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 "toxic spills" ...
-
"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
-
"Amazon Crude"
More than 15 years ago, Ecuadorean residents sued Texaco for contaminating the Amazon Rain Forest with crude oil. The "oil waste pits" built by Texaco, now owned by Chevron, continue to leak toxins into the "region's waterways." According to an agreement between the company and the Ecuadorean government, Chevron is to cleanup 40 percent of the mess; however, the company "admitted" there is no record of all the contaminated sites.
Tags: Ecuador; Chevron; Texaco; Amazon; oil spill; toxic waste; rainforest; environmental; Petroecuador
-
The Danger Below
"For years in the state of Indiana, companies didn't even have to notify neighbors of toxic spills or the risk that they presented unless it was an adjacent property. In this two-part series, Sandra Chapman uncovers two major chains that have cost families their homes, their health and safe havens in their communities."
Tags: toxic waste, chemical corporations; toxic spills; neighbors; public health; Indiana
-
Toxic Traces Revisted
The first story in the series shows that the Minnesota Dept. of Health knew about the contaminated drinking water in the Twin Cities almost a year before releasing the information to the public. The second story reported that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency ignored the fact that perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in the soil near the 3M Company building were spilling into the Mississippi River and ground water. Last in the series, MPR News reported on how pressure from the public drove the investigation in regulating the flow of PFCs into the city's water.
Tags: contamination; Minneapolis; St. Paul; PFBA
-
Toxic Cargo; Crowded Inland Rails at Risk for Dangerous Chemical Spills
The investigation showed that Inland Southern California faces increasing risk of toxic spills from freight trains carrying chlorine, anhydrous ammonia and other deadly chemicals. The authors found a public unaware of the risk, local authorities unprepared and an industry with a questionable safety record.
Tags: chemical transportation; chemical spills; rail transportation; California; freight trains; public safety; FOIA
-
Local Ties. Decades of mishandling hazardous cargo leave railroads a toxic legacy. Areas near rail yards face possible health problems; lawsuits are on the rise. Keeping the children indoors.
According to the article, "Rail yards have become one of the country's most serious pollution problems. For decades, railroads have carried enormous quantities of hazardous chemicals, and rail yards were used to transfer and store them. By the industry's own admission, leaks, spills and even outright dumping were once common."
Tags: railroads; rail yards; pollution; hazardous waste; leaks; spills; dumping; chemicals; trains
-
Our Troubled Sound
The Post-Intelligencer reports on pollution problems in Puget Sound, the nation's second largest estuary and "an ecosystem spinning out of control." The major findings are that scientists have documented decline in keystone species; a state program to control urban runoff is far behind schedule; three out of four businesses are in breach of water-quality regulations or permits; precautions to prevent a possible oil spill in an area where many tankers sail are inadequate; overall, Superfund sites in the area are not being cleaned up. Many of the findings are based on analysis of databases obtained from government agencies.
Tags: environment; ecology; marine organisms; wildlife; endangered species; stormwater; toxic waste; contamination; polychlorinated biphenyls; PCB
-
Ground zero
Amicus examines how drilling and other activities of oil companies in Alaska have disturbed the people Nuiqsut, an Inupiat Eskimo village an Alaska's North Slope. "Big oil offered a village of Inupiat Eskimos jobs and economic boom. All it asked for in return was their way of life," the magazine reports. The story reveals that the environmental problems in Alaska include water quality changes, air pollution, land use conflicts, oil spills, increased traffic and noise, and disturbance to fish and wildlife species. The latter has forced Eskimos to give up some of their traditional food. For example, a huge arctic caribou's herd has moved away from the oil development area, and a bottom fish - an Eskimos' delicacy - now has elevated levels of toxics.
Tags: Alaska Wilderness League; Arctic Refuge; Trustees for Alaska; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Alaska Whaling Commission; drilling; politics; President Bush
-
The Sturgeon Disaster: Twenty Years Later
This narrative retells the story of a chemical spill in Sturgeon, Missouri, twenty years later: the cleanup and the aftermath, and takes a look at how the lives of the townspeople were affected. "Cancer rates and other health problems in the town are abnormally high, according to many residents and one local doctor... Others are not convinced the chemicals had any lasting effect. The state Department of Health has never investigated concerns about the number of cancer cases in the area."
-
Our Children, Their Cancer
On June 23, 1997, state officials in the Department of Health announced an investigation of a cluster of children with rare brain and nerve-cell cancers in St. Lucie County. The Stuart News had identified 17 cases of this type of cancer in St. Lucie County. After six months, health officials said they identifies at least 31 childhood cancer cases. The News has found three others, for a total of 34. The first testing of possible environmental causes is not expected to begin until mid-January. Parents suspect pesticides and herbicides, but officials say finding a cause will be a slow process. Similar investigations have taken years and come up empty.
Tags: cancer; kids; children; toxic spills; pesticide; poisoning; St. Lucie County; herbicides