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 "Superfund" ...
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Toxic Landscape: A Neighborhood In Peril
The Record's three-part series "Toxic Landscape: A Neighborhood In Peril" chronicles 30 years of poor decisions, lax enforcement, and bureaucratic indifference by the New Jersey Department of Enviromental Protection that lead to an entire Garfield, N.J. neighborhood becoming a Superfund site last year.
Tags: New Jersey Department of Enviromental Protection; Posion; Garfield; New Jersey
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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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A River Lost?
This investigation explored the many ways in which a Seattle Superfund site, the Duwamish River, was being neglected by the government. The reporters found that plans to clean up the pollution fell short, that local governments did not follow EPA orders regarding the river, and locals who fish in the river are eating unsafe levels of contaminated fish.
Tags: environment; pollution; chemicals; toxic waste; EPA; federal government; local government; Boeing
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Wasting Away: Superfund's Toxic Legacy
An analysis of the EPA's Superfund program listing nearly 100 companies responsible for more than 40 percent of America’s most contaminated sites. Since the Superfund’s creation in 1980, of the 700 sites less than one in five have been cleaned up or removed from the list. From 1998 to 2005, the companies spent more than $1 billion lobbying to the federal government and contributed more than $120 million to federal campaigns.
Tags: hazardous waste; unhealthy; contaminate; EPA; toxic exposure; solid waste;
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Mercury Menace
The author documented widespread mercury contamination in the town of McIntosh, AL. Most of the very public contamination had apparently escaped the attention of the EPA during Superfund investigations between 1984 and 2005. The reporter showed that mercury levels in creeks and rivers would rank among the highest mercury-contaminated areas of the U.S.
Tags: FOIA; contamination; Mercury; McIntosh; Superfund; E.P.A; Fish and Wildlife Service; Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Olin Corp.; Ciba Corp.
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Zonolite
This two-part series focused on a product called Zonolite. For decades it was used as an attic insulation in millions of homes across the United States. Internal documents from the company that mines the raw material, and government agencies found that the product contains tremolite asbestos, one of the most deadly forms of asbestos. It is related to numerous deaths and illness of the lungs from inhalation of the dust particles of the product. More than 70,000 homes statewide in Michigan (including Detroit) have the product in their attics. Many former employees of the company are at risk of lung ailments without their knowledge of the product's hazard. The series discovered that the EPA was trying to internally assess exactly what to tell the public who may come in contact with the product about how to handle Zonolite. It also included information about how to check the attic of a home to see if there is Zonolite, as well as precautions to be taken.
Tags: TAPE; Zonolite; EPA; Environmental Protection Agency; W.R. Grace; vermiculite; tremolite asbestos; asbestos; inhalation; dust particles Superfund cleanup sit; lung; homeowners; construction; contractor; plumber; attic; mine; toxicity; environmental damage; strip mining; dust; environmental medicine; carcinogen; Libby; mineral
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Radioactive Water Flowed to Thousands of Homes
This series detailed how high levels of radium 226/228, known human carcinogens linked to bone and nasal cancers, contaminated public drinking water wells that provided water to thousands of people in Northwest Florida between 1996-2000. The public utility responsible for water safety resisted state efforts to clean the radioactive material and inform the public, because it cost too much money. The Utilities Authority conducted tapwater samples that measured high concentrations of radium coming out of fountains at an elementary school, regional airport, government offices, and the tourist welcome center, but the results of these samples were never made public.
Tags: radium; human carcinogens; bone cancer; nasal cancer; contaminated drinking water wells; radioactive material; Escambia County Utilities Authority; drinking water; Agrico Chemical Co. Superfund hazardous waste; U.S. Florida Department of Environmental protection; radium-tainted water; Escambia County Health Department; Pensacola Regional Airport; Santa Rosa Island Authority; Cordova Park Elementary School; Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water; American Agricultural Chemical Co.; U.S. Geological Survey; maximum contamination level; MCL; Northwest Florida Management District; water cleanup; Environmental Protection Agency; "limited action" cleanup DuPont; ConocoPhillips; Conoco Inc.; The Williams Co.; Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
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Toxic Chemicals Taint Barton Waters
Samples from a smattering of Austin city waterways showed high levels of toxins, some higher than levels f the same chemicals in Superfund sites. The levels of contaminants pose some serious health concerns for the city, which has the waterways under its jurisdiction.
Tags: toxins; water pollution; arsenic; environment
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Is GE Mightier Than The Hudson?
The Nation examines General Electric Co. and its' CEO Jack Welch, who "has worked overtime to dodge GE's responsibility for cleaning up the upper Hudson River, the biggest toxic site on the Superfund list of the Environmental Protection Agency." The pollution involves the dumping of PCBs into the river.
Tags: GE; General Electric Co.; Hudson River; EPA; Superfund site; PCBs; dredging; Jack Welch
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Civil Inaction
The American Lawyer looks at a topic creeping further into the spotlight: The Superfund debate. Some say litigation over any Superfund sites can be worth up to $500 million, while others say that they can be worth nothing. Some of the major problems with pursuing these kinds of cases are discussed in this story.