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 "copper" ...
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China Storms Africa
China's drive for resources in Africa has depleted one sub-Saharan country after another is wreaking havoc environmentally and morally as corruption is on the rise and workers are being exploited.
Tags: Congo; Zambia; mining; Eh; pathogen; Mozambique; timber; copper; World Health Organization
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All Mine
"All Mine" details how the U.S. government facilitated a modern-day land grab by a politically connected American company in one of the world's poorest countries. Phoenix-based mining company Freeport McMoRan was able to purchase the world's largest copper mine from the the government of Congo at an extremely cheap rate because it made its play under the cloud of the world's deadliest conflict site since World War II, a climate of corruption and desperation. It did so with the help of $400 million in U.S. government financing, and intense lobbying from an employee of the U.S. Embassy in Congo -- a career diplomat who rushed through the revolving door to work for the mining company just weeks after the deal was finalized. Freeport McMoRan has a generously paid spokesman, not to mention millions in lobbying dollars, to get its story out. The report also includes interviews with Congolese people who were forced from their land and threatened with arrest for speaking with reporters.
Tags: copper; Congo; Freeport McMoRan; embassy; diplomat; mining
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Gas Line Explosions
Older soft copper gas lines have been linked to a series of home explosions. Regulators mandate such lines be replaced, but a KTVI investigation found that tens of thousands remain under homes. The homeowners never suspect, because the corrosion and gas leaks usually begin the yard, allowing the scent to be filtered out of the natural gas "as it travels through the soil into the home."
Tags: Gas leaks; homes; dangerous gas lines; at-risk homes; soft copper gas lines
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Playing with poison
WISH-TV set out to discover whether or not Indiana's children were being slowly poisoned by the playgrounds they play on every day. Most decks and playgrounds are treated with copper, chrome and arsenic to protect against weather and insects. The state says that 3.9 parts per million is a safe level of arsenic, but WISH-TV found playgrounds with levels of 56, 33.2 and a picnic table with a level of 3480. The EPA and other state health and environmental agencies have been aware of the problem for some time, but have failed to alert parents to the potential problem.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; health; safety; children; playgrounds; EPA
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What Lies Beneath
Riverfront Times chronicles "the history of corrosion problems with copper-inside-steel natural gas service lines as well as corroding direct-buried soft copper gas lines." The story depicts how a gas explosion in an old family upended the lives of Tom and Mary Hessel who were permanently disfigured as a result of their critical injuries. Laclede Gas, the faulty public utility, and the Missouri Public Service Commission, have known for years that the copper lines pose safety problems, but have failed to address the issue, the story reveals.
Tags: Missouri sunshine law; public safety; disabilities; burn survivors; lawsuits; settlement; fire protection
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The Profits of Doom
Atlantic Monthly describes how "one of the most polluted cities in America" - Butte, Montana - "learns to capitalize on its contamination." The story depicts "waste heaps laced with lead and arsenic" and "tainted waters" as legacies of the mining business that has been flourishing in Butte for decades. The reporter looks at a Butte-based engineering company, Mountain States Energy, which "saw its chance in the national discomfort with repositories as a permanent solution for toxic waste." The investigation reveals that, under the former city mayor's guidance, the company has "managed to assume control over research grants for a wide range of advanced cleanup technologies," and has opened "the possibility that an entirely new industry might come to life on these polluted grounds."
Tags: EPA; copper ore; sulfuric acid; mining; immigrants; pollution; contamination; government funding
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Dangers Ignored in Mine Tragedy
The Arizona Republic investigated an array of safety violations at a copper mine near Tucson, Arizona. The series started with a story about a fatal rock-fall that caused the death of a miner. This incident led the reporters "to a disturbing story of unsafe conditions, worker intimidation and regulatory laxity surrounding the mostly Hispanic workers..." The investigation found that "Mission Mine management refused to regularly install safety bolts, used to prevent failing rocks" and that Asarco, the owning company, "cordoned off unsafe areas to keep inspectors out even though miners regularly worked there." The reporters revealed a vicious circle that didn't allow the miners to prevent the dangers. The investigation found that "mine managers ordered a supervisor ... to fire employees who complained," while the local regulatory office refused to take seriously anonymous safety complaints.
Tags: Hispanic workers; Mexico; copper; U.S. Labor Department; hazardous conditions; claims
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New Life in a Death Trap
Discover Magazine looks at the highly acidic Lake Berkeley in Butte, Montana. Lake Berkeley once was an open-pit mine that ceased production in the early 1980s. When the mining came to a hault, groundwater flooded the pit. Today, Lake Berkeley has a pH of 2.6 and contains metals such as copper, cadmium and arsenic. However, while the lake appears dead, local scientists have discovered that tough bacteria and algae are actually living in the lake.
Tags: Lake Berkeley; Butte; Montana; life; bacteria; algae; metal; mining; enviornment
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Level One alleges $3.5 million swindle
The Sacramento Business Journal reports that "Level One, a leading-edge telecom(munications) company specializing in building integrated circuits that allow voice and data to be transferred at ever higher speeds through copper phone lines, got conned into buying technology it thought was real, but was faked in a rigged demonstration. The company paid millions in cash and stock for it, but got nothing. So Level One sued in federal court, naming Teddy Turner, son of media giant Ted Turner, as one of the swindlers..." Turner has denied all charges.
Tags: Level One Communications Inc.; lawsuit; legal action; phony; R.E.; "Teddy" Turner IV; Zekko Corp.; Madison and Linda Priest; Turner Broadcasting System; Turner Home Entertainment; Vision Tek telecommunications
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No title (id: 13478)
Mother Jones investigates Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, a New Orleans-based mining company with 1995 revenues of $1.8 billion. The secret to Freeport-McMoRan's success has been to keep journalists away from its Indonesian mine and put a spin on environmental and human rights abuses through high-placed political connections and a deceptive public relations campaign. (Sept. - Oct. 1996)