These are some of the stories we’ve been following this week.

  • The families featured in the documentary Gasland were awarded more than $4.2 million by a federal jury for their lawsuit against a hydraulic fracturing company. The families’ wells were contaminated with methane.
  • The State of New Mexico claims that the Animas River is still contaminated 7 months after the Gold King Mine leaked a large amount of heavy metals into the water. New Mexico has requested $1.5 million from the U.S. EPA as reimbursement for emergency response work, and state officials filed a notice of intent to sue the EPA and the State of Colorado.
  • Two residents in Hoosick Falls, New York, are suing Honeywell and Saint-Gobain over a toxic chemical, PFOA, found in the city’s water. This is the second class-action lawsuit filed against the two companies alleging that they are responsible for contamination of the water supply.
  • The Federal Railroad Administration proposed a new safety measure requiring freight trains to have two-person crews. It’s estimated that the measure would cost railroads between $5 million and $27.7 million over a decade, but would pay off in preventing serious injuries and fatalities.