The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "environmental agency" ...
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Green Inc., Environmentalism for Profit
With the groundbreaking series Green Inc., USA Today for the first time uncovers the truth behind the soaring movement toward constructing buildings that are certified as environmentally friendly. The series shows how "green" buildings often are barely different from their supposedly conventional counterparts -- except that green-building designers and owners often win huge tax breaks, zoning waivers and other valuable perks from government agencies. The series involves an unprecedented analysis of records for 7,100 green-certified buildings to show how the designers follow the easiest and cheapest steps to get certified. Numerous freedom-of-information requests revealed the enormous tax breaks awards to the building designers and owners, and also show how some buildings are falling far short of their environmental promise.
Tags: Environmental friendly; taxes; green buildings; certificated
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Deep Cuts: Why is the Triangle Land Conservancy Logging Its Land
The Triangle Land Conservancy is one of the most respected land protection nonprofit agencies in North Carolina. Its mission is to protect land from development and environmental degradation. But in 2004, under new leadership the TLC quietly changed its mission to include the timbering of lands. Until the story was published, most donors knew little or nothing of the timbering.
Tags: Triangle Land Conservancy; timbering; nonprofit; donors
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"Superfund Project"
This project was reported by a group of interns at The Oklahoman who wanted to investigate the effects of toxic areas on Oklahoman residents. They revealed that the government had been trying to "stimulate activity to clean up the sites" by just transferring wastes from one place to another. It was also found that "little had been done" on several federal Superfund projects, and many were "underfunded."
Tags: FOI; EPA; database; Tar Creek; Environmental Protection Agency; toxic waste; lead; cadmium; Picher; G&J's Gorilla Cage; National Priorities List
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Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed
This book reveals how the U.S. government consciously looked away as miners, and then the neighbors, were exposed to uranium's dangers as it was mined on a Navajo reservation, in a slow-motion environmental catastrophe that last for decades and continues today.
Tags: uranium; radiation; mining; Navajo; Indian reservation; yellow cake; yellow dirt; EPA; Environmental Protection Agency; Indian Health Service; Bureau of Indian Affairs; Atomic Energy Commission; National Cancer Institute; environmental pollution; environmental disaster; nuclear power; atomic bomb
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"A Toxin in the Air"
Toxic emissions have been found near natural gas facilities in the Barnett Shale in Texas, an area that spreads out over 15 counties. Originally, the emission were believed to be non-harmful, but recent testing reveals "high level of benzene, a cancer-causing toxin." WFAA also reveals a major "lack of oversight" of "drilling in the Barnett Shale."
Tags: Barnett Shale; Fort Worth; environmental agency; benzene; natural gas; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; TCEQ; North Central Texas Communities Alliance; Al Armendariz
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Sacrificed to Shale
A small town, Dish, TX, which is surrounded by gas well compressor stations and wells. Recently, there was an air study done, which revealed several poisons being released by the gas wells well above EPA regulations. Further, these chemicals in the air “were discovered to possibly be responsible for animals and trees dying in the area”.
Tags: air conditions; environment; toxic; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Denton County; Barnett Shale; residents
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EPA Fails to Inform Public About Weed-Killer in Drinking Water
The Environmental Protection Agency kept secret the high level of the herbicide atrazine found in the water supply of communities in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kansas. Residents were not alerted and were actually given false water readings from state and local authorities.
Tags: atrazine; environmental protection agency; watershed; water; herbicide; weed-killer; Huffington Post Investigative Fund; drinking; safety; public; health;
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Energy Star Has Lost Some Luster
The Energy Star program was started by the federal government to help consumers save energy but it has become outdated and manufacturers are using loopholes to bump up their energy efficiency scores.
Tags: electricity; LG; kilowatt; Environmental Protection Agency; EPA; emission;
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Red River Dumping
Millions of gallons of toxic waster were secretly being dumped into a northern Louisiana waterway. The September story started with an anonymous tip and led to the discovery of thousands of pages of online documents revealing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality concerns about the presence of dangerous toxins in waste water stored by CCS Midstream Services, LLC, hidden caches of toxic waste, falsified records and a hidden pipe leading into Red River.
Tags: toxins; public health; environmental violations; protected waters; toxic waste; pollution; dumping chemicals;
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Hidden Wells, Dirty Water
An investigation into groundwater contamination in the heavily agricultural Lower Yakima Valley found that local, state and federal agencies responsible for clean drinking water and environmental health repeatedly neglected their regulatory duties. This left low-income Latino farm workers exposed to health threats.
Tags: dairy industry; water; agriculture; Latino; contamination; nitrate; wells; environment