexico's cabinet secretary for Energy Minerals and Natural Resources. "It's industry that is fighting us on every front as we try to improve our government enforcement, protection, and compliance… We wear Kevlar these days."

A geologist with the New Brunswick Mines Branch in Bathurst has taken exception to media articles concerning unsafe levels of radon and uranium in the Harvey area ("Radon dangers aren't that dire," Telegraph-Journal, May 26). He dismisses any suggestion that well water potentially contaminated with radon or uranium poses a health threat, yet provides no evidence to support his assertion. He also suggests that mortality rates in the Harvey area aren't any different that any other place in the province, but doesn't provide any data to support this claim.

Contaminated needles and scalpels, bloodied bandages, unused prescription drugs, soiled hospital garments, radioactive waste and refuse tainted with infectious disease: These are only a few items that may be discarded on a curbside, abandoned in a nearby lake or piled in a dumpster headed for the local landfill. Some say Americans are simply oblivious to the imminent risk of major hazards and contagions spreading throughout their communities at any given time. Former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., grew concerned about medical waste hauling after Sept. 11. He told WND that 15 years ago, the nation's hospitals incinerated much of the infectious waste on site. However, the Environmental Protection Agency mandated strict guidelines for incinerators after concerns about air pollution, forcing most hospitals to hire outside personnel to haul medical waste away.

Antoinette Bonsignore, writing on behalf of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Group, has responded the Labor Dept.'s recent response (by Rachel Leiton) to the group's criticisms of the federal agency and the performance evaluation of the sick nuclear workers compensation program. The letter states that ANWAG stands behind its earlier criticisms and said important issues continue to be ignored by the Labor Department. Here is a copy of the letter, dated today: ALLIANCE OF NUCLEAR WORKER ADVOCACY GROUPS