Environment
After spending millions on a publicly funded power plant, company has little to show
In a two-part series, the Duluth News Tribune found that despite receiving $42 million in state and federal funding over 10 years, a proposed “clean coal” plant has yet to move a shovelful of dirt. And despite receiving all of its backing from the public trough, the company’s spending records, including its officers’ paychecks, were…
Read MoreTexas tap water turning plumbing radioactive
KHOU-TV’s Mark Greenblatt finds so much radiation in the water of Central Texas cities, that even the pipes that carry it set off Geiger counters, and citizens are afraid to drink it. Greenblatt also uncovered a 10-year old state scientific report calling the water serious health risk”, but Texas officials all but ignored it. The…
Read MoreYou don’t always get what you pay for at the pump
In this project by the Scripps Howard News Service, reporter Isaac Wolf investigates the chemical makeup of national gasoline brands. An independent lab test of five different national brands reveals that they “differ widely in their levels of crucial engine-cleaning detergent additives.” The levels of detergent additives can impact a vehicle’s engine quality as well…
Read MoreWashington state bans toxic asphalt sealants.
Washington state is now the largest government in the country to ban the cancer-causing industrial waste. The asphalt sealant is used on surfaces such as driveways, parking lots, and even playgrounds. One US Representative is seeking a nationwide ban. “The Washington state legislation and Doggett’s drive for a nationwide ban flowed from studies by…
Read More$140 million spent on faulty water projects
In this three-part series from The (Raleigh) News & Observer, reporters revealed about “$140 million has been spent on work that is failing, needs significant repair or is too far from distressed sources of drinking water.” The series discovered stream restoration projects that require “hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs.” They also found numerous…
Read MoreDuwamish River poses health threat to those who live nearby
The Duwamish is not just Seattle’s only river, and the original home of its first Native American people, it is now also an industrial waterway classified as one of the nation’s worst toxic waste sites and one of the few federal Superfund cleanup sites in the country to bisect a major urban area. InvestigateWest’s Carol…
Read MoreNatural-gas drilling poses risks, regulation is lax
“Drilling Down,” a series by The New York Times, explores the the risks of natural-gas drilling, along with efforts to regulate the industry. “The relatively new drilling method — known as high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — carries significant environmental risks.” For each well the process can create over a million gallons of wastewater…
Read MoreEPA underreports radiation in nation’s drinking water
A KHOU-Houston report reveals that the federal EPA allows water companies to avoid reporting certain types of radiation contamination in the public’s tap water, giving a false picture to the American public about their water safety. For example, if the radiation comes from uranium, utilities can subtract that radioactivity out of their final reports to…
Read MoreFive years later, cleanup at Ringwood still unfinished
Journalists for The Record of northern New Jersey have revisited the site of the paper’s “Toxic Legacy” series five years ago and found that the clean-up of a former Ford Motor Co. dump in environmentally sensitive woodlands remains incomplete. The original series prompted the EPA to take the unprecedented step of re-listing the tract as…
Read MoreState inspectors overwhelmed by fracking infractions
An investigation by Isaac Wolf, national reporter for Scripps Howard News Service, found that fracking, a widespread method of extracting natural gas by shooting chemical-laced water underground, is a growing threat to water supplies in 28 states, according to scientists, landowners and environmentalists. Plus, Wolf reported, overwhelmed, understaffed state inspectors aren’t keeping up with the exploding number of…
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