Publication Items

DHS and CDC Refuse To Give House Panel Docs on Failed BioWatch Program [1]

After wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a non-working program aimed at protecting the US public from biological attack, the Department of Homeland Security and Centers for Disease Control may be refusing to give documents on the program to House Energy Committee investigators.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [3]
Government [4]
Disasters [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about DHS and CDC Refuse To Give House Panel Docs on Failed BioWatch Program [1]
Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives [7]

A geeky nonprofit watchdog group has done what government and private industry have failed to do; the group, SkyTruth, has made data about the ingredients in fracking fluid easily accessible to the public.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [8]
Health [3]
Energy & Fuel [9]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives [7]
When News Embargoes May Endanger Public Health [10]

When NPR's David Schultz wanted to report last month on whether extra mumps vaccinations given in 2009 to Jewish children in the NYC area had worked or had side effects, he ran up against an embargo imposed by the journal Pediatrics. If you worry about how embargoes affect journalists' access, you may want to follow Embargo Watch.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [11]
Health [3]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about When News Embargoes May Endanger Public Health [10]
Enviros Urge EPA Not To Weaken Drinking Water Reports [12]

Fifteen environmental and public health groups say EPA had not allowed sufficient time for public review, only put relevant information into its docket at the last minute, and emphasized easing a "burden" utilities had lived with for years at the expense of protecting the public.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [8]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Health [3]
Government [4]
Activism [14]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Enviros Urge EPA Not To Weaken Drinking Water Reports [12]
Researchers, Health Groups Urge Congress Not To Black Out Carcinogens Report [15]

More than 70 scientists from research and health groups wrote House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders September 4, 2012, urging them not to cut funds for the biennial Report on Carcinogens, which showed that formaldehyde and styrene can cause cancer.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [3]
Government [4]
Environmental Politics [16]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Researchers, Health Groups Urge Congress Not To Black Out Carcinogens Report [15]
Two Dead as FDA Refuses To Name Farm That Recalled Melons [17]

The Food and Drug Administration is so far refusing to name a Southwestern Indiana farm that voluntarily recalled its cantaloupes after a Salmonella outbreak last month that killed two people and sickened some 150.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [3]
Food [18]
Agriculture [19]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [20]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Two Dead as FDA Refuses To Name Farm That Recalled Melons [17]
House Considers Quashing Report on Carcinogens [21]

For years, scientists at the National Toxicology Program have published the "Report on Carcinogens," which lists chemicals known to (or believed to) cause cancer. The "12th Report on Carcinogens" was released on June 10, 2011 — will there be a 13th? Some House Republicans want to stop updating and publication of the report.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [3]
Government [4]
Chemicals [22]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about House Considers Quashing Report on Carcinogens [21]
TOOLBOX: EWG Ag Subsidy Database a Tall Silo of Environmental Stories [23]

One starting point to covering agriculture — and the health implications of land and water use — is to follow the money using Environmental Working Group's major database tool. Any reporter covering the ag-environment link should know about it.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [8]
Pollution [24]
Policy [25]
Health [3]
Environmental Politics [16]
Environmental Health [26]
Agriculture [19]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about TOOLBOX: EWG Ag Subsidy Database a Tall Silo of Environmental Stories [23]
Clear Channel Mounts FBI Billboards Promoting Trade Secrecy [27]

Claims of trade secrecy — often unsubstantiated — are a huge barrier to environmental reporters and others trying to find the truth about chemicals that may harm human health and the environment. But the FBI's billboards urge Americans to be vigilant against corporate insiders who may appear suspicious, and presumably to turn them in.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [13]
Health [3]
Environmental Health [26]
Economy & Business [28]
Chemicals [22]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Clear Channel Mounts FBI Billboards Promoting Trade Secrecy [27]
Data.gov Keeps on Giving Gifts to Gumshoe Reporters [29]

The federal Data.gov, while not perfect, has grown over three years especially strong in datasets from federal agencies that deal with the environment, energy, natural resources, health, and science. Many of them are downloadable, so that you can crunch them on your own computer. Several are map layers or geo-tagged in some way. See a few randomly chosen examples here.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [30]
Water & Oceans [8]
Science [31]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [32]
Natural Resources [33]
Health [3]
Government [4]
Energy & Fuel [9]
Disasters [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Data.gov Keeps on Giving Gifts to Gumshoe Reporters [29]

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