A vast majority of Americans wants government to play a more proactive role in protecting the nation’s food supply, according to a new poll commissioned by Pew Charitable Trusts.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from several environmental groups, the EPA released a list of 584 coal ash dump sites around the country. Coal ash is the toxic leftover waste from coal-fired power plants. The list identifies wet coal ash dumps, which are more dangerous than dry landfills because they are more vulnerable to leaks, overflows, and failures. The information is central to protecting public health and the environment. Last December, a dike failed at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash dump. The spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, TN sent more than 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge flowing into the nearby community and the Emory River.

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.