With drab olive chairs and worn carpet, the conference room in the low-slung administrative building near the Genesee County wastewater treatment plant isn’t fancy, but it showcases one of Jeff Wright’s greatest treasures: Permit No. 2009-001. Wright, a wiry man with trademark moustache and slicked-back hair, is the county drain commissioner, a title that dates…

The first criminal charges have been filed in Flint’s lead-tainted water crisis, including allegations that two state regulators and a Flint water plant supervisor tampered with evidence and that the state regulators knowingly misled U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials and the county health department. The Michigan city switched from Detroit’s drinking water system to the…

High-volume oil and gas extraction probably won’t begin in earnest in Illinois until next year because the state must first adopt rules and hire dozens of new employees to help regulate an industry eagerly pushing into new territory. Gov. Pat Quinn promised a quick signature on a measure the Legislature approved last week that would…