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

Amazon.com’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Robert Scoble. Used under Creative Commons 2.0.

  • Researchers at Perdue University are developing ways to remove rare earth elements from coal ash. The technology would make it easier to build electronics, which often require the rare elements that would be removed from the coal ash.
  • A judge in Wisconsin revoked eight permits for high-capacity industrial wells. Scientists argued the wells would put a strain on water sources and potentially cause adverse effects for residents and other businesses surrounding the sites.
  • The Salisbury City Council in Maryland approved funding for a new rails-and-trails bike path that will lead from Salisbury University to another local park. The new trail is part of a master plan that will eventually increase the bike paths in the city to 80 miles.
  • Nearly two dozen landowners saw their lawsuit against Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access LLC tossed out of court after a federal judge ruled that negotiators with the landowners did not mislead them into taking lower offers for easements to make room for the Dakota Access pipeline.
  • A bulldozer accidentally hit an underground oil pipeline in Cushing, Oklahoma, spilling oil and closing a city street. Officials did not have an estimate on the amount of oil spilled.
  • More frequent and better inspections of freight railroad tracks could help prevent oil train crashes, according to a recent report from the National Academies of Sciences.
  • The EPA installed a barrier and valve inside the Gold King Mine to prevent any further spills. Two years ago, a blowout in the mine caused contaminated water from the mine to pollute the Animas River and other waterways.
  • Based on a new study by Moody’s Analytics, Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia are considered the top two cities for Amazon to locate their second headquarters.
  • Rabo Equity Advisors, a private equity fund in Asia, wants to raise $400 million to invest in India.