"A federal bankruptcy judge in West Virginia could soon decide whether to allow the Blackjewel coal mining company, once the nation’s sixth-largest coal producer, to shed responsibility for thousands of strip-mined acres, setting up a potential crisis over clean-up and reclamation of the land."

"Infrastructure failures following bitterly cold temperatures caused dozens of water mains to burst and freeze, leaving thousands without running water for weeks."

"A popular tool brought back by the Biden administration is expected to fuel future legal challenges for the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency in their shared enforcement of anti-pollution laws."

"Members of an EPA advisory council, no longer constrained by former President Trump's executive order stifling anti-racism training, are back to seeking aggressive environmental justice policies."

"The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn the final environmental impact statement for a huge copper mine near Superior, temporarily halting a land swap that would have given the mine's owners title to a parcel deemed sacred by many Apaches and other Southwestern tribes."

"Indian fishing platforms cling precariously to the rocks, part of a way of life on the Columbia River persisting for more than 10,000 years."

"Millions of people in the US are drinking water that fails to meet federal health standards, including by violating limits for dangerous contaminants. Latinos are disproportionately exposed, according to the Guardian’s review of more than 140,000 public water systems across the US and county-level demographic data."

"Democratic lawmakers and advocates are urging Joe Biden to back legislation proposing unprecedented investment in America’s ailing water infrastructure amid the country’s worst crisis in decades that has left millions of people without access to clean, safe, affordable water."

"Flexing their newfound political muscle, the nation's 574 federally recognized tribes are gaining momentum in their long drive to co-manage the country's national parks and other public lands — and they've got a new occupant in the White House who may help make it happen."