Special Report: "Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities"

A special joint investigation by National Public Radio, the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News, the Investigative News Network, and others shows that hundreds of U.S. facilities have been violating their Clean Air Act permits for years without running into federal or state enforcement. In many cases, the pollution has made people sick, and sometimes local communities have taken up the job that federal and state agencies have failed at.

NPR Series Portal
Reported by Elizabeth Shogren, Howard Berkes, Sandra Bartlett, Ronnie Greene, Sarah Harris, Sandra Bartlett, and Kristen Lombardi


Part 1: "Secret 'Watch List' Reveals Failure To Curb Toxic Air" (NPR)

Part 2: "Oklahoma Town Battles Powdery Carbon Pollution" (NPR)

Part 3: "EPA Regulations Give Kilns Permission To Pollute" (NPR)

Part 4: "N.Y. Plant's Neighbors Expose Regulatory Gaps" (NPR)

"A Family's Fight To Clear The Air" (NPR)

"Where Regulators Failed, Citizens Took Action -- Testing Their Own Air"

"EPA's Internal Clear Air Act 'Watch List'" (iWatch News)

SEE ALSO:

Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities
iWatch News/Center for Public Integrity Portal
Reported by Jim Morris, Chris Hamby, Elizabeth Lucas, Corbin Hiar, Sarah Whitmire


"Many Americans Left Behind in the Quest for Cleaner Air" (iWatch News)

"Community Coated in Black Mist — Until Citizens Fought Back" (iWatch News)

"Few Criminal Cases Target Big Air Polluters" (iWatch News)

"Town Divided Over Major Employer's Permission To Pollute the Air" (iWatch News/CPI/NPR/Slate)

"5 questions for William Ruckelshaus" (iWatch News)

"Why Americans Still Breathe Known Hazards Decades After ‘Clean Air’ Law" (iWatch News)

"In Polluted Pennsylvania Suburb, a Republican Takes on State Regulators" (iWatch News)

Related Coverage from the Investigative News Network

"Florida Home to Seven Air Polluters on EPA Watch List" (Florida Center for Investigative Reporting)

"Seattle Glass Recycler Saint-Gobain Leads List of Nw Companies Fined for Violating Clean Air Act" (Investigate West)

"EPA Enforcement Often Brings More Hot Air Than Heat" (Tucson Sentinel)

Source: iWatch/NPR/INN, 11/17/2011