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 "sulfuric acid" ...
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Interstate 99: An environmental challenge
This investigation revealed how massive amounts of sulfurous rock, called pyrite, unearthed by road builders threatened to pollute streams and groundwater. Furthermore, the newspaper found that the failure of state road builders and environmental regulators to communicate contributed to faulty decisions, that a decision by road builders which ran counter to design specifications contributed to the problem, and that a decision by former U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster to eliminate federal oversight of the highway construction project eliminated a layer of inspections that could have foreseen the problems.
Tags: groundwater contamination; environmental pollution; highway construction; pyrite; acid rock
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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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Power to Pollute: War On Clean Air, Coal Loses Clout, Power Brokers, Fatal Beauty
In this multi-part series, the Akron Beacon Journal examines the politics and environmental impact of Ohio's coal industry and electric utilities. The series looks at how Ohio's electric utilities are the dirtiest in America; how thousands of jobs have been lost for the benefit of power companies; how connected coal brokers got rich while the industry itself was suffering; and the environmental damage done to the Adirondack Mountains.
Tags: air pollution; coal burning power plants; Ohio utilities; Clean Air Act; coal industry; sulfur dioxide emissions; ozone threat; smog; electric utilities; acid rain; Adirondack Mountains
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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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Poison in the neighborhood
The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports that "Two days after the July 26 railcar leak at nearby General Chemical Co. sent a thick billowing cloud of sulfuric acid into the air, residents of North Richmond are flocking to join a class action suit against the company.... locals gather to discuss years of hardship living in the toxic shadows of the sprawling Chevron oil refinery and smaller operations like General Chemical... many North Richmond residents (worry) that the chemicals are destroying people's bodies the same way they destroy their homes..."
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Transporting Hazardous Materials
Los Angeles Times conducts a data-base study of 68,000 hazardous materials incidents from around the United States, and finds the number has risen 37 percent from 1982 to 1991; injuries to people as a result of truck spills rose 374 percent, and almost all of the deaths--106 out of 108--involved tanker trucks; gasoline, ammonia and sulfuric acid are the most dangerous liquids transported; gives account of a railway accident that dumped weed killer into the Sacramento River, killing virtually every organism along the river for miles; gives account of the death of a whole family as a result of a gasoline truck accident, Sept. 20, 1992.
Tags: None