Takeaways from AP's story on Everglades restoration efforts

EVERGLADES, Fla. (AP) — The Everglades in South Florida were once about twice the size of New Jersey. Wildlife was abundant and water flowed freely from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay. But decades of engineering projects partitioned and drained the water, invasive...

In Florida, a race is on to save the Everglades and protect a key source of drinking water

EVERGLADES, Fla. (AP) — In a region of Florida known as the River of Grass, John Kominoski plops into hip-deep waters. Blobs of brown periphyton – a mishmash of algae, bacteria and other organisms – carpet the surface. The air is thick and sticky as Kominoski, a Florida...

Survivors recount 'very apocalyptic' cyclone that ripped through French territory of Mayotte

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — They clustered around water taps, rare sources of electricity and each other. Four days after the strongest cyclone in nearly a century ripped through the French island territory of Mayotte off the coast of Africa, survivors recalled the horror of the storm that caught...

The drinking water for New Jersey's capital went largely untested for more than a year, utility says

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The drinking water in New Jersey's capital city and some surrounding communities went largely untested for more than a year, the utility belatedly told roughly 200,000 affected customers, noting that it fired a worker who falsified the relevant reports. Trenton...

Drought is causing saltwater to creep up the Delaware River. Here's what's being done about it

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Salty oceanwater is creeping up the Delaware River, the source for much of the drinking water for Philadelphia and millions of others, brought on by drought conditions and sea level rise, and prompting officials to tap reservoirs to push the unpotable tide back downstream. ...

US towns plunge into debates about fluoride in water

NEW YORK (AP) — For about 50 years, adding cavity-preventing fluoride to drinking water was a popular public health measure in Yorktown, a leafy town north of New York City. But in September, the town’s supervisor used his emergency powers to stop the practice. ...

Fights over fluoride in drinking water are cropping up as political pressure mounts and scientists assess possible risks

Navy didn't understand well-documented risks posed by Hawaii fuel tanks, watchdog says

HONOLULU (AP) — Navy officials “lacked sufficient understanding” of the risks of maintaining massive fuel storage tanks on top of a drinking water well at Pearl Harbor where spilled jet fuel poisoned more than 6,000 people in 2021, a U.S. military watchdog said Thursday. That...

What to know about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health secretary

President-elect Donald Trump 's plan to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the Health and Human Services Department will put a prominent vaccine skeptic at the helm of the nation's sprawling public health apparatus. A scion of a famous Democratic dynasty, Kennedy made a name in...

RFK Jr. says Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water. 'It's possible,' Trump says

PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president. ...