Publication Items

More Than 550 Utilities Now Using Potentially Safer Chemicals [1]

The plants, ranging from very large to very small, are now using chemicals and processes such as liquid chlorine bleach, calcium hypochlorite, or ultraviolet light — allegedly making ~40 million people living nearby safer.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about More Than 550 Utilities Now Using Potentially Safer Chemicals [1]
Coal Ash Data Waiting for Local Reporters [9]

Use this roundup of sources to write a probing story about the ash, slag, and sludge from coal-burning electric utilities — which containins heavy metals that can pollute water, and even bury people's houses.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Pollution [12]
Government [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Coal Ash Data Waiting for Local Reporters [9]
SEJ Joins Amicus Brief on Dangerously Expanded FOIA Exemption [14]

Several media organizations have joined the case of a Puget Sound resident denied information, under the "law enforcement" exemption to FOIA, that would identify the locations and potential blast ranges of explosive ordnance stored in the area.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Government [13]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about SEJ Joins Amicus Brief on Dangerously Expanded FOIA Exemption [14]
EPA Releases All Responses to Coal Ash Survey [16]

The data, from hundreds of facilities in 35 states, provide reporters the raw material for hundreds of local stories.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Government [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about EPA Releases All Responses to Coal Ash Survey [16]
Is Your Community Ready for Hurricane Season? [17]

SEJ has prepared a list of resources which may be helpful to reporters doing before, during and after-hurricane stories.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Science [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Is Your Community Ready for Hurricane Season? [17]
Without Warning System, Communities Blind to Toxic Disaster [19]

A July 26 McClatchy story about an ammonia spill that killed one in South Carolina is similar to others that could be told in other U.S. states.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Without Warning System, Communities Blind to Toxic Disaster [19]
TVA IG Says Agency Let Lawyers Stifle $3 Million Study on Coal-Ash Spill Causes [20]

An investigation by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee indicates the Tennessee Valley Authority opted not to make changes that could have prevented the massive December 2008 spill.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about TVA IG Says Agency Let Lawyers Stifle $3 Million Study on Coal-Ash Spill Causes [20]
Toolbox: Homeland Security Daily Infrastructure Report [22]

Reporters interested in following the hazards of dams, refineries, chemical plants, pipelines, and other infrastructure may find story leads in DHS reports.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [23]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Health [24]
Natural Resources [25]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Toolbox: Homeland Security Daily Infrastructure Report [22]
The Devastation Ran Clear Down to Plaquemines [27]

By Amy Wold

Two days after Hurricane Katrina, my editor called me over to his desk and pointed to a place on the map below New Orleans. He said, "Try to get somewhere in this area."

At the time there were four adults, two dogs and two children (some of whom were New Orleans evacuees) staying in my onebedroom home so getting "somewhere in this area" sounded like a really good idea.
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about The Devastation Ran Clear Down to Plaquemines [27]
Lake Charles Newspaper Staff Persists Against Rita's Fury [28]

By JEREMY HARPER
When I went to sleep Wednesday, Sept. 21, Hurricane Rita was threatening the Texas coast, promising to pester Louisiana with no more than a quick bout of tropical storm conditions. I was prepared to ride out the fringe of the storm in either my apartment on the second floor of a sturdy historic building in downtown Lake Charles, La., a city of 75,000 about 40 miles inland of the Gulf of Mexico, or in the newsroom of the American Press, the city's daily newspaper where I have worked for four years as a reporter.
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [5]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [21]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Lake Charles Newspaper Staff Persists Against Rita's Fury [28]

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