Appleton referendum: A secondhand smoking gun? While some remain unconvinced about the health hazards of secondhand smoke, physicians, scientists and public health experts say the findings from 30-plus years of research and study are undeniable and indisputable. [News Source]

Comments sought on impacts of oil, gas expansion. A public meeting to take comments on possible environmental impacts of Plains Exploration and Production Co.'s proposal to expand its oil and gas operations in the Santa Barbara, California Channel will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Lompoc. [News Source]

Phoenix focuses on spill cleanup. Phoenix officials have signed a multiyear contract with a Tucson, Arizona firm that will aid them in monitoring the cleanup of a jet-fuel spill near Sky Harbor International Airport. [News Source]

Doe Run testing Viburnum yards, playgrounds for lead. The Doe Run Co. is testing yards and playgrounds throughout rural Viburnum, Missouri to see if years of lead mining, milling and hauling have contaminated the soil. [News Source]

State sees less mercury in future. Scrubbers being installed at one of the state's largest sources of mercury, a power plant north of Durham, will reduce mercury emissions. [News Source]

Pollution source eludes dairy industry. As each new study seems to shift the dairy air pollution spotlight to a new corner of the dairy, the San Joaquin Valley, California Air Pollution Control District is shying away from requiring dairies to install expensive and perhaps ineffective technologies. [News Source]

Refinery invests millions for cleaner emissions. By June, all U.S. refineries, including the Frontier Oil Corp. in Wyoming, must be able to produce diesel fuel that has at most 15 parts per million of sulfur for use by vehicles like buses and trucks that use the nation's highways. [News Source]

Refinery invests millions for cleaner emissions. By June, all U.S. refineries must be able to produce diesel fuel that has at most 15 parts per million of sulfur for use by vehicles like buses and trucks that use the nation's highways. [News Source]

Clean air - and a longer life. Study confirms link between air pollution and life span -- to the tune of 75,000 deaths a year in U.S. [News Source]

Life spans increase as soot decreases . A new study says when air pollution in cities decline, the number of pre- mature deaths goes down as well. [News Source]

Utilities react to air pollution case. A group of electric utilities hopes the EPA appeals a recent ruling in a major air pollution case. Coal-burning power plants, refineries and older factories are watching the case closely. [News Source]