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Home > Environmental Justice

Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [1]

After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, reporters from Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked together to shed light on who was responsible for this disaster and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report from Public Health Watch’s David Leffler and Savanna Strott looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [15]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Visibility: 
Public [18]

Shell Chemical Plant Had Many Violations Before Recent Fire, Paid Few Fines [19]

"Residents, lawyers, and environmental groups point to aging facilities and reluctant state regulators as reasons for the continued string of industrial fires."

Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Source: Houston Public Media [20], 06/16/2023

"Out of Balance" [21]

"The World Bank Group enabled the devastation of villages and helped a mining company justify the deaths of endangered chimps with a dubious offset."

Biodiversity [22]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Natural Resources [23]
People & Population [24]
Wildlife [25]
Public [18]
Africa [26]
Source: ProPublica [27], 06/16/2023

Bayer OKs $6.9 Million Settlement With New York Over Roundup Safety Claims [28]

"Bayer AG agreed on Thursday to pay $6.9 million to settle claims by New York Attorney General Letitia James that it misled consumers by advertising Roundup weedkiller, which has been linked to cancer, as environmentally safe."

Agriculture [29]
Biodiversity [22]
Chemicals [4]
Consumer [30]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Reuters [31], 06/16/2023

"US Government Toughens Rules On Chemicals Used To Break Up Oil Slicks" [32]

"The Environmental Protection Agency has announced more stringent rules governing offshore oil spill response, amid continuing concerns about the effects on public health and wildlife from chemical disasters, including BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010."

Biodiversity [22]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Fish & Fisheries [33]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Natural Resources [23]
Water & Oceans [34]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Guardian [35], 06/16/2023

"US Cities Risk Losing Out On Clean-Energy Incentives, Jobs" [36]

"In a church on Chicago's West Side near where he grew up, Marques Jones Jr. is hoping to earn more money and help his family by learning how to install and maintain the solar panels he now sees everywhere he goes."

Climate Change [37]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Justice [9]
Infrastructure [38]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn. [39], 06/15/2023

"How Arizona Stands Between Tribes and Their Water" [40]

"As it negotiates water rights with tribes, Arizona goes to unique lengths to extract concessions that limit tribes’ opportunities for growth and economic development, according to a ProPublica and High Country News investigation."

Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Infrastructure [38]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Natural Resources [23]
Water & Oceans [34]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Source: ProPublica/HCN [41], 06/15/2023

ER Visits for Asthma in NYC Soared as Wildfire Smoke Blanketed the Region [42]

"Smoky days can double emergency hospital visits for asthma, which disproportionately affects Black and Latino children. In New York, the Bronx was especially hard hit."

Air [3]
Climate Change [37]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Forests [43]
Pollution [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Inside Climate News [44], 06/15/2023

Greta Thunberg: Not Phasing Out Fossil Fuels Is ‘Death Sentence’ For Poor [45]

"Rich countries are signing a “death sentence” for millions of poor people around the world by failing to phase out fossil fuels, the climate activist Greta Thunberg has told governments."

Activism [46]
Climate Change [37]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
People & Population [24]
Public [18]
International [47]
Source: Guardian [48], 06/14/2023

"Protest Derails Chaco National Park Celebration" [49]

"It was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, after her agency spent many months hosting public meetings and talking with Native American leaders about curbing the pace of oil and gas development in the San Juan Basin and protecting culturally significant sites."

Activism [46]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Natural Resources [23]
People & Population [24]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [50]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Source: AP [51], 06/13/2023

Pages

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/features/watching-watchers-how-journalistic-teamwork-uncovered-years-regulatory-failure [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/features [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [16] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [17] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [18] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [19] https://www.sej.org/headlines/shell-chemical-plant-had-many-violations-recent-fire-paid-few-fines [20] https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/in-depth/2023/06/14/454375/shells-deer-park-chemical-plant-had-received-thousands-of-violations-prior-to-recent-fire/ [21] https://www.sej.org/headlines/out-balance [22] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [25] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife [26] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/africa [27] https://www.propublica.org/article/biodiversity-offsets-guinea-world-bank-group-chimpanzees-outbreak [28] https://www.sej.org/headlines/bayer-oks-69-million-settlement-new-york-over-roundup-safety-claims [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer [31] https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/bayer-reaches-69-mln-settlement-with-new-york-over-roundup-safety-claims-2023-06-15/ [32] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-government-toughens-rules-chemicals-used-break-oil-slicks [33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [34] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [35] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/14/epa-chemical-regulation-oil-spill-cleanup-exxon-valdez-bp [36] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-cities-risk-losing-out-clean-energy-incentives-jobs [37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [39] https://www.context.news/just-transition/us-cities-risk-losing-out-on-clean-energy-incentives-jobs [40] https://www.sej.org/headlines/how-arizona-stands-between-tribes-and-their-water [41] https://www.propublica.org/article/how-arizona-stands-between-tribes-and-their-water [42] https://www.sej.org/headlines/er-visits-asthma-nyc-soared-wildfire-smoke-blanketed-region [43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests [44] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14062023/new-york-er-asthma-willdfire-smoke/ [45] https://www.sej.org/headlines/greta-thunberg-not-phasing-out-fossil-fuels-death-sentence-poor [46] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism [47] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international [48] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/13/greta-thunberg-not-phasing-out-fossil-fuels-is-death-sentence-for-worlds-poor [49] https://www.sej.org/headlines/protest-derails-chaco-national-park-celebration [50] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/religion-faith-and-spirituality [51] https://ictnews.org/news/protest-derails-chaco-national-park-celebration [52] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=127 [53] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=124 [54] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=125 [55] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=126 [56] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=129 [57] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=130 [58] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=131 [59] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=132 [60] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice?page=261