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 destruction" ...
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Plundering the Amazon
In "Plundering the Amazon," the reporters expose illegal land destruction of the Brazilian rain forest by well-known companies such as Alcoa and Cargill. These companies are destroying land without federal permits and in "violation of Brazilian law."
Tags: Alcoa; Cargill; rain forest; rainforest; Brazil; Brazilian; JBS SA; global warming; environmental; jungle
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Renegade Riders
Despite new state laws, extra enforcement and self-policing, off-road vehicles are tearing up public lands across the state. As the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources designated nearly 8,000 miles of motorized trails, top officials repeatedly ignored staff experts' recommendations on how to keep riders away from sensitive areas such as wetlands. A companion video reports on startribune.com used a hidden camera to capture illegal off-trail damage as it happened.
Tags: state parks; environmental destruction; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; public safety; conservation; park trails
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State of Denial
This story looked at the conflict between Californians' consumption of resources and their environmental protection tendencies. The reporters tracked down some of the top exporters of California-bound products-oil, lumber, fish-and followed those products to their sources. They found there was environmental destruction on a scale that would never be allowed in the state of California. In two of the three cases, native indigenous people were those being harmed the most.
Tags: California Building Industry; environmental destruction; oil; lumber; fish; environmental protection; SUV; conservation; preservation; waste; gasoline; wood; paper; forest; Amazon rain forest; Ecuador; rainwater; oil companies; pollution; pipeline; environmental law; Canadian Boreal Trust; Canada's boreal forest; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; trees; California's Integrated Waste Management Board; newspaper recycling; California Air Resources board; Canada's rockfish; trawling net; Trout Unlimited; trawl quota
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Toxic Utah
The Deseret News looks at Utah's toxic legacy -- at the beginning of the Cold War the U.S. government chose the state and others in the "remote West" for a weapons testing program that "sacrificed the lives of American citizens. From uranium mining to chemical and biological weapons, from the military to the industrial complex built to support the Cold War, the region became ground zero for an environmental assualt that poisoned the air, water and land for millions who now live there, oblivious to the toxic legacy that continues to contaminate."
Tags: nuclear weapons; West; Cold War; Utah; environment; toxic; cancer; diseases; death; destruction; bombs; radiation
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Broken trust: The failed cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation
Chemical pollution flows from the Massachusetts Military Reservation contaminates the region's fragile water supply at the rate of 3 million gallons a day, threatening the health of Cape Cod residents. The Cape Cod Times finds that although the site was declared a federal Superfund site in 1989, the plumes of toxic chemicals continue their destruction.