Freedom of Information Sessions at SEJ's 2013 Annual Conference in Chattanooga

September 25, 2013–On Saturday, October 5: At 9:00 a.m. SEJ FOI Task Force Chair Tim Wheeler of the Baltimore Sun will moderate a session on overcoming obstacles put up by agency press offices to reporters who want to interview government officials. At 10:45 a.m. WatchDog Editor Joe Davis will present a hands-on session with tips for sleuthing dam and levee stories using federal databases like the National Inventory of Dams and the National Levee Database.

PEER Sues NRC for Docs on Dam-Failure Inundation of Nuke Plants

August 28, 2013–See the list of US nuclear facilities that could be endangered by dam failure, thanks to a document that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not want to release, made public by the Huffington Post. Watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsiblity filed suit August 15, 2013, under the FOIA to force the NRC to disclose more of what it knows.

Drillers Buy Silence on Health, Property Impacts of Fracking

August 14, 2013–One reason proof of harm is hard to find is that drillers pay people to keep quiet. Now the unsealing of a once-confidential settlement in Pennsylvania gives a clear view of how the silencing works. The 17-page, two-year-old settlement agreement includes a $750,000 payment to a family critical of fracking, saying they became sick, as well as a gag order that applies to their 7- and 10-year-old children for the rest of their lives.

Halliburton Admits Destroying Gulf Spill Evidence

July 31, 2013–Journalists who worried about a cover-up during the April 2010 blowout of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico got some vindication this month when Halliburton admitted to destroying evidence. The company agreed to pay $200,000 in fines and donate $55 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

SEJournal Summer 2013, Vol. 23 No. 2

July 15, 2013–Now available to non-members and non-subscribers. In this issue: ESA at 40 — 40 things journalists should know; tangled tale of the endangered wolf; SEJ resources for busy enviro journalists; how one freelancer supports a travel addiction; five book reviews; IJNR institute inspires journalists; watershed tipsheet; and SEJ's 2012 individuals donor list.

Congressional Research Service Reports on Environment Leaked

June 19, 2013–Topics of the latest CRS reports shared by the Federation of American Scientist's Project on Government Secrecy include GMO wheat, earthquake risk and highway infrastructure, carbon capture and sequestration, the regional greenhouse gas initiative, regulation of fertilizers, and more.

Pennsylvania Gas Industry Keeps Secret Database on Pre-Drill Quality of Wells

June 5, 2013–The fracking industry loves to argue there's no proof its gas-extraction methods cause pollution. But it works hard in Pennsylvania to keep secret any evidence that might prove the question — one way or the other. Existence of its database was reported by Marie Cusick of WITF in Harrisburg, via NPR's StateImpact Pennsylvania.

Voluntary Fracking Disclosure Database Gets 'F' from Harvard Study

April 24, 2013–We told you so. But now a Harvard study also says it: the FracFocus registry designed and operated by the drilling industry (and its close friends) fails to meet the public's right to accountability and complete disclosure of chemicals pumped into underground formations that may impact people's drinking-water wells.

Covering Sprawl, Science, and Chickens

April 15, 2013–

The Golden Shore

April 15, 2013–