The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has discovered numerous pollutants in well water near gas drilling sites, including chemicals that are used in a controversial technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The investigation in central Wyoming is the first water testing by EPA examining the impacts of gas drilling on drinking water. However, EPA is hobbled in its duty to protect the public because gas drillers are allowed to keep secret the chemicals they pump into the ground – toxic chemicals that may be entering ground water supplies.

In May, President Obama announced that his administration would set new, nationwide standards for vehicle fuel efficiency in order to reduce tailpipes’ contribution to global warming. The administration said it would use a plan developed by the state of California as a model.

A recent report criticizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for poor monitoring of drinking water for spikes in the level of atrazine, a dangerous herbicide. The analysis also finds widespread atrazine contamination of watersheds and drinking water in the Midwest and Southern United States. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published the report and called on EPA to improve watershed monitoring and testing of drinking water, and to create a website for the public to access the data. NRDC also calls for phasing out the use of atrazine.

Tomorrow, the Food and Drug Administration will publish two proposed regulations that hold the potential to improve access to and analysis of safety information provided by the medical product industry (drug, device, and biologic makers, and others in the supply chain). Both regulations will be open for comment for 90 days.