Publication Items

Got Methyl Mercaptan? Group Maps Chemical Risks Data [1]

It was news when a leak of methyl mercaptan killed four workers at a DuPont chemical plant in La Porte, Texas, November 15, 2014. Maps and data are available to any environmental journalists who want to know about similar hazards near them, thanks to Amanda Frank at the Center for Effective Government.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
People & Population [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Got Methyl Mercaptan? Group Maps Chemical Risks Data [1]
Living in Harm’s Way: Louisiana’s Struggle Between Land and Sea [7]

After Katrina, Louisiana may have hit the national spotlight for a time, but coastal communities elsewhere around the country will have to find their own answers to the question “Why does anyone still live there in harm’s way?” — even as more and more people move toward the coast and the water moves ever closer to them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [8]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [9]
Environmental Health [10]
Fish & Fisheries [11]
People & Population [5]
Planning & Growth [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [14]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Living in Harm’s Way: Louisiana’s Struggle Between Land and Sea [7]
Realities of Coastal Living Often Forgotten, Until the Worst Hits [15]

In the effort to help all coastal communities face with the realities that the Gulf of Mexico is their neighbor and sea level rise is inching up relentlessly, lessons can be learned from Louisiana as it works to adapt and to mitigate flood risk.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [8]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
People & Population [5]
Planning & Growth [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [14]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Realities of Coastal Living Often Forgotten, Until the Worst Hits [15]
Toxics: Find Kids at Risk in Your Congressional District [16]

The Center for Effective Government has compiled an interactive mapping database of some of the most dangerous chemical facilities in the U.S., showing their proximity to schools. The group also mapped which Congressional districts contain the most schoolkids at risk.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
People & Population [5]
Technology [17]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Toxics: Find Kids at Risk in Your Congressional District [16]
Tapping the Environmental Journalism 'Power Grid' [18]

SEJ President Don Hopey explains his glass-half-full look at the maturing of the environment beat and its growing importance in everyday life.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ Presidents Report [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Tapping the Environmental Journalism 'Power Grid' [18]
Constitution Wins After Court Imposes Prior Restraint on Pipeline Safety Info [21]

As a nationwide newspaper chain probed safety threats posed to the public by gas pipelines, an Alabama court imposed prior restraint on the Montgomery Advertiser, to prevent it from publishing the Alabama Gas Corporation's safety plan, citing homeland security and trade secrets. Now a judge has ruled that the court erred in granting a temporary restraining order.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [22]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [14]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Constitution Wins After Court Imposes Prior Restraint on Pipeline Safety Info [21]
SEJournal Summer 2014, Vol. 24 No. 2 [25]

In this issue: Covering the environment, health fallout of unexploded ordnance; special report on risk and resilience/lessons from Louisiana on the realities of coastal iving; freelancers and fellowships, a path for growth; utilizing the National Weather Service to track storm intensity; tapping the environmental journalism 'power grid'; book reviews; and classroom research on long-term relevance of front-page stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJournal Online [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Journalism & Media [20]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [27]
People & Population [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about SEJournal Summer 2014, Vol. 24 No. 2 [25]
Fresh Secret Reports from the Congressional Research Service [28]

Here are some recent explainers of interest to environmental journalists from the CRS, which Congress does not allow to be released to the taxpaying public who paid for them. The WatchDog thanks those who leaked them and the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy for publishing them.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [29]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [30]
Economy & Business [9]
Energy & Fuel [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [31]
People & Population [5]
Policy [32]
Pollution [33]
Transportation [34]
Water & Oceans [13]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Fresh Secret Reports from the Congressional Research Service [28]
What the Public Isn't Allowed To Know Could Kill You [35]

The federal government has not only done very little to protect the public from the mass-casualty threats chemical facilities present to neighboring communities, they've focused efforts on keeping the public from knowing about those threats or the government's own failures to keep them safe. Now the U.S. EPA has signaled that it is about to revise a key rule governing chemical facility safety and security.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [36]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about What the Public Isn't Allowed To Know Could Kill You [35]
National Bridge Inventory Rife with Environmental, Safety Stories [37]

The National Bridge Inventory is a data tool that environmental and energy reporters can use to make their beat relevant to a wider audience. Compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, it can provide leads on stories like the use of federal highway funds, poor bridge maintenance, and even the pollution of water bodies with lead paint.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
People & Population [5]
Pollution [33]
Technology [17]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about National Bridge Inventory Rife with Environmental, Safety Stories [37]

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