Environment & Science

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released the results of the agency's "7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment." Pennsylvania ranked only behind Florida, Illinois and Ohio for the most lead service lines.

Firefighters battled a massive fire at a warehouse in West Easton early Tuesday, with multiple explosions heard from the property. The fire was declared under control after more than five hours.

A new North Whitehall Township plan that considers building a skate park, amphitheater, disc golf, splash pads and more as outdoors activities increase got township supervisors' approval Monday.

The Monocacy Creek Watershed Association and Bethlehem's Environmental Advisory Council are hosting a spring clean-up April 8 at Monocacy Creek. Last year, volunteers collected more than 2,000 lbs. of garbage.

A line of storms that spared the Lehigh Valley on Saturday raked the Philadelphia region and surrounding areas, with eight tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service.

Two of the Lehigh Valley's major cities are considering bans on single-use plastic bags. Here's where the proposals stand.

Panera Bread recently announced a new technology partnership with Amazon, which will allow loyalty members to use their palms to pay and ordering through select Alexa devices. It's unclear when they changes will comes to the Lehigh Valley.

The Lehigh Valley is under a severe weather threat Saturday that includes the possibility of tornadic activity in the region.

Take a look at stories throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

For almost a century, hikers have trekked the Appalachian Trail, the world’s longest hiking-only footpath. A thru-hiker documenting her trek on social media recently stopped in the Lehigh Valley.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory and excessive heat watch for the Lehigh Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania. The heat advisory will be in effect from Sunday into Monday. Then the temperature really turns up, with heat indexes in triple digits.

The position, budgeted for one year after the annual process turned contentious, focuses on creating and facilitating sustainability initiatives while capturing grant funding to cover the cost of related projects.

The start of Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s annual hawk watch is just over a month out, and preparations are well underway. A tradition in its 64th year, volunteers count birds of prey as they migrate along the raptor "superhighway" in the Lehigh Valley’s backyard.

The National Weather Service posted a flood watch starting at 6 a.m. Friday for the Philadelphia region and its suburbs.

Funding was awarded through the Lehigh Valley Greenways Mini Grant Program. The program aims to protect and promote natural resources through the implementation of ready-to-go, single-year projects.

With other communities around the state adopting bans on plastic bags, Lower Saucon could be on its way to something similar. if approved, it would involve a transition process to show shoppers the bigger picture and give time for businesses to properly offload plastic bags on hand.

The National Weather Service expanded an excessive heat warning into the Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, calling for dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 105 degrees. A severe weather threat will follow.

Allentown and Easton have been paired with an engineering company to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It's Allentown's first time, but Easton's second, in the program.

As of Tuesday, the Lehigh Valley was suffocating in its thirteenth day of 90-plus temperatures this summer, well on the way to surpassing the average of 14.42 days in the 90s for records that date back to 1912.

The Northampton County Coroner has identified an individual who drowned and later died due to complications of drowning after spending time on the Delaware River this past weekend.

Environmentalists say the Lehigh River is the cleanest its been in 175 years. A river snorkeling program at Lehigh Gap Nature Centers encourages residents to explore their local waterways and track river health.