Articles by Grist staff

A Bunch of Ash Holes

In a setback for enviros, the U.S. EPA yesterday decided against regulating ash and sludge from coal-burning power plants as a toxic hazardous waste. Instead, the agency will merely develop voluntary coal-ash disposal standards that states could choose to follow, such as a recommendation that disposal sites have liners. About 100 million tons of coal […]

Bringing Us to Our Ruins

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt suggested yesterday that he will recommend that President Clinton create two more national monuments — one at Soda Mountain in southern Oregon and another at a southwestern Colorado area containing Indian ruins. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, a president can designate national monuments without congressional approval. Clinton has created five monuments […]

Making Money Hanford Over Fist?

The contractor charged with cleaning up the most dangerous waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state said yesterday that the cost would likely be $15.2 billion, up from an estimate of $13 billion earlier this month, which was up from an original estimate of $6.9 billion. British Nuclear Fuels, the contractor, admitted that […]

There's Gold in Them There Geysers

In a ruling that could give a boost to “bioprospecting,” a federal judge this month upheld a precedent-setting agreement under which a biotechnology company will pay Yellowstone National Park for the right to search its geysers and hot springs for commercially valuable microbes. Some enviros and biotech critics had filed suit to stop the deal, […]