Companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands will be required to disclose publicly the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations, the Obama administration said Thursday. The new "fracking" rule replaces a draft proposed last year that was withdrawn amid industry complaints that federal regulation could hinder an ongoing boom in natural gas production.

The rapid expansion of hydraulic fracturing to retrieve once-inaccessible reservoirs of oil and gas could put pressure on already-stressed water resources from the suburbs of Fort Worth to western Colorado, according to a new report from a nonprofit group that advises investors about companies’ environmental risks.

Using the same devious mechanism that enables some bacteria to shrug off powerful antibiotics, scientists have developed solar-powered nanofilters that remove antibiotics from the water in lakes and rivers twice as efficiently as the best existing technology. Their report appears in ACS' journal Nano Letters.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must meet a court-ordered deadline to issue regulations that clean up power plant water pollution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled today. The decision turns back an attempt by the utility industry to avoid the financial and operational burdens of the regulations.

The Bureau of Land Management has acquired 285 acres of patented mining claims around Silverton as settlement in a lawsuit against a company that once operated the Mayflower Mill there. The agreement with Standard Metals Corp. consolidates BLM holdings in the Alpine Triangle and allows the agency to better protect cultural resources, wildlife habitat and viewsheds.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Monday voted 8-1 to raise the minimum distance between wells and homes as well as other buildings to at least 500 feet statewide. The reason for the increased setback, among other issues (e.g., increases in dust, noise, etc.), were water contamination and quality issues.

Peter Butler's late October tour of abandoned hardrock mines began high on Red Mountain Pass near Silverton, Colo., off a highway so narrow that, in places, its shoulder crumbles off cliffs. Butler, a water wonk with springy silver curls, is the co-coordinator of the Animas River Stakeholders Group, a local watershed group, which has been cleaning up abandoned mines for 18 years.

More than 1,000 communities that have spent millions of dollars over many years filtering a common agricultural herbicide out of their drinking water are welcoming their shares of a $105 million settlement with the weed-killer’s maker.

A new federal policy should protect "good Samaritan" groups from liability if they try to stanch dangerous chemicals leaking from abandoned mining sites in the Colorado mountains and beyond, environmental officials say. The Denver Post reported Sunday that the Environmental Protection Agency tweaked its policy after years of prodding by Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall.

The salinisation of rivers is a global problem that affects to countries all over the world and it causes a high environmental and economic cost, and poses a high risk to global health.