On Our Radar: Wildfires in Washington State

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Associated PressDavid Firth, a homeowner in Cle Elum, Wash., tried to beat back what remained of a fire on his property on Wednesday after it was sprayed by water trucks. 

Firefighters battle more than a dozen wildfires across the West, including a massive out-of-control blaze that has burned over 28,000 acres between two national forests in Washington State. [Reuters]

Conflict has arisen over a proposed strip mine in Kentucky that could soon surround a venerated Girl Scout camp, altering its bucolic vista for years. [The New York Times]

A report warns that the trading of pollution “credits” to reduce the cost ofcleaning up Chesapeake Bay could endanger the health of the region’s poor and minority communities. [The Baltimore Sun]

The containment vessel designed to capture oil in the event of a spill during Shell’s exploratory drilling off the coast of Alaska has itself been responsible for four small illegal fluid discharges, the Coast Guard confirms. All involved hydraulic fluid, were generally limited to about a quart each time, and were cleaned up. [The Los Angeles Times]