Publication Items

NIOSH Withholding Locations Where Fracking Sand Threatens Workers [1]

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 [3]
Health [4]
Government [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about NIOSH Withholding Locations Where Fracking Sand Threatens Workers [1]
Does Info on Pipeline Hazards Belong to Public They Endanger? [8]

A doughty, Pulitzer-winning publication is insisting the public has a right to know when pipeline companies are profiting by endangering people's lives, health, and property. InsideClimate News is pushing back against oil companies and federal regulators who say reports on pipeline flaws and hazards are trade secrets.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [3]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Economy & Business [9]
Disasters [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Does Info on Pipeline Hazards Belong to Public They Endanger? [8]
National Pipeline Mapping System, Though Hobbled, Can Help Journalists [12]

After a decade of neglect, the NPMS is partly back online and marginally functional. Parts of it don't even work. But if you want to get a general clue about the location of major natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in your community, the NPMS is one place to start. And, there are other ways to get the info you need.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about National Pipeline Mapping System, Though Hobbled, Can Help Journalists [12]
Exxon Seeks To Keep Pegasus Inspections Secret As KXL Twists in Wind [14]

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 [15]
Environmental Politics [13]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Disasters [10]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Exxon Seeks To Keep Pegasus Inspections Secret As KXL Twists in Wind [14]
Congressional Research Service Reports on Environment Leaked [16]

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 [17]
Transportation [18]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Disasters [10]
Climate Change [19]
Chemicals [20]
Agriculture [21]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Congressional Research Service Reports on Environment Leaked [16]
Disclosure? BLM Fracking Rule Panned by Industry, Panned by Enviros [22]

The revised proposal still allows companies to claim trade secrecy on chemicals in fracking fluid — and to fulfill disclosure requirements on the remainder by submitting them to the controversial FracFocus database, run by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and the Groundwater Protection Council.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [15]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Chemicals [20]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Disclosure? BLM Fracking Rule Panned by Industry, Panned by Enviros [22]
Pennsylvania Gas Industry Keeps Secret Database on Pre-Drill Quality of Wells [23]

The fracking industry loves to argue there's no proof its gas-extraction methods cause pollution. But it works hard in Pennsylvania to keep secret any evidence that might prove the question — one way or the other. Existence of its database was reported by Marie Cusick of WITF in Harrisburg, via NPR's StateImpact Pennsylvania.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [17]
Pollution [24]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Economy & Business [9]
Chemicals [20]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [25]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Pennsylvania Gas Industry Keeps Secret Database on Pre-Drill Quality of Wells [23]
Elephant Wrangling on the Energy Beat [26]

More than one observer has compared covering energy to the folk tale about the blind men who try to describe an elephant, and end up shouting at each other because they’ve each grasped a different part of the beast and believe their portion represents the whole thing. Freelancer Jennifer Weeks reports.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [13]
Journalism & Media [28]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [29]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Elephant Wrangling on the Energy Beat [26]
Whodunit? The Case of the Disappearing Dilbit [30]

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 [6]
Disasters [10]
Region:
Canada [31]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [32]
National (U.S.) [11]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Whodunit? The Case of the Disappearing Dilbit [30]
What’s Coming in Energy? Veteran Reporters Look Ahead [33]

What big energy issues will emerge on the reporting agenda for the year to come? To find out, the SEJ convened a panel of top-flight environmental journalists at the Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. Jan. 25, 2013.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [35]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [5]
Journalism & Media [28]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Other or All [36]
Policy [37]
Science [38]
Region:
Asia [39]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about What’s Coming in Energy? Veteran Reporters Look Ahead [33]

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