Publication Items

Failure to Disclose Lead Threats in Drinking Water: Widespread Problem [1]

Bad as it is, the Flint drinking water disaster is hardly uncommon. Even though the law requires authorities to tell the public of dangerous levels of lead in drinking water, they often don't.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
People & Population [9]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Failure to Disclose Lead Threats in Drinking Water: Widespread Problem [1]
Flint Water Debacle Raises Freedom-of-Information Issues [13]

If the water coming from your tap is unfit to drink, you have a right to know. But the crisis in Flint, Michigan, is challenging that assumption. Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (pictured) apologized to the residents of Flint, and "pledged to promptly release his emails about the issue," according to the New York Times.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Consumer [14]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Health [7]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Flint Water Debacle Raises Freedom-of-Information Issues [13]
Finding Stories With the National Inventory of Dams [15]

IRE/NICAR's Liz Lucas and Andrew Kreighbaum provide a plethora of tips for using the NID database to cover infrastructure or breaking news involving one of the nation's >85,000 dams.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Planning & Growth [17]
Water & Oceans [10]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Finding Stories With the National Inventory of Dams [15]
Chemical Plant Data Can Reveal Local Stories [18]

A disturbing story of poor chemical company compliance with environmental and safety rules was released October 22, 2015, by a watchdog group. It could have — and perhaps should have — been done by a news publication. And it shows the use journalists could make of several key databases.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Government [6]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Chemical Plant Data Can Reveal Local Stories [18]
NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams [19]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has for years suppressed full disclosure of the National Inventory of Dams, once a key tool for journalists reporting on dam safety — or the government's failure to ensure it. Now that tool is back in the toolbox ... mostly.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Government [6]
People & Population [9]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [20]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams [19]
Was EPA Forthcoming with Mine Spill Water Data? Depends Whom You Ask [21]

Access to water quality data was an issue at one highly politicized House hearing on the August 5, 2015, toxic spill from a long-abandoned mine near Silverton, Colorado, where New Mexico Secretary of Environment Ryan Flynn accused EPA of refusing for weeks to share data on the quality of waters fouled by the spill.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [6]
Pollution [22]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [23]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [24]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Was EPA Forthcoming with Mine Spill Water Data? Depends Whom You Ask [21]
Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [25]

You'd think there shouldn't be such a thing as a secret oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this year, the Associated Press uncovered an offshore well in the Gulf that had been leaking for a decade. Now — thanks to a lawsuit from environmentalists — the details will be revealed.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Politics [5]
Fish & Fisheries [27]
Pollution [22]
Water & Oceans [10]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [28]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [25]
CAMEO Still Making Appearance as First Responders Face Hazmats [29]

CAMEO is a free and publicly available suite of applications useful to reporters. Developed by the U.S. EPA and NOAA, it includes information about the hazards of various chemicals, as well as map overlays that may show how close a spill site is to the nearest facility of interest, such as a nursery school or retirement home.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Technology [30]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about CAMEO Still Making Appearance as First Responders Face Hazmats [29]
State Judge Orders Disclosure of Maryland Oil Train Data [31]

A Maryland state judge this month ordered a state agency to give news media routing information about oil trains within Maryland — adding momentum to efforts to warn firefighters and communities about dangers they face. Photo: 2013 Lac Megantic, Quebec, disaster, by Elias Schewel/Flickr. [32]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [26]
People & Population [9]
Transportation [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [20]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [34]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about State Judge Orders Disclosure of Maryland Oil Train Data [31]
"Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of a Forgotten Volcano That Changed the World" [35]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [37]
Disasters [4]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about "Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of a Forgotten Volcano That Changed the World" [35]

Pages