Articles by Grist staff

Shelling Out

The first lawsuit in the U.S. over contamination stemming from the gasoline additive MTBE was settled in California yesterday, when Shell Oil agreed to pay the South Tahoe Public Utility District $28 million to help fund the cleanup of tainted drinking water wells. The district filed the lawsuit in 1998, after MTBE contamination forced the […]

What’s a Little Nerve Gas Among Wildlife?

It seems like a wilderness paradise, replete with mule deer, bald eagles, and foxes — but Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal is also a Cold War relic contaminated by years of chemical weapons production. The 27-square-mile patch of land just 10 miles outside of Denver bears the paradoxical dual designation of National Wildlife Refuge and Superfund […]

Pick Your Poison

In the First World, debate over genetically modified (GM) foods is about differing ideologies; in southern Africa, where famine is deepening its grip, it is about life and death. The U.S. has offered to provide emergency food aid in the form of corn to seven stricken African countries, but some of that corn has been […]

To Russia, With Empty Tanks

As President Bush weighs the pros and cons of waging war on Iraq, the issue of U.S. oil energy security looms large. And although no one would have believed it 50 years ago, the U.S. is increasingly contemplating Russia as a stable and desirable alternative source of oil. The strategic partnership between the Cold War-era […]