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 "coal" ...
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As Mine Protections Fail, Black Lung Cases Surge
A joint investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity mined government databases and analyzed together for the first time ever, coal dust enforcement records and black lung occurrence data. We compiled what appear to be the most comprehensive accounts to date of an unexpected reemergence of black lung, sharp increases among younger miners, rapid progression to the most serious stages, widespread fraudulent coal dust testing by industry, weaknesses and loopholes in federal regulations, and ineffective enforcement by federal regulators. We asked Ken Ward Jr., the veteran coal industry reporter at the Charleston Gazette, to contribute web and print stories about the history of failed government regulation, as well as fraudulent coal dust testing specifically at the Upper Big Branch mine, where 29 miners died in an explosion fueled by coal dust in 2010. Our reporting prompted the Labor Department to establish an internal team to review the agency's enforcement of coal dust regulations, according to internal agency e-mails obtained by NPR. Federal regulators stepped up coal dust enforcement, targeting mines with a history of violations. Members of Congress cited the series in calling for tougher regulations, and one group launched a petition drive demanding action.
Tags: mining; miners; black lung disease; coal dust; government
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No. 9: The 1968 Farmington Mine Disaster
The 1968 Farmington Coal Mine Disaster prompted Congress to pass the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, the first law to set meaningful underground safety standards and fines for violations. Despite the importance of the tragedy, which took the lives of 78 men, neither federal nor the state government determined the cause of the disaster. The state did not produce a final report as was required by West Virginia law, and the federal government did not make public its final, inconclusive report until 1990. This book pieces the story together, documenting the dangerous conditions that plagued the No. 9 from 1935 through the first deadly disaster in 1954 that killed 16 men and up to the 1968 tragedy.
Tags: farmington coal mine; virginia; united states; safety; coal
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Should Washington Become The King of Shipping Coal to China?
SSA Marine, a company specializing in marine terminal operations, signed a contract with coal producer, Peabody Energy, to ship 24 millions metric tons of coal. The terminal raised concerns for enviromentalists who opposed shipping to China, especially in light of Washington's 2011 legislation not to burn coal for its own power.
Tags: Coal; SSA Marine; China; Washington; Peabody Energy
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Power Brokers
The story investigates what lead to the passage of the disastrous electricity deregulation law in Montana.
Tags: Montana Public Service Commission; deregulation; clean coal; records
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"Study sees parking lots dust as cancer risk"
This investigation reveals a connection between common parking lot sealants and cancer-causing dust found in American homes. Coal tar sealant, meant to "protect pavement and asphalt" from cracking and other types of damage, slowly wears away over time. People can track the substance into their homes, which researchers believe is the reason "high levels of chemicals used in the sealant" shows up in house dust. The effects are potentially damaging, especially for "young children."
Tags: coal; tar; cancer; sealant; dust; U.S. Geological Survey; FOIA; chemicals
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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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Fly Ash: Coal-Fired Dilemma
This series of stories showed how a virtually unknown state environmental policy, blessed by the EPA, let developers sculpt an 18-hole golf course with 1.5 million tons of "fly ash," a contaminant-laden residue left from the burning of coal for electricity, posing a threat to the wells of adjacent homeowners. Fly ash contains heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury, which can pose environmental threats through air and water. Although the EPA has been studying the the environmental;ecological impacts of fly ash for decades, it has twice determined that it doesn't warrant classification as "hazardous waste." The result is that there are no national guidelines for fly ash disposal; regulation is left up to the states, resulting in a hodge-podge of policies.
Tags: environment; EPA; contaminant; coal industry; fly ash; testing; site assessment; homeowners
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Too much time, Too few answers
The Crandall Canyon min in Huntington, Utah collapsed, killing six miners and a subsequent cave-ion took the lives of three rescuers. The event was blamed on a mine bounce, when pressure from the roof causes the thick coal pillars supporting the roof to explode. Several months earlier in March a major bounce occurred 900 feet from where the collapse in August happened, and it was never reported to federal mine regulators. Mining experts wondered why the federal regulators approved the original mine plan to begin with.
Tags: accident; mine; land management; coal; mine safety; Robert Murray; Richard Stickler; MSHA
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CPS Must DIe
City-owned utility CPS Energy plans to double the size of its South Texas Nuclear Project bye adding two nuclear reactors without knowing how much the new plants will cost. A reports by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy shows that the state's future energy needs don't include the need for new power plants to be constructed.
Tags: natural gas; resource; electricity; solar; coal; Mike Kotera
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A matter of safety: Utah's Coal Mines
"Despite a long history of mine disasters, Utah coal mines still consistently and repeatedly break even the most essential of safety rules."
Tags: mining; coal mines; mine safety; safety violations; mine evacuation; cave-in;