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 "hazards" ...
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Bad Neighbor Banks: How Big Lenders Spread Blight
Across South Florida, on block after block, homes abandoned in the foreclosure crisis have become eyesores, depressing property values, and posing health and safety hazards for nearby families. The Sun Sentinel investigated and found who was responsible for letting these homes rot: some of the world’s largest banks.
Tags: Hazards; property; banks; public health; public safety
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Campus Security
ChicagoTalks reporters found only a handful of the 63 colleges and universities in Cook County are following an Illinois law -- the Campus Security Enhancement Act of 2008 (SB 2691) -- aimed to make campuses safe. Under the law, colleges and universities are required to create all-hazard emergency and violence prevention plans, along with threat assessment teams and violence prevention committees. The schools are also required to hold annual security trainings. ChicagoTalks reporters contacted, often repeatedly, every public and private, two and four-year college and university in Cook County, and determined that 11 schools appear to be violating the law, while 45 schools provided conflicting or incomplete information -- or no information at all. Reporters found just seven schools in compliance.
Tags: campus security; Cook County; violence prevention; colleges; universities
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Terror on the Tracks
"Terror on the Tracks" exposes major gaps in freight rail security. We spent months criss-crossing the state gathering undercover video of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains carrying hazardous cargo. We found locomotives idling, unlocked, unmanned, unguarded - with the key, called a reverser, inside. The reverser makes the train move forward or backward on the track. The presence of the reverser would allow any intruder with basic knowledge to steal the train - potentially making them easy targets for terrorists. Our sources - current engineers and conductors working for BNSF with everything to lose by talking to us - say the trains are much more vulnerable than the company or the government is willing to admit. During our investigation we discovered trains had been stolen before - mostly by joy riders - all across the country.
Tags: freight rail security; terrorists; hazardous; cargo; engineers; conductors
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Where There's Smoke
"Where There's Smoke" investigates the military's practice of using open burn pits to dispose of the millions of tons of waste, including hazardous materials, generated by base operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Disaster Ahead? Deregulated Dams
A Tennessee law allows old watershed dams to be downgraded to farm ponds from high-hazard dams, exempting them from state safety inspections. The reporter discovered 13 of these dams were downgraded in 2008. The lack of oversight poses serious consequences because fatalities are likely to occur should one of the dams fail.
Tags: dams; farm pond; regulation; inspection; safety; public safety
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Carbon Monoxide at Cove Village
Even though, three people died of carbon monoxide in their apartment complex, the problem went uncorrected for four years afterwards. Also, even when the emergency calls continued to report carbon monoxide problems and a number of people were brought to the hospital, the government inspectors never stepped in to correct the hazard.
Tags: Essex complex; Wiley family; County Fire Department; toxic; Sawyer Realty; firefighters
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Toxic Legacy: The Story of Boat Harbor
An inlet from the sea in Nova Scotia is the site of an environmental catastrophe wrought by a Scott Paper Company mill. To attract the mill, officials approved using Boat Harbor as a toxic waste treatment pond. The investigation details the actions governmental bodies took in conjunction with Scott Paper that produced the health hazard that Boat Harbor creates for nearby residents today.
Tags: Nova Scotia; Boat Harbor; Scott Paper; mill; toxic; waste; water; residents; lagoon; environment; health; hazard; public;
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Zero Day Threat
"Zero Day Threat is an accessible, important primer on an insidious public hazard that touches us all. As such, it sets the agenda for wrenching changes in business practices and public policy that must inevitably follow, and, in fact are in the early stages of playing out."
Tags: bank; finance; credit; identity; steal; cyber; crooks; truth; money; theft;
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Brian Ross Investigates: Tires-Cracking the Code
This report investigates the little-known hazard of the road - aged tires that have exceeded their shelf life. Most motorists only look at the depth of a tire's tread to determine if it is safe enough to use. However, our investigation revealed that as tires get older, even if they've never been driven a mile, they can dry out, and after six years of age, can become dangerous. Experts say aged tires have led to numerous fatalities, yet motorists have been kept in the dark about the issue.
Tags: tires; public safety; car care; automobile; tire industry; tread separation
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Toxic Neighbors
Industrial plants with toxic chemicals were located blocks from homes, apartment complexes and schools. Some were found across the street from residences. The staff mapped where hazardous material sites were located in relation to densely-populated areas.
Tags: housing; toxins; poison; factory; zoning; subdivision; inner city; EPA; health; chlorine;