The Toxics Release Inventory database, refreshed annually, has long been the foundation of many a good environmental news story. The latest release is now out, and this week’s TipSheet reminds journalists why the searchable online TRI can be such a valuable reporting tool in tracking toxic dangers.
"From the Oregon border to the hills of San Diego County, California is a state that is destined to burn. Every summer brings new evidence of that in places like Paradise, Malibu and Santa Rosa."
"When a deadly rainstorm unloaded on Houston in 2016, Sharobin White’s apartment complex flooded in up to six feet of water. She sent her toddler and 6-year-old to safety on an air mattress, but her family lost nearly everything, including their car."
"A “bomb cyclone” blizzard, the second in a month, hit the Rockies on Wednesday and spun into the U.S. Plains and Midwest, bringing fears of more flooding in areas still recovering from last month’s deluge."
"If oil is moving through Oregon, it’s Michael Zollitsch’s job to know about it. He oversees the state’s emergency responses to oil spills and other environmental disasters."
"As Mississippi’s governor toured massive flooding in the state, the Trump administration said Wednesday that it is giving another look to a long-dead flood control and drainage project in the Mississippi Delta that had been killed by the George W. Bush administration because of its potential impact on wetlands and wildlife."
"The Army Corps of Engineers is embarking on studies of potential improvements to the east bank and West Bank hurricane levee systems because portions of the post-Katrina levee system are likely to be inadequate to reduce risk from stormwater surges created by a so-called 100-year storm as early as 2023."
"The National Mining Agency (ANM) decided to ban a series of dams throughout the country because of problems of stability in its operations, the Brazilian Agency announced Tuesday."
"A massive emergency aid bill for victims of hurricanes, wildfires, flooding and other natural disasters was defeated in the Senate on Monday amid a fight between Democrats and President Trump over relief for Puerto Rico."
"The Black Hawk military helicopter flew over Iowa, giving a senior U.S. agriculture official and U.S. senator an eyeful of the flood damage below, where yellow corn from ruptured metal silos spilled out into the muddy water."
