Selenium contamination from a phosphate mine in southeastern Idaho is linked to fish deformities such as two-headed trout, and the problem would worsen if discharge limits were eased, a new government report found.

The findings come as Smoky Canyon Mine, run by the J.R. Simplot Company near the Wyoming border, is asking the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to relax restrictions on the amount of selenium that the mine may drain into tributaries of the Snake River, a world-class trout stream.

Leaks of radioactive water have become more frequent at Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant less than two months after it was declared basically stable.

The problem underlines the continuing challenges facing Tokyo Electric Power Company as it attempts to keep the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant under control. A massive earthquake and tsunami badly damaged the plant last March, resulting in the melting of three reactor cores.

The European Commission has unveiled a new set of water pollution rules, which will for the first time include certain pharmaceutical products. The Commission is proposing to add 15 chemicals to the list of 33 pollutants that are currently monitored and controlled in EU surface waters. The popular pain-relieving drug Diclofenac is one of three pharmaceuticals to be put on the European water watch-list, which law-makers say is another step towards improving the quality of rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

Some 8.5 tons of radioactive water leaked from a reactor at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant but it had not flowed outside the reactor building, Kyodo News said on Wednesday, quoting the plant’s operator.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said the leak occurred in the No 4 reactor after a pipe connected to the reactor dropped off, the news agency reported.

The leak was discovered Tuesday night and was stopped shortly afterwards.

The National Green Tribunal has sought the stand of the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) on a plea to ban setting up of new industrial units in "critically polluted" Noida till its environment quality is improved through a "remedial action plan". A bench of justices A Suryanarayan Naidu and GK Pandey has also issued notices to pollution control boards of Uttar Pradesh and the Centre, besides the UP State Industrial Development Corporation, and sought their responses by February 23.

Owners of zip, button and accessories dyeing/bleaching units observed fast here on Wednesday to condemn the sealing of many such units by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) over the past few months on the charges of creating pollution.

The agitators were of the view that closure/sealing of about 150 zip, button and accessories dyeing units by TNPCB could not be justified as sludge generation was very minimal when compared to the normal dyeing operations carried out by the fabric dyers.

Located on the banks of the Ami river, this constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a rather unusual election campaign by a nominee of Rahul Gandhi — one centred around pollution and environment with economic, cultural and political overtones. Vishwa Vijay Singh, 39, has launched many agitations under the banner of the Ami Bachao Manch over the past three years to save the river from industrial effluents that threaten the local flora and fauna besides posing health hazards.

The health impact of last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan appears relatively small thanks partly to prompt evacuations, the chairman of a U.N. scientific body investigating the effects of radiation said on Tuesday.

The fact that some radioactive releases spread over the ocean instead of populated areas also contributed to limiting the consequences, said Wolfgang Weiss of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

A demand has been raised with the Union Government to provide Rs 10 lakh compensation each to the kin of 15,342 persons who died in Bhopal gas tragedy. Representatives of gas victims will be taken to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. This information was given at a quarterly review meeting of Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department here on Monday, which was chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Officials in southern China appear to have averted environmental calamity by halting the spread of a toxic metal that had threatened to foul drinking water for tens of millions of people, the state media reported Monday.

Officials said they had successfully diluted the concentration of cadmium, a poisonous component of batteries, that has been coursing down the Longjiang River in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.