Lost Purple Hearts returned to

families of dead soldiers

NEW YORK (AP) — The families of seven dead U.S servicemen gathered on Monday to receive lost Purple Heart medals their loved ones had earned in four wars.

An eighth veteran was present for the ceremony at the historic Federal Hall on Wall Street on Monday, which was National Purple Heart Day.

The group Purple Hearts Reunited, based in Georgia, Vermont, has made it its mission to track down misplaced medals. Founder Zachariah Fike said as many as five are found each week across the country.

Seven of those medals returned Monday went to men who served in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The eighth was presented to Army Specialist Daniel Swift, a firefighter injured by a roadside bomb in 2004 in Iraq as a member of the National Guard. In his honor, the ceremony opened to the sound of the Fire Department of New York’s bagpipe band.

EPA: No review of mine spill

claims for groups that sued

DENVER (AP) — Days after the Environmental Protection Agency pledged to reconsider damage claims it previously rejected after a mine spill, the agency said Monday it could not review multimillion-dollar requests from the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation because both have sued the agency.

In a written statement, the EPA said the law prevents it from reconsidering claims from anyone who has filed suit.

That could rule out a review of the two largest claims from the 2015 spill in southwestern Colorado, which the EPA inadvertently triggered.

More than 70 governments and individuals sought about $420 million in damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is a way to settle without a lawsuit. The Navajos filed claims for $162 million and New Mexico for $130 million.

But New Mexico and the Navajos also filed suit in federal court. Utah also sued, but state government has not filed a separate claim under the Tort Claims Act.