EPA sets new deadline to rule on state’s plan to clear air

Fracking devalues plots, 3 suits say
LITTLE ROCK — Seven Arkansas residents filed three lawsuits Tuesday seeking class-action status against various natural-gas companies alleging, among other things, that hydraulic fracturing in the Fayetteville Shale has diminished property values. MORE...

Coal plant work, disputes continue:
Wetlands are just one battleground in clash
McNAB — Two rows of steel beams the size of railroad crossties march from the east bank of the Little River to midstream, but if opponents of a coal-fired power plant have their way, the beams will be dead in the water. MORE...

Fracking-fluid law leaves some critics worried: Some chemicals could be kept secret
Critics have charged that a rule that would require companies to reveal the chemicals they use in natural-gas wells contains troubling oversights.

A provision added to the final version of the rule approved in December would allow companies to claim certain chemicals in “fracking” fluid as trade secrets in “limited situations” if the commission’s director gives approval. MORE...

COMMENTARY: Protection's Time Has Come
by Tom McKinney
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS -- One of the immutable laws of nature is that water runs downhill. That means that what happens upstream is certainly going to affect what happens further downstream and the more water there is the larger and more noticeable the effects will be. MORE...

BURNING ISSUES: From proposed coal plants to water pollution to fallout from gas exploration, it’s been a contentious year for environmental politics.
ArkansasTimes -- In October of 2008, the Times reported on the burgeoning natural gas industry and the pollution and waste disposal problems that came with the boom. Since then, a lot has happened. Some of it positive, most negative. MORE...

Arkansas high court will examine power plant approval process
TEXARKANA, Ark. -- The Arkansas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on April 15 about the process used to approve the certificate that granted SWEPCO's construction of the John W. Turk Power Plant located in southern Arkansas. MORE...

For more information on the Arkansas Beyond Coal Campaign, please click HERE

Congratulations to our 2010 Conservation Award Winners!

Click HERE to see a list of folks, businesses and organizations we recognized for their conservation efforts in Arkansas.

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