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 "toxicity" ...
-
C-HIT: Toxic Laundry Emissions
Industrial laundries in New England have recently come under intense scrutiny by the EPA, ever since the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) found that volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) were being released at a facility in Waterbury, CT. According to Steve Rapp, Chief of the Air Technical Unit, EPA Region 1, the problem is widespread and significant. “The industrial laundries are grossly under-reporting their VOCs,” said Rapp. “It’s a total sleeper.” The problem stems from the process of laundering shop towels, which are often contaminated with toxic solvents. When improperly cleaned, the solvents are vaporized and emitted to the surrounding air. This article investigated this little-known source of air pollution, shedding light on the industry’s practices and its impact on air quality and public health.
Tags: Volatile organic compunds; VOC's; DEEP; air quality; public health
-
The Great Mortgage Cover-Up
These stories reveal one of the hidden causes of the financial crisis- how corporate codes of silence helped lenders to flood the nation with toxic mortgages. They document evidence that major banks and lenders systematically muzzled whistle blowers who tried to fight against forged documents, falsified appraisals, and other frauds in the mortgage industry.
Tags: financial crisis; mortgages; forged documents; crisis
-
Toxic Landscape: A Neighborhood In Peril
The Record's three-part series "Toxic Landscape: A Neighborhood In Peril" chronicles 30 years of poor decisions, lax enforcement, and bureaucratic indifference by the New Jersey Department of Enviromental Protection that lead to an entire Garfield, N.J. neighborhood becoming a Superfund site last year.
Tags: New Jersey Department of Enviromental Protection; Posion; Garfield; New Jersey
-
Pacific Steel Recycling Pollution
KGTV 10News revealed toxic waste piles behind the gates of a San Diego County recycling yard- Pacific Steel Inc.
Tags: Pollution
-
Poisoned Places: Tonawanda
It's difficult to definitively link any one person's illness to air pollution from a particular plant. But the concerns about the health effects of Tonawanda Coke's toxic pollution rallied a small group of people in Tonawanda -- most of them sick -- to force complacent regulators to clean up the air. The case highlights the risks posed to communities around the country by an environmental regulatory system that largely entrusts companies to voluntarily disclose how much toxic pollution they emit and that can take years to act once violations are discovered.
Tags: air pollution; toxic emission; Tonawanda; Coke; health effects;
-
Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities
This partnered investigation looks into the Clean Air Act and what it has been failing to do: protecting communities from toxic air pollutants for 21 years.
Tags: EPA; Clean Air Act; air pollution
-
Toxic Towns, USA
The story follows a woman and her fight for environmental justice in Mossville, a once-rural African-American community now surrounded by chemical plants.
Tags: Mossville; environmental justice; Dorothy Felix; cancer-causing chemical
-
Bad for America. Good for East Africa
The story traces a toxic chemical from its origin in the U.S. to the end users, mostly farmers in East Africa. It examines the chemical's side effects on the environment and wildlife in East Africa.
Tags: East Africa; environment; toxic; chemical; waste; farmers
-
"Superfund Project"
This project was reported by a group of interns at The Oklahoman who wanted to investigate the effects of toxic areas on Oklahoman residents. They revealed that the government had been trying to "stimulate activity to clean up the sites" by just transferring wastes from one place to another. It was also found that "little had been done" on several federal Superfund projects, and many were "underfunded."
Tags: FOI; EPA; database; Tar Creek; Environmental Protection Agency; toxic waste; lead; cadmium; Picher; G&J's Gorilla Cage; National Priorities List
-
Camp Lejeune: Deadly Waters
Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina had been exposed to toxic drinking and bathing water for 30 years despite warnings from outside contractors. When people began raising questions about the contaminated water, base officials ignored them.
Tags: toxic; contaminated; water safety; marines; chemicals