By John Flesher, Associated Press Oil giant BP agreed Thursday to pay a $512,450 penalty and reduce soot emissions from its Whiting refinery in Indiana under an agreement with regulators and activists who accused the company of violating an earlier deal. The U.S. District Court settlement modifies a previous consent decree that required BP Products North America Inc. Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Where do we get our water? It’s a critically important and highly regulated question, yet it took some digging to find the answers.   Specific to Lake Huron, there are a total of 30 public water supply systems across Michigan and Ontario that source surface water for nearly 3 million people to drink.  Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press America needs to rethink and reduce the way it generates plastics because so much of the material is littering the oceans and other waters, the National Academy of Sciences says in a new report. The United States, the world’s top plastics waste producer, generates more than 46 million tons (42 million metric tons) a year, and about 2.2 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) ends up in the world’s oceans, according to the academy’s report. Read Now at Great Lakes Now.