New uncovered documents show that fracking company Range Resources persuaded the Environmental Protection Agency to drop its investigation into water contamination of a Texas home—in spite of the fact that preliminary testing showed that the company could have been responsible for cancer causing benzene and flammable methane in the family’s drinking water.

Take the time to read this very well-reported exclusive from Associated Press. It’s nothing short of infuriating to hear how industry and regulators colluded and hid the truth from this family—and the American public. From the AP article:

For Steve Lipsky, the EPA decision seemed to ignore the dangers in his well, which he says contains so much methane that the gas in water pouring out of a garden hose can be ignited.

"I just can’t believe that an agency that knows the truth about something like that, or has evidence like this, wouldn’t use it," said Lipsky, who fears he will have to abandon his dream home in an upscale neighborhood of Weatherford.

The country is in the midst of a domestic oil and gas drilling rush enabled by hydraulic fracturing or fracking—in which millions of gallons of chemically treated water is injected into the ground to force out oil and gas. As fracking operations edge ever closer to the places where people live, work, and play, people deserve to know the risks associated with this controversial practice and, more importantly to be protected from them.

But the oil and gas industry is dead-set on keeping this information from the public. Again and again we’ve seen the oil and gas industry try to hide chemical information, fight journalists seeking the truth, and silence families to prevent them from speaking out.

Thankfully, Earthjustice attorneys are fighting hard to expose this industry’s dangerous secrets. Northeast office Managing Attorney Deborah Goldberg was in court today to argue that doctors and researchers need access to any and all information about the health impacts associated with fracking.

And on Tuesday, Northern Rockies Managing Attorney Tim Preso will be arguing in court that Wyoming regulators were wrong to rubber-stamp industry requests to hide chemical information from the public.