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 "Ohio Environmental Protection Agency" ...
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EPA Fails to Inform Public About Weed-Killer in Drinking Water
The Environmental Protection Agency kept secret the high level of the herbicide atrazine found in the water supply of communities in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kansas. Residents were not alerted and were actually given false water readings from state and local authorities.
Tags: atrazine; environmental protection agency; watershed; water; herbicide; weed-killer; Huffington Post Investigative Fund; drinking; safety; public; health;
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362 Million Pounds of Trouble
Analysis shows that about one-quarter of the state of Ohio's waste in 1989 included toxic chemicals that are known or suspected to cause cancer and birth defects. That's the equivalent of seven and a half pounds for every man, woman, and child in the state. Steel Mills are among the state's biggest generators of toxic waste. Ohio's industries generated 362 million pounds of toxic waste, a figure that should rank Ohio as one of the most polluted states in the nation.
Tags: B.P. Chemicals America Inc.; TRI; toxic waste; toxic chemicals; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Toxic Release Inventory; benzene; steel-making; leukemia; cancer; Armco; birth defects; Clean Air Act; Ammonium sulfate; manganese compounds; hydrochloric acid; ammonia; xylene; zinc compounds; sulfuric acid; acetone; trichloroethane; toluene
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Children Left Behind
The reporters set out to assess the problems children in Cleveland face. They managed to uncover hazards that even the public officials and community activists who had dedicated their careers to these issues. for example, they found that half a million Ohio Children live next door to a toxic waste site. Another finding was that nearly 1 million children live in poor housing, putting them at greater risk for fires, accidents, and environmental health hazards such as lead poisoning and asthma. They also discovered that babies born to teenage mothers are much more likely to be premature, and these babies had cost the state roughly $161 million dollars in five year. Another finding was that children of color were in most danger, they account for about a quarter of all child deaths.
Tags: toxic waste; poor housing; fires; accidents; environmental health; teenage mothers; teen pregnancy; premature babies; inner-city neighborhoods; Guatemala; African American children; child deaths; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Planned Parenthood; Federation for Community Planning; Ohio Department of Health; lead poisoning; poor housing; asthma; Child deaths; food banks; poverty; Rocking Horse Center; birth rate; child mortality rate; hazardous waste sites; Sherwin-Williams; Benjamin Moore; Environmental Health Watch in Cleveland; pollution; youth prison; Youth Health Empowerment Project; STD's; birth control
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Risk vs. Risk
A Governing investigation finds that "when pollution crops up, governments overreact." Determined to clean up everything, public officials tend to spend more taxpayers money than necessary, the story reveals. Now a growing number of regulators look at the need to re-evaluate this approach by initiating changes in state laws and pollution standards. The methods of re-evaluation include cost-benefit analyses and comparative risk projects involving citizens. To illustrate the issue, the reporter points to the case of Columbus, Ohio, where local government may be forced by the Environmental Protection Agency to spend more than $1 billion in order to comply with national pollution control standards regarding drinking water. In fact, local health officials figured out that the amount of chemicals in the water is so minuscule that only one resident would die every 208 years from drinking Columbus' water.
Tags: atrazine; pesticides; water; farming; Congress; legislature; EPA; natural resources; conservation
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Can Polluters Police Themselves
Governing looks at controversies surrounding businesses' own environmental audits. While state legislators believe companies can and should run their own audits, the Environmental Protection Agency and many environmentalists disagree, the magazine reports. One of the findings is that so far relatively few businesses have take advantage of audit laws that waive to different degree state penalties for companies who have discovered their own violations. The story includes an exhaustive list of pros and cons regarding audit laws.
Tags: lobbyists; lawyers; Coors; Colorado; Michigan; Cincinnati; Ohio; pollution; Clean Water Act; right-to-know laws
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Toxic Troubles: What toll on public health?
The Dispatch investigated Ohio's hazardous waste problem. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has neglected its obligation to investigate and clean up dangerous sites. Parent's are concerned that the environmental problems are a threat to their children's health.
Tags: Children; Cancer; Department of Health; Superfund; Water
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Dumping on Ohio
Z Magazine reports that "The push is on for low-level radioactive waste dumps...." Chamberlain chronicles Ohio's political and business struggle with whether to build a dump, if so where, and who should pay for it.
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Spills Chill Regulators
The Plain Dealer reports that of the 5,589 toxic chemical spills that occurred in Ohio in 1990, 121 threatened lives and property. The chemical accidents occurred when trucks hauling toxic chemicals wrecked on highways, above ground chemical tanks exploded, warehouses and plants caught fire, and workers made critical mistakes. The analysis also found that most companies involved did not report the accidents to the county emergency response team or the state Environmental Protection Agency. Residents living near plants did a better job reporting chemical emergencies than most companies at fault.
Tags: CAR CAJ EPA; Pollution; hauling hazardous waste; transportation; storage; accidental spills
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Government waste/a federal offense
The Kiplinger Program Report (Ohio State University) writes a 32-page expose of government waste and bureaucratic bungling by the federal government; takes in-depth look at the Social Securities Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. General Services Administration, Federal Housing Administration, Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Tags: Federal bureaucracy; federal spending; Social Securities Administration; EPA; FDA; FHA; HUD