The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "EPA" ...
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C-HIT: Toxic Laundry Emissions
Industrial laundries in New England have recently come under intense scrutiny by the EPA, ever since the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) found that volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) were being released at a facility in Waterbury, CT. According to Steve Rapp, Chief of the Air Technical Unit, EPA Region 1, the problem is widespread and significant. “The industrial laundries are grossly under-reporting their VOCs,” said Rapp. “It’s a total sleeper.” The problem stems from the process of laundering shop towels, which are often contaminated with toxic solvents. When improperly cleaned, the solvents are vaporized and emitted to the surrounding air. This article investigated this little-known source of air pollution, shedding light on the industry’s practices and its impact on air quality and public health.
Tags: Volatile organic compunds; VOC's; DEEP; air quality; public health
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What's killing their children?
A 19 ACTION NEWS Investigation lasting an entire year expose a cancer cluster killing children in Clyde, Ohio. The federal EPA has now started their own investigation after 19 ACTION NEWS and viewers demanded that the U.S. government step in to help solve this deadly mystery. The federal investigation comes after five years of the state of Ohio failing to find a cause of what has killed six children with more than 30 kids diagnosed with cancer.
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Bee Aware
An investigation in the decline of honey bees in recent years due to the use of a pesticide that the EPA has neglected to fully examine and put restrictions on.
Tags: honey bee; pesticide; EPA; neonicotinoids; ccd; colony collapse disorder;
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Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities
This partnered investigation looks into the Clean Air Act and what it has been failing to do: protecting communities from toxic air pollutants for 21 years.
Tags: EPA; Clean Air Act; air pollution
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"Superfund Project"
This project was reported by a group of interns at The Oklahoman who wanted to investigate the effects of toxic areas on Oklahoman residents. They revealed that the government had been trying to "stimulate activity to clean up the sites" by just transferring wastes from one place to another. It was also found that "little had been done" on several federal Superfund projects, and many were "underfunded."
Tags: FOI; EPA; database; Tar Creek; Environmental Protection Agency; toxic waste; lead; cadmium; Picher; G&J's Gorilla Cage; National Priorities List
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Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed
This book reveals how the U.S. government consciously looked away as miners, and then the neighbors, were exposed to uranium's dangers as it was mined on a Navajo reservation, in a slow-motion environmental catastrophe that last for decades and continues today.
Tags: uranium; radiation; mining; Navajo; Indian reservation; yellow cake; yellow dirt; EPA; Environmental Protection Agency; Indian Health Service; Bureau of Indian Affairs; Atomic Energy Commission; National Cancer Institute; environmental pollution; environmental disaster; nuclear power; atomic bomb
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"Barnegat Bay Under Stress"
This series of stories investigates the gradual demise of Barnegat Bay, the "largest coastal estuary" in New Jersey. Reporters found that thousands of pounds of fertilizer and other "land-borne pollution" is flowing into the bay. The investigative series resulted in Gov. Chris Christie shutting down a nearby nuclear power plant and earmarking millions of dollars for "special environmental control funding."
Tags: Gov. Chris Christie; pollution; wildlife; stormwater; Oyster Creek; nuclear power plant; estuary; fertilizer; jellyfish; Ocean Gate; Toms River; EPA
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"130 Million Tons of Waste"
When coal is burned for electricity, it produces a byproduct called coal ash. "Every year, 130 million tons" of the ash is produced. It's "one of the largest waste-streams in the U.S.," and currently, there is little to no federal oversight. This report focuses on two major coal ash spills have occurred in the U.S. One of the spills caused "two communities to lose access to clean drinking water."
Tags: Coal ash; burning coal; toxic waste; Chesapeake; Kingston; EPA; Coal and Utilities
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"The Air We Breathe"
The people living in and around Pittsburgh are breathing in some of the poorest quality air in the U.S. High levels of Benzene and other harmful chemicals have been found in the air causing potentially serious health risks to residents who inhale the "toxic brew" over a long time period. The Allegheny County Board of Health has "indefinitely postponed" voting on issuing new air quality permits.
Tags: Neville Island; Coke Works; Clairton; Allegheny County Board of Health; air quality; Dan Onorato; Pittsburgh; Carnegie Mellon University; EPA; American Lung Association
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"Schoool Radon"
The state of Pennsylvania does not require schools to test for radon, a cancer-causing chemical. In fact, the majority of school districts in the western part of the state had not "done any radon testing." Testing in other districts registered levels many times higher than the "EPA maximum safe level." One district that tested positive for radon did not share the information with parents.
Tags: Howe Elementary; Mount Lebanon; Gateway school district; Aliquippa; Allegheny County; Beaver County; Rochester; EPA