European Union leaders were facing tough talks Thursday about how much aid to offer developing nations to bring them into a new global climate change pact.

Could more than one manatee be exploring the James River? A manatee was spotted in the Dutch Gap area near Chester on Monday, in Richmond just below downtown Tuesday—that’s about a 5-mile trip—and back in the Dutch Gap area Wednesday. “I honestly think there is more than one,“ said Joel Cloud, a Chester-area salesman who photographed a manatee in the Dutch Gap area Monday about 2 p.m.

Don’t go looking for one in your boat; you might hit the animal.
  Don’t harass or disturb a manatee.
  Do call (757) 437-6159 if you spot one.

A gentle sea monster is prowling the James River. River-goers spotted a manatee, also known as a sea cow, in Richmond on Tuesday and several miles downriver yesterday. “He’ll come up and get some air, roll over on his back, rub his face and go swimming along,“ said Joe Owen Jr., 37, a sergeant with the Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office.

or hit it with the boat.
  Do call (757) 437-6159 if you
spot it.

Today’s James River Journal installment marks an end to the series. Photographer P. Kevin Morley and I began the journal—a story a month for a year—last November. Among the things we’ve learned: Some people love fishing even on a rainy December night as a big storm approaches. You can eat an oyster straight from the James and survive.

When the temperature hit the mid-70s the other day, James Wilbur and his two sons headed straight to the James River. They body surfed in the rapids until the October water chilled them.

Government ministers in scuba gear prepared Friday to hold an underwater meeting of the Maldives’ Cabinet to highlight the threat global warming poses to the lowest-lying nation on earth.

Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Pickett and the Defense Supply Center Richmond are the first winners of the new Virginia Department of Defense Eagle Awards. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced the winners yesterday. Among other things, Fort A.P. Hill was cited for establishing stream buffers, using innovative stormwater management techniques and protecting more than 2,900 acres through conservation easements, according to state officials.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced today the winners of the first Virginia Eagle Awards for environmental stewardship among defense installations. The winners were Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Pickett and Defense Supply Center Richmond.

The coal-burning power plant proposed for Surry County would release significant, and illegal, amounts of mercury and other pollutants, according to a new report. The report, to be released today, was commissioned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group. Officials at the Henrico County-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which is proposing the plant, said yesterday that they were reviewing the report and could not comment in detail.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced today a new regulation to protect clam and oyster production in seaside waters of the Eastern Shore.

Virginia took a big step yesterday to reduce the amount of pollution that washes off subdivisions, office parks and other new developments. The Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board adopted, by a 7-1 vote, the first major revision of state stormwater rules in two decades. The rules would require developers to do more things, such as building ponds or low-lying gardens, to decrease runoff pollution.

Federal officials said yesterday that they could impose severe punishments if Virginia and other states don’t do enough to restore the Chesapeake Bay. Those punishments could include withholding federal grants from bay-region states and placing new limits on sewage-treatment plant discharges—a potential hindrance to growth. “We think the accountability system we have here has teeth in it,“ said Robert A. Koroncai, a manager with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Virginians enjoyed air so clean in 2009 that it set a record. With the season for ozone—the main pollutant in smog—virtually over, the state has suffered just three high-ozone days. All three smoggy days occurred in Northern Virginia, which has a long reputation for cars and air pollution. In the Richmond area, ozone never exceeded the federal limit.