Publication Items

Exxon Seeks To Keep Pegasus Inspections Secret As KXL Twists in Wind [1]

Exxon claims trade secrecy in its bid to hide inspection results for the pipeline that leaked 5,000 barrels of Canadian oil sands crude in Arkansas last spring, spurring debate over transparency and spill readiness. EnergyWire's Elana Schor has the story, raising questions that have still to be answered.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [3]
Environmental Politics [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Disasters [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Exxon Seeks To Keep Pegasus Inspections Secret As KXL Twists in Wind [1]
Congressional Research Service Reports on Environment Leaked [8]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [9]
Transportation [10]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Disasters [6]
Climate Change [11]
Chemicals [12]
Agriculture [13]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Congressional Research Service Reports on Environment Leaked [8]
AP Probe: Keeping Explosive Chemicals Secret May Not Make People Safer [14]

Aftershocks of the April 17, 2013, ammonium nitrate explosion in West, Texas, continue — including investigations by news organizations as well as state and federal agencies. A major multistate investigative project by the Associated Press could only get data for 28 of the 50 states, but within those states it found that more than 600,000 people live within a typical blast zone and more had family in schools and hospitals within one.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [15]
Disasters [6]
Chemicals [12]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [16]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about AP Probe: Keeping Explosive Chemicals Secret May Not Make People Safer [14]
Covering Sprawl, Science, and Chickens [17]

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [13]
Disasters [6]
Journalism & Media [19]
People & Population [15]
Planning & Growth [20]
Science [21]
Water & Oceans [9]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Covering Sprawl, Science, and Chickens [17]
Whodunit? The Case of the Disappearing Dilbit [22]

InsideClimate News' Lisa Song notes that US EPA's website had originally shown 1,149,460 gallons of oil recovered from the 2010 Enbridge spill near Kalamazoo, Michigan. Sometime in mid-March 2013, she reports, that number was removed from the EPA site and replaced by one much lower, the amount Enbridge claims was spilled.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Disasters [6]
Region:
Canada [23]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [24]
National (U.S.) [25]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Whodunit? The Case of the Disappearing Dilbit [22]
Got Anhydrous Ammonia? Chlorine? Yeah, You Probably Do [26]

Explosions from ammonium nitrate fertilizer, like the one in West, Texas that killed 15 people in April 2013, are only one of many hazards posed to communities from dangerous materials under the purview of EPA and other agencies. Toxic inhalation hazards could kill tens of thousands of people if released in crowded areas. Here are several tools to help you find local facilities that handle toxic, explosive, flammable, corrosive, and otherwise hazardous materials.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [6]
Chemicals [12]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Got Anhydrous Ammonia? Chlorine? Yeah, You Probably Do [26]
Texas Fertilizer Explosion Re-Raises Buried Hazmat Disclosure Issues [27]

News stories about the April 17, 2013, explosion of a fertilizer storage plant in the town of West, Texas that killed 15 people have so far focused on the plant operator's risk-disclosure failure, instead of the likely fact that government agencies knew the nature and magnitude of the hazard — or should have known. The bigger story is the regulatory failure — and industry's decades-long campaign to keep the public ignorant of the threats they face. Photo: AP/LM Otero/Available through Creative Commons.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [20]
Laws & Regulations [3]
Environmental Politics [4]
Disasters [6]
Chemicals [12]
Agriculture [13]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [16]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Texas Fertilizer Explosion Re-Raises Buried Hazmat Disclosure Issues [27]
Exxon "Unified Command" Locks Down Ark. Spill Site; Threatens Reporter [28]

The March 29, 2013, spill from ExxonMobil's Pegasus Pipeline near Mayflower, Arkansas is a big deal for several reasons. But the most important thing about the Mayflower spill may be that ExxonMobil and the federal agencies involved seem to be trying to keep news media from getting close enough to see what is going on. Read SEJ's letter protesting the media treatment, and EPA's response.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [6]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [29]
Environmental Politics [4]
Government [30]
Health [31]
People & Population [15]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [32]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Exxon "Unified Command" Locks Down Ark. Spill Site; Threatens Reporter [28]
Are We Ready for the Next Superstorm? [33]

Francesca Lyman asks "What does Hurricane Sandy tell us about coping with human health and consequences of climate change?"

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [12]
Climate Change [11]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [29]
Health [31]
People & Population [15]
Planning & Growth [20]
Pollution [35]
Region:
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [36]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Are We Ready for the Next Superstorm? [33]
SEJournal Winter 2012-13, Vol. 22 No. 4 [37]

In this issue: Superstorm Sandy's hidden warning; analysis of pivotal enviro issues to watch; new frontiers in visual journalism; keeping up on chemical databases; members helping members: SEJ's mentoring program; media on the move; and book reviews.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJournal Online [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [6]
Environmental Politics [4]
Journalism & Media [19]
Technology [39]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about SEJournal Winter 2012-13, Vol. 22 No. 4 [37]

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