Publication Items

NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams [1]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has for years suppressed full disclosure of the National Inventory of Dams, once a key tool for journalists reporting on dam safety — or the government's failure to ensure it. Now that tool is back in the toolbox ... mostly.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Government [4]
People & Population [5]
Water & Oceans [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams [1]
Do You Live Near a Hazardous Waste Site That's Still Not Cleaned Up? [9]

Several data resources can help journalists who want to develop stories about still-hazardous sites in their locality or region, including EPA's National Priorities List, CERCLIS database and state agencies.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Pollution [10]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Do You Live Near a Hazardous Waste Site That's Still Not Cleaned Up? [9]
Was EPA Forthcoming with Mine Spill Water Data? Depends Whom You Ask [11]

Access to water quality data was an issue at one highly politicized House hearing on the August 5, 2015, toxic spill from a long-abandoned mine near Silverton, Colorado, where New Mexico Secretary of Environment Ryan Flynn accused EPA of refusing for weeks to share data on the quality of waters fouled by the spill.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [4]
Pollution [10]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [13]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [14]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Was EPA Forthcoming with Mine Spill Water Data? Depends Whom You Ask [11]
Groups' Efforts for Disclosure of Pesticide "Inerts" Grinds On [15]

Whether pesticides harm the birds and bees — or human health — matters a lot. One of the public's protections is the requirement for disclosure in the nation's pesticide laws. Three groups, represented by Earthjustice, argue that EPA has authority under current federal pesticide law to require disclosure of inert ingredients.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [16]
Environmental Health [17]
Health [18]
Laws & Regulations [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Groups' Efforts for Disclosure of Pesticide "Inerts" Grinds On [15]
How Do We Know the Science Is Conflict-Free? [20]

Disclosure issues have been in the news of late — especially the war over research on genetically modified organisms. Now journalist Sara Reardon, in Nature News & Comment, has taken a deep look at disclosure policies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [19]
Policy [21]
Science [22]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about How Do We Know the Science Is Conflict-Free? [20]
Secret Reports to Congress — Revealed for Environmental Reporters [23]

New expert background reports of interest to environmental journalists and the public have been published by the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [24]
Natural Resources [25]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [26]
Water & Oceans [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
California [27]
Africa [28]
Antarctica & Arctic [29]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Secret Reports to Congress — Revealed for Environmental Reporters [23]
Feds Open Unclassified Spy Satellite Data on Arctic to Public [30]

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which runs satellites collecting geodata both classified and unclassified, has put up a new Web page with Arctic information. It just went up, and it's as little geeky, but it shows promise for longer-term utility.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [31]
Region:
Antarctica & Arctic [29]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Feds Open Unclassified Spy Satellite Data on Arctic to Public [30]
FOIA'd E-Mails Open Window on GMO Lobbying by Academics [32]

Investigative reporting in the environmental area depends on the Freedom of Information Act. The latest exposé on GMO lobbying in the New York Times by double-Pulitzer-winner Eric Lipton is a good example.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [33]
Economy & Business [34]
Food [35]
Technology [31]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about FOIA'd E-Mails Open Window on GMO Lobbying by Academics [32]
Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [36]

You'd think there shouldn't be such a thing as a secret oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this year, the Associated Press uncovered an offshore well in the Gulf that had been leaking for a decade. Now — thanks to a lawsuit from environmentalists — the details will be revealed.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [24]
Environmental Politics [12]
Fish & Fisheries [37]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [6]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [38]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [36]
Food Industry Heavyweights Spend Big To Lobby Against Transparency [39]

The battleground over transparency on food origins and ingredients is much wider than labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, as journalist Elizabeth Grossman points out in a recent piece in Civil Eats.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [40]
Food [35]
Laws & Regulations [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Food Industry Heavyweights Spend Big To Lobby Against Transparency [39]

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