Publication Items

Exxon Claims 900,000 Pages of Secrets on Arkansas Spill [1]

Yes, the pipeline is publicly regulated. Yes, the March 2013 rupture of Exxon's Pegasus Pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas, quite publicly polluted people's yards and homes. Yes, it is publicly known that there were defects and poor maintenance on the pipeline. But 900,000 pages of documents that might show Exxon's neglect are being claimed as "confidential" by the company as it tries to defend against a class-action lawsuit.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Pollution [6]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Exxon Claims 900,000 Pages of Secrets on Arkansas Spill [1]
Living in Harm’s Way: Louisiana’s Struggle Between Land and Sea [9]

After Katrina, Louisiana may have hit the national spotlight for a time, but coastal communities elsewhere around the country will have to find their own answers to the question “Why does anyone still live there in harm’s way?” — even as more and more people move toward the coast and the water moves ever closer to them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Environmental Health [11]
Fish & Fisheries [12]
People & Population [13]
Planning & Growth [14]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Living in Harm’s Way: Louisiana’s Struggle Between Land and Sea [9]
Realities of Coastal Living Often Forgotten, Until the Worst Hits [16]

In the effort to help all coastal communities face with the realities that the Gulf of Mexico is their neighbor and sea level rise is inching up relentlessly, lessons can be learned from Louisiana as it works to adapt and to mitigate flood risk.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
People & Population [13]
Planning & Growth [14]
Water & Oceans [15]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Realities of Coastal Living Often Forgotten, Until the Worst Hits [16]
Toxics: Find Kids at Risk in Your Congressional District [17]

The Center for Effective Government has compiled an interactive mapping database of some of the most dangerous chemical facilities in the U.S., showing their proximity to schools. The group also mapped which Congressional districts contain the most schoolkids at risk.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [18]
Disasters [3]
People & Population [13]
Technology [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Toxics: Find Kids at Risk in Your Congressional District [17]
Chemical Accident Data Won't Be Bottled Up [20]

While the idea that government neglect and public ignorance are the right approach to chemical safety and security has lost some credence, information on chemical accidents is still hard to come by. Here are tips as well as news about the National Response Center's database of oil and chemical spills.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [18]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Chemical Accident Data Won't Be Bottled Up [20]
Constitution Wins After Court Imposes Prior Restraint on Pipeline Safety Info [21]

As a nationwide newspaper chain probed safety threats posed to the public by gas pipelines, an Alabama court imposed prior restraint on the Montgomery Advertiser, to prevent it from publishing the Alabama Gas Corporation's safety plan, citing homeland security and trade secrets. Now a judge has ruled that the court erred in granting a temporary restraining order.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Journalism & Media [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Constitution Wins After Court Imposes Prior Restraint on Pipeline Safety Info [21]
Congress Doesn't Want You To Read These Reports [25]

More evidence of Congress' ineffectiveness comes in its ongoing failure to keep its secrets actually secret. Its official policy is to keep the Congressional Research Service from publicly releasing the handy explainers it produces at taxpayer expense. Thanks again to the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for unauthorized publication of these reports.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [26]
Disasters [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Government [27]
Health [28]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Policy [29]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Congress Doesn't Want You To Read These Reports [25]
SEJournal Summer 2014, Vol. 24 No. 2 [30]

In this issue: Covering the environment, health fallout of unexploded ordnance; special report on risk and resilience/lessons from Louisiana on the realities of coastal iving; freelancers and fellowships, a path for growth; utilizing the National Weather Service to track storm intensity; tapping the environmental journalism 'power grid'; book reviews; and classroom research on long-term relevance of front-page stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJournal Online [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Journalism & Media [22]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [32]
People & Population [13]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about SEJournal Summer 2014, Vol. 24 No. 2 [30]
What the Public Isn't Allowed To Know Could Kill You [33]

The federal government has not only done very little to protect the public from the mass-casualty threats chemical facilities present to neighboring communities, they've focused efforts on keeping the public from knowing about those threats or the government's own failures to keep them safe. Now the U.S. EPA has signaled that it is about to revise a key rule governing chemical facility safety and security.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [18]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Politics [34]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [13]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about What the Public Isn't Allowed To Know Could Kill You [33]
National Bridge Inventory Rife with Environmental, Safety Stories [35]

The National Bridge Inventory is a data tool that environmental and energy reporters can use to make their beat relevant to a wider audience. Compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, it can provide leads on stories like the use of federal highway funds, poor bridge maintenance, and even the pollution of water bodies with lead paint.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
People & Population [13]
Pollution [6]
Technology [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about National Bridge Inventory Rife with Environmental, Safety Stories [35]

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