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 "wastewater" ...
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Chronic Polluters, Tainted Water
"Nearly half of the Connecticut companies that discharge chemical-laden wastewater directly into rivers are doing so with expired permits.In some cases, they lapsed 10 years ago.The companies can legally continue to dump while applying for new permits, but the backlog means they're discharging under old toxin limits with no adjustment for diminishing water quality."
Tags: toxic; water; pollution; rivers; wastewater; permits; renewal; EPA; Clean Water Act; chemical waste; Toxic Release Inventory
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Danger: Government at Work. Public employers pay no fines, though safety violations numerous
"While fines are the state's prime weapon against private businesses that violate safety and health standards, state law prohibits financial penalties against state and local government employers." But, those government workplaces are four times more likely than private businesses to be cited for serious safety violations. These violations occur in all kinds of government workplaces, from wastewater plants to public schools. This article offers several well- developed examples of government safety violations, and then discusses a legislative solution.
Tags: safety inspection; accidents; federal programs; Wake Enterprises
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"Trucking food and wastewater"
This investigation uncovered a trucking company that hauled orange juice and other citrus products in tankers used earlier to haul slightly radio-active wastewater from a state environmental cleanup project. The investigation noted a federal law passed in 1990 to prevent truckers from carrying food and nonfood products in the same tanks, which prompted both an FDA investigation and Congressional efforts to better enforce the Sanitary Food Transportation Act.
Tags: trucking; tankers; wastewater; food safety; shipping; transportation; sanitation
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Murky waters
A Star-Telegram two-part investigation sheds light on water pollution problems caused by the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. The story reveals that the airport "sits on underground lakes of jet fuel." It has hemorrhaged toxic waters into the nearby Trinity River tributaries and into Trigg Lake for at least a decade. The major findings are "that pollutants ... have flowed into waters where people fish, that the airport sometimes misrepresented waste problems to investigators and that antifreeze can still escape into creeks despite recent improvements."
Tags: chemicals; toxins; waste dumps; de-icing fluid; environment; government; Clean Water Act; Superfund; contamination; EPA; sewer system; fraud; wastewater; fish; drainage; storm-water; natural resources; conservation
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Dishonorable Discharge
Pitch Weekly investigates Turkey Creek, a waterway that runs in both Wyandotte and Johnson counties. Right at the border of these two counties sits the Nelson Complex- "a sewage-treatment facility that serves some 130,000 residents" and dumps its waste into Turkey Creek. "The Nelson Complex has been operating under a permit that expired ten years ago . . . State and federal water-quality standards have been amended several times in an ongoing effort to protect the environment. But until its permit is renewed, the Nelson Complex remains beholden only to the older, weaker laws." While Johnson County's chief wastewater engineer says the water pumped out is clean, others disagree. The article details several studies and tests done on Turkey Creek which revealed unsafe amounts of waste.
Tags: pollution; sewage plants; Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Environmental Protection Agency; Clean Water Act; environmentalists; contaminants
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A Fish Story: Last December A Poisonous Chemical Spill Wiped Out White River's Fish Population. Officials Say the Problem's Gone - But the Fish Still Are, Too.
A December 1999 chemical spill from a wastewater treatment plant killed fish along a 50-mile stretch of Indiana's White River. Once home to a variety of game fish - catfish, crappie and bass - the river now "offers about as much sport as a washbasin." The treatment plant apparently took a week to admit the incident to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. In turn, IDEM did not notify the public for several more days about the spill. For three decades before the spill, the river had made a comeback to a viable waterway. Fortunately for those who care about the river, "the poison that caused the damage seems to be gone" and the river will hopefully recover. Environmentalists say that IDEM needs to be staffed with more environmental professionals, and that plants should be required to report anomalies within two hours.
Tags: fish; chemical spill; Indianapolis; white river; Anderson Wastewater Treatment Plant
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White River Fish Kill
The Indianapolis Star investigates why millions of fish began dying in the White River, a major stream that runs through Indianapolis and provides drinking water for many residents. The Star, which assigned two reporters full-time to uncovering the mystery, discovered that the wastewater treatment operator thought to be responsible for the disaster did not have a valid operators license at the time of the fish kill. The Star used state documents to show that Guide Corp., the treatment operator, began having problems two years prior to the fish kill.
Tags: White River; Indianapolis; Indiana; Guide Corp.; fish; environment; pollution
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King of Kings
Fresno Bee profiles the sprawling agricultural empire J.G. Boswell Co. and its clout in the political circles. This in-depth study of the King County cotton business reveals that the company has run into trouble with the environmentalists over its plans to repackage one of its ranch and sell it to dairy operators. Managing the manure has become the key issue in the game.
Tags: J.G. Boswell Co.; King County; cotton; dairy farming; agriculture; manure management; dairy waste; water water; Boswell
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A River Under Seige
In a three-day series examining the environmental and economic issues surrounding the San Joaquin River's slow death, The Record reveals the costs of living next to the sick river. The lower San Joaquin carries thousands of pounds of salt and selenium-laden runoff from farms, waste from dairies and untreated storm runoff. Ratepayers in Stockton face higher utility bills to improve a wastewater treatment plant. Farmers lose crops to salty water, and water earmarked for households and businesses must instead be used to help dilute the polluted river. (June 30 - July 2, 1996)
Tags: Nickles A river under siege Contest entry Environment 29 pgs.
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No title (id: 4042)
Columbia Missourian series examines chemical exposure of workers at the University of Missouri and the city's wastewater treatment and power plants and efforts being made to protect workers in an era of increasing chemical exposure, July 8 - 10, 1985.
Tags: None