Environment
Latest Stories
QUAKE_3740_20120821
Austin Wright works on the roof of the historic Cuckoo house, built by the Pendleton family in 1819 just outside Mineral Va., which lost both its chimneys and two walls in last year's earthquake and according to contractors on site, will take approximately one million dollars to repair, Cuckoo, Va., Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Thursday, August 23, 2012 marks the one year anniversary of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit nearby Mineral, Va., causing millions of dollars worth of damage and was felt in nearly every state along the east coast. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
QUAKE_3739_20120821
Assistant project manager Brandon Chambers watches as demolition begins on Louisa County High School two days before the one year anniversary of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit near Mineral, Va., causing millions of dollars worth of damage and was felt in nearly every state along the east coast, Mineral, Va., Tuesday, August 21, 2012. The school sustained massive structural damage and was deemed unsafe, forcing all their students to move into nearby trailers. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
QUAKE_3735_20121018
Left to right: Seventh graders Jack Dooley, 12, Alex Letchworth, 12, and Scott Browoning, 13, and their fellow classmates at Langston Hughes Middle School drop under their desk and hold on as they participate in the Great ShakeOut national earthquake drill, Reston, Va., Thursday, October 18, 2012. Students in the Washington, D.C. region are now participating in the earthquake preparation program for the first time after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area in August 2011. According to the program's website, an estimated 18 million people are participating this year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
QUAKE_3734_20121018
Seventh grader Miguel Ortega, 12, right, and his fellow classmates at Langston Hughes Middle School drop under their desk and hold on as they participate in the Great ShakeOut national earthquake drill, Reston, Va., Thursday, October 18, 2012. Students in the Washington, D.C. region are now participating in the earthquake preparation program for the first time after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area in August 2011. According to the program's website, an estimated 18 million people are participating this year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
QUAKE_3733_20121018
A students hands can be seen holding onto a desk as seventh graders at Langston Hughes Middle School drop under their desk and hold on as they participate in the Great ShakeOut national earthquake drill, Reston, Va., Thursday, October 18, 2012. Students in the Washington, D.C. region are now participating in the earthquake preparation program for the first time after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area in August 2011. According to the program's website, an estimated 18 million people are participating this year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
QUAKE_3732_20121018
U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt speaks to Langston Hughes Middle School about her job and the roll her organization has with earthquakes following the school's participation in the Great ShakeOut national earthquake drill, Reston, Va., Thursday, October 18, 2012. Students in the Washington, D.C. region are now participating in the earthquake preparation program for the first time after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area in August 2011. According to the program's website, an estimated 18 million people are participating this year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
QUAKE_3731_20121018
Left to right: Seventh graders Ambika Minocha, 12, Alex Letchworth, 12, and Scott Browoning, 13, and their fellow classmates at Langston Hughes Middle School drop under their desk and hold on as they participate in the Great ShakeOut national earthquake drill, Reston, Va., Thursday, October 18, 2012. Students in the Washington, D.C. region are now participating in the earthquake preparation program for the first time after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area in August 2011. According to the program's website, an estimated 18 million people are participating this year. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
20121018-101639-pic-402012730.jpg
RST Development is building 46 condominium homes at the Orion in Silver Spring. The homes have up to 1,132 square feet and are priced from the mid $200,000s.
20121017-200601-pic-144783985.jpg
People in the District’s Chinatown area rush into the street after last year’s magnitude-5.9 earthquake. A Great ShakeOut drill Thursday is planned to help people know how to react to an earthquake, which includes staying indoors. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
20121017-170322-pic-131342192.jpg
An 8-foot-tall bright-yellow bird became the unlikeliest character in the presidential race this month when Republican Mitt Romney suggested, during the first presidential debate, cutting off federal subsidies for Big Bird. (Associated Press)
APTOPIX Meningitis Ou_Live.jpg
**FILE** Laboratory technician Ruth Rutledge packages cerebrospinal fluid of the three confirmed meningitis cases in Minnesota to send to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for further testing, at the Minnesota Department of Health in St. Paul, Minn., on Oct. 9, 2012. (Associated Press)
Belgium EU Wine_Lea.jpg
Thierry Coste of the European Union farmers union addresses the media in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, about the worst wine-grape harvest for the region in a half-century. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
BATTERY_WEB_20121017_0006
In this Feb. 23, 2007, file photo, President Bush, center, listens to Dave Vieau, President and CEO of A123 Systems, right, as he is shown a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid car utilizing a lithium power battery during a demonstration of alternative fuel automobiles on the South Lawn of the White House. Short of cash and hurting from slow sales of electric cars, battery maker A123 Systems Inc. sent its U.S. operations into bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012, and quickly sold its automotive assets. The filing is likely to stoke the debate in Washington over the Obama administrationÃs funding of alternative energy companies. In 2009, A123 got a $249 million Department of Energy grant to help it build U.S. factories. Republicans have accused Obama of wasting stimulus money on the companies after the failure of politically connected and now-bankrupt solar power company Solyndra LLC, which left taxpayers on the hook for $528 million. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
BATTERY_WEB_20121017_0004
In this Aug. 9, 2007, photo, development technician Ronnie Wilkins reaches for some development powder stored in a glove box used in lithium car batteries A123 Systems Inc. headquarters in Watertown, Mass. After years of struggling with weak sales and mounting losses, the electric-car battery maker filed for bankruptcy protection and reached a deal to sell its automotive assets Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, David Goldman)
BATTERY_WEB_20121017_0002
This Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, file photo, shows A123 Systems Inc.'s high power Nanophospate Lithium Ion Cell for Hybrid Electric Vehicles batteries in Livonia, Mich. Short of cash and hurting from slow sales of electric cars, battery maker A123 Systems Inc. sent its U.S. operations into bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012, and quickly sold its automotive assets. The Chapter 11 filing in Delaware came one day after A123 warned that it likely would miss some debt payments and could be headed for court-supervised restructuring. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
BATTERY_WEB_20121017_0001
In this April 30, 2010, file photo, from right, A123 Systems, President and Chief Executive Officer David Vieau, A123 Systems electrical engineer James Fenton and A123 Systems design engineer Antonio Biundo, stand next to President Barack Obama, as he speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Short of cash and hurting from slow sales of electric cars, battery maker A123 Systems Inc. sent its U.S. operations into bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012, and quickly sold its automotive assets. The filing is likely to stoke the debate in Washington over the Obama administrationÃs funding of alternative energy companies. In 2009, A123 got a $249 million Department of Energy grant to help it build U.S. factories. Republicans have accused Obama of wasting stimulus money on the companies after the failure of politically connected and now-bankrupt solar power company Solyndra LLC, which left taxpayers on the hook for $528 million. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
