Federal Cops to Gulf Journos: Don't Dig, It's Illegal

September 22, 2010–Watch the video: Pensacola TV reporter Dan Thomas is accosted by USFWS and NPS after finding layers of crude oil (with his toy shovel) less than a foot below the surface — giving the lie to BP and government claims that beaches had been cleaned.

More Resources for Digging Into the Gulf Spill Story

September 22, 2010–Despite the new, apparently unwritten law against digging journalistically into the impacts of the spill, there are information resources here that may help you dig into other oil/environment stories as well.

Got Gulf Experts? SEJ's Daily Glob Can Help

September 1, 2010–View and suggest additions to our list of important Gulf-related research institutes, academic programs, and labs working on marine science, gulf ecology, oil spill response and recovery, coastal ecosystems, wetlands, and more.

EPA Offers Air, Water, Sediment, Waste Data from Gulf Oil Spill

August 11, 2010–Reporters can find most of the environmental monitoring data EPA has collected on one webpage in a form that can be queried or downloaded.

Fla. Scientists Say Obama Admin Tried To Squelch Oil Plume Findings

August 11, 2010–St. Petersburg Times' Craig Pittman reports the scientists' announcement in May that research boats had discovered a 6-mile long underwater oil plume was greeted with shushing from the Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA Muddies Access to Spill Damage Data

July 14, 2010–A senior Washington correspondent for the Huffington Post reveals that NOAA has been giving BP all the raw data its research ships collect — but not releasing the data to the public 

Whistleblower Switches Sides, Spills Story on BP Press Blockade

July 14, 2010–An ex-BP security contractor hired to shoo reporters off of public beaches claims he was fired by BP after he took pictures of equations showing how dispersants were being used in the Gulf.

EPA Lists Counties Likely To Violate Lead Standard

June 23, 2010–Counties, currently in 12 states with more likely to be added next year as a result of new lead monitors, must take steps within five years to meet the standard.

BP Contractors, Feds Continue to Bar Media from Public Property

June 16, 2010–WDSU, the NBC affiliate in New Orleans (Channel 6), found that BP's highly publicized statement that it is not barring news media from witnessing the cleanup, or its failure, is in fact not true. See video of this and other examples, and get contact info for the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center if you've been denied access.

15 States Get More Federal Recreational Trails

June 9, 2010–The National Trails system, already stretching more than 12,500 miles, expands with the addition of 31 more trails totalling 716 miles.