Publication Items

Senate GOPers Seek To Hide Silica Science Funding [1]

OSHA's proposed silica rule "requests" (not requires) that commenters state clearly who paid for any research they cite and declare whether there may be possible conflicts of interest or whether the funder of the research may have influenced its findings. But 16 Senate Republicans have complained of OSHA's request for funding disclosure.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Health [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Senate GOPers Seek To Hide Silica Science Funding [1]
Find the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Plant Near You [9]

Environmental journalists may find a story by asking about the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a nearby coal-burning power plant or major chemical refinery. A new online EPA database gives information about the largest GHG emitters, makes the query easier and the answers more accurate.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [10]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Chemicals [11]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Find the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Plant Near You [9]
Dams and Levees: Introduction [12]

This special issue of the WatchDog focuses on the transparency of safety information related to dams, levees, impoundments, and related water-control structures. For environmental journalists, these subjects offer a goldmine of great story possibilities. These are stories that have not been covered much in the past decade, and stories that fit well at the local, state, or regional level.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [13]
Planning & Growth [14]
People & Population [15]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [16]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Disasters [17]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Dams and Levees: Introduction [12]
EPA Settles Court Bid To Keep Luminant Pollution Data "Confidential" (Cough, Cough) [18]

A U.S. district judge on October 2, 2013, brushed aside claims by EPA and the Luminant Corp. that information related to pollution from the company's coal-burning power plants was "confidential business information" — which seems to be a growing excuse for withholding public-interest information.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [10]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about EPA Settles Court Bid To Keep Luminant Pollution Data "Confidential" (Cough, Cough) [18]
Pennsylvania Blocks Report Criticizing Shale Gas [19]

Under law, Pennsylvania was supposed to publish a report outlining climate change impacts on the state by Spring 2012. But the Department of Environmental Protection says it is still being reviewed, and nobody will say when it might be published.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [7]
Climate Change [20]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [21]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Pennsylvania Blocks Report Criticizing Shale Gas [19]
PEER Sues NRC for Docs on Dam-Failure Inundation of Nuke Plants [22]

See the list of US nuclear facilities that could be endangered by dam failure, thanks to a document that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not want to release, made public by the Huffington Post. Watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsiblity filed suit August 15, 2013, under the FOIA to force the NRC to disclose more of what it knows.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [13]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [16]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Disasters [17]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about PEER Sues NRC for Docs on Dam-Failure Inundation of Nuke Plants [22]
Pipeline Safety Agency Says Public Shouldn't Know Spill Response Plans [23]

Remember that March 29, 2013, oil pipeline spill that slimed a major piece of Mayflower, Arkansas? Well we now learn that neither Mayflower residents nor the US public are allowed to know how Exxon planned to clean up such a spill.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [15]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Disasters [17]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Pipeline Safety Agency Says Public Shouldn't Know Spill Response Plans [23]
Drillers Buy Silence on Health, Property Impacts of Fracking [24]

One reason proof of harm is hard to find is that drillers pay people to keep quiet. Now the unsealing of a once-confidential settlement in Pennsylvania gives a clear view of how the silencing works. The 17-page, two-year-old settlement agreement includes a $750,000 payment to a family critical of fracking, saying they became sick, as well as a gag order that applies to their 7- and 10-year-old children for the rest of their lives.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [13]
Health [5]
Environmental Health [25]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Chemicals [11]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Drillers Buy Silence on Health, Property Impacts of Fracking [24]
EPA Staff Report Contradicts Agency's Agnosticism on Fracking [26]

Here's more evidence of why documents should be leaked to reporters: a Powerpoint obtained by LA Times' Neela Banerjee shows EPA's Region 3 staff argued a year ago for continuing its investigation of fracking pollution around Dimock, PA — as EPA HQ announced it was ending its study of Dimock wells. Now there's an echo in Pavillion, WY.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [27]
Environmental Politics [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Economy & Business [28]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [21]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about EPA Staff Report Contradicts Agency's Agnosticism on Fracking [26]
NIOSH Withholding Locations Where Fracking Sand Threatens Workers [29]

Studies by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health show silica used in hydraulic fracturing of tight oil and gas formations can endanger workers. But a FOIA request seeking to know the sites where workers had been endangered has met with no response, independent journalist and SEJ member Elizabeth Grossman reports.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [15]
Health [5]
Government [27]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about NIOSH Withholding Locations Where Fracking Sand Threatens Workers [29]

Pages