Environment
Extra Extra Monday: informants allowed to commit crimes, programs covered up, travel rules bent at UCLA
UCLA officials bend travel rules with first-class flights, luxury hotels | The Center for Investigative ReportingOver the past several years, six of 17 academic deans at the Westwood campus routinely have submitted doctors’ notes stating they have a medical need to fly in a class other than economy, costing the university $234,000 more than it…
Read MoreUsing Outdated Data, FEMA Is Wrongly Placing Homeowners in Flood Zones
“From Maine to Oregon, local floodplain managers say FEMA’s recent flood maps — which dictate the premiums that 5.5 million Americans pay for flood insurance — have often been built using outdated, inaccurate data. Homeowners, in turn, have to bear the cost of fixing FEMA’s mistakes,” according to a ProPublica report.
Read MoreOil Spills: U.S. well sites in 2012 discharged more than Valdez
“It was one of the more than 6,000 spills and other mishaps reported at onshore oil and gas sites in 2012, compiled in a months-long review of state and federal data by EnergyWire. That’s an average of more than 16 spills a day. And it’s a significant increase since 2010. In the 12 states where comparable…
Read MoreU.S. system for flagging hazardous chemicals is widely flawed
“A 27-year-old U.S. program intended to warn the public of the presence of hazardous chemicals is flawed in many states due to scant oversight and lax reporting by plant owners, a Reuters examination finds.”
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: NSA leaks, secret fracking settlements, predatory tire rentals
Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations | The GuardianThe 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA’s history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows. See more coverage of the NSA surveillance. High prices are driving more motorists to rent tires |…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: terrorism fears and chemical plants, mental health gaps, factory farm pollution
Terrorism fears have led government to cloak the danger of hazardous chemical plants | The Houston Chronicle“Around the country, hundreds of buildings like the one in West store some type of ammonium nitrate. They sit in quiet fields and by riverside docks, in business districts and around the corner from schools, hospitals and day care…
Read MoreMany Texas plants lack safety inspections despite risks
“Twenty-two percent of plants in Texas that regulators say pose a risk of explosion or toxic release have never have been inspected for emergency preparedness, federal data shows. Another 10 percent were inspected, but not by federal, state or even local governments. Instead, those facilities reported inspections by their own contractors, insurance companies or employees,…
Read MoreFish die-off in Brown Slough a mystery
“The next day, hundreds of shiner perch were found dead on the banks of Browns Slough. A week later, the state Department of Ecology and the Department of Fish and Wildlife say they are no closer to finding a cause. No samples were tested and no cause has been established — just a lot of…
Read MoreChemical Safety Board investigations languish
The Center for Public Integrity reports that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board operates with a sluggish investigative pace and short attention span. A former board member told CPI that the agency is “grossly mismanaged.” “The number of board accident reports, case studies and safety bulletins has fallen precipitously since 2006,” according to an analysis by…
Read MoreThe Curse of Fertilizer
“Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?” Read National Geographic’s full investigation here.
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