An investigation by David Andreatta of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) found hundreds of vacant, boarded-up homes in Rochester are accruing huge water bills because the city Water Bureau does not turn off the water at many homes, and continues to bill the homes based on estimated water use when it does turn off the [...]
Archive for the ‘Infrastructure’ Category
Posted in 
Poor areas of Milwaukee have highest water usage
July 23rd, 2010 
Beth When it comes to using water, in Milwaukee the largest users do not have the largest homes or properties, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis by Ben Poston revealed. It’s the opposite: The biggest users are in the poorest census tracts in the city and are disproportionately minorities. Why? Those homes are more likely to have [...]
New York State road work account raided, little left for repairs
March 8th, 2010 Beth Michelle Breidenbach of The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) mined state financial documents to show the abuse of New York State’s Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund. It’s not “dedicated” at all. Years of raiding and borrowing have left just 22 percent of the fund to fix the state roads.
Cost of Bay Area bridge project unprecedented
December 11th, 2009 Beth Patricia Decker and Robert Porterfield have found the construction project on the east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be the most expensive project ever done in the state of California.
Hundreds of fires sparked by Washington railroads
November 10th, 2009 Beth A lawsuit filed this summer in federal court in Seattle prompted KING-Seattle to examine the railroads that traverse thousands of miles of Washington State.
Aging water pipes a problem in Houston
August 13th, 2009 Beth KHOU-Houston found that a few of the city’s older neighborhoods suffer more water-pipe breaks than other areas.
Canal safety issues were raised prior to fatal mudslide
July 15th, 2009 Beth An investigation by Matthew D. LaPlante and Nate Carlisle of The Salt Lake Tribune found that “Logan City received repeated warnings that a privately owned canal that runs along the base of a steep bluff posed a danger to those living below, but the city failed to act on that safety issue, or even to warn residents who might be affected.“
City cannot account for one quarter of its water supply
June 17th, 2009 Beth “Of the 2.1 billion gallons of water that flowed through city water mains in fiscal year 2007-2008, 26 percent went unbilled – or unaccounted – for,” according analysis of utility records by The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.). Based on the retail rate of water in Panama City, the lost revenue from the unbilled water could be as much as $1.3 million.
Power Hungry series looks at nation’s electrical grid
May 1st, 2009 Beth In its 10-part series, “Power Hungry“, NPR looks at the “the costs, the politics and other challenges of upgrading the country’s electricity grid.”
Cities and county failed to inspect fire hydrants
April 27th, 2009 Beth An investigation by Matt Dixon of The Villages Daily Sun (The Villages, Fla.) revealed that fire hydrants in Sumter County have not been regularly inspected. A request for maintenance records by the paper revealed that none existed. Municipalities county-wide had been under the impression that the county was responsible for the maintenance of fire hydrants.
