The U.S. Supreme Court gave a thumbs up this week to a mining company that wants to dump rock waste from an Alaskan gold mine into a nearby lake, even though doing so would kill all the fish there. The court upheld a 2005 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers that defines 4.5 million tons of mine tailings as "fill" rather than "pollution," bypassing the Clean Water Act and opening the door for dumping them into Lower Slate Lake (see photo). Many conservationists are worried this ruling will set a precedent for other industries to freely dump their waste into waterways. (Text from The Daily Briefing)