Drought hits mid-Atlantic states (AP) - Millions of people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware are being asked to shorten their showers and find ways to conserve water because of drought in the mid-Atlantic region. Recent storms have just missed bone-dry areas or did little to ease the drought that began last summer. In Pennsylvania, people cross a bridge normally covered by 30 feet of water and in Maryland officials have struggled for a month to keep drinking water flowing to people who live and work along a tributary of the Potomac River that has nearly gone dry. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557631340-bf6> *** Also: Great Plains drought predicted, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557628119-18e> U.S. settles nuclear waste lawsuit WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department will provide its critics money for research and expanded access to information about nuclear waste cleanup efforts under a settlement reached with environmentalists. The department said it agreed to earmark $6.25 million for citizen groups, including many of its critics, to monitor and finance independent technical studies of the government's nuclear waste management programs. The settlement, approved Monday by Judge Stanley Sporkin, closed a nine-year lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and 38 other environmental organizations. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557626913-dc0> *** Also: Radioactive waste handler fined, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557628595-f1d>
