Articles by Grist staff

Kakadu-dle-don't

Much to the dismay of environmentalists, the U.N. World Heritage Committee yesterday declined to put a prominent Australian wilderness area on its “in danger” list. Enviros had pushed for the U.N. committee to declare Kakadu National Park in danger because an Australian company plans to open a new uranium mine there. But the committee rejected […]

Old Disgraceful

Yellowstone National Park’s aging sewage system is overwhelmed and dilapidated, a condition that on July 2 led to several thousand gallons of raw sewage spilling into a meadow in the park. Last year, raw sewage leaks contaminated Yellowstone Lake and a creek near the Old Faithful geyser. The park has some 3 million annual visitors […]

Rising Tempura-tures

A Japanese nuclear reactor on the coast of the Sea of Japan was shut down yesterday because the facility leaked an estimated 20 tons of radioactive cooling water, one of the worst such leaks in the nation’s history. The reactor was manually shut down, and cooling facilities are being refilled to normal capacity. A spokesperson […]

Allen Wrench in Pollution Monitoring

The administration of former Virginia Gov. George Allen (R) concealed information about river pollution and refused to release data on water contaminants to the U.S. EPA, according to a report released yesterday by state auditors. In 1994, the year Allen became governor, the state’s database on river pollution was erased from personal computers and backup […]