Sago Anniversary

On the anniversary of the Sago Mine explosion, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette continues to probe safety issues behind the blast that killed 12 miners. Ken Ward Jr. reports that "the Sago disaster might not have happened if regulators and the coal industry had heeded the warnings... from a series of other lightning-induced explosions in the U.S. and abroad dating back more than 30 years, federal and state investigators have learned."

Following the announcement of murder charges against a New Orleans doctor and two nurses on duty in the wake Hurricane Katrina, CNN
continues its Emmy-nominated investigative series, "Death at Memorial Hospital" with exclusive interviews with siblings of the accused Dr. Anna Pou, who maintains her innocence. "In October, CNN reported exclusively that after deteriorating conditions -- with food running low and no electricity -- some medical staff openly discussed whether patients should be euthanized," says a CNN.com report by Drew Griffin, produced by Kathleen Johnston.

Kathleen Chapman of The Palm Beach Post investigated the emergency food-stamp program in Florida after Hurricane Wilma and found that nearly 700,000 Floridians, many of whom were not really too poor to buy food, got in line for the stamps. "Florida didn't require proof of income to get the payments, and the state hasn't completed any large-scale audits since the money went out." The investigation also found that applicants who did report too much income to qualify were turned away.

Karen Blakeman, staff writer with The Honolulu Advertiser, used National Inventory of Dams data from IRE and NICAR for a story about the deadly failure of a privately owned dam on the Hawaii island of Kaua'i. Two bodies have been found and five others are missing. Blakeman reported that state safety inspections of dams across Hawaii are woefully behind schedule and the threats dams pose to people have been underassessed. "Federal records on dams in Hawai'i show very few have emergency action plans." (Editor's Note: IRE and NICAR offer the National Inventory of Dams to journalists.)

Jenni Bergal of The Center for Public Integrity reviewed health records to find that states have barely used $2 billion provided in an emergency bill passed by Congress to help low-income hurricane victims scattered across the country. "Any state that took in Katrina evacuees could tap into the money to offer cash to those who had at least one child and met certain income guidelines qualifying them as poor." But more than five months after the bill was signed into law, only 12 states — including Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — have taken Congress up on its offer. Federal Emergency Management Agency figures show that at least 320,000 of the more than 1.6 million people registered with the agency have addresses outside of the three hurricane-ravaged states. Every state, from Wyoming to Maine, has taken in Katrina evacuees, according to FEMA statistics.

Thomas Peele and Jessica Guynn of Contra Costa Times found that despite houses being retrofitted to keep them safe during an earthquake, less than a third of the houses inspected would survive a major earthquake. In an investigation of 35 retrofitted houses, the newspaper found that in 24 of the 35 homes , residents might have had a false sense of security about earthquake protection. "Scientists predict a magnitude 6.7 earthquake is likely to strike the Bay Area before 2032. Yet state and local building codes don't require specific standards for a safe voluntary seismic retrofit of a home." The investigation also found that in most cases, nails were either too small, which can leave connections weak, or too big, which can split critical wood blocks and that shear walls were made of misshapen pieces, or "quilt-works," of plywood rather than the full-size sheets needed to effectively transfer earthquake forces.

Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewed bankruptcy records, county licensing records and complaints filed with the local consumer affairs division to show that Palms West Shutter & Screen Inc., a company supplying hurricane shutters, had taken about $1.5 million in deposits from 672 Palm Beach residents before it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October & mdash; the same month Hurricane Wilma hit the area. "Residents gave their money to the company — licensed to install screened closures in Broward since 1978 — in many cases more than 20 percent — expecting hurricane shutters and screen enclosures for their homes that have yet to be completed." Bankruptcy records show that the company also owes money to vendors, suppliers, the Internal Revenue Service and other businesses. The high demand for and shortage of shutters, screen enclosures and materials have caused problems and backlogs for many local shutter companies.

Ken Ward Jr. reports in the Charleston, W.Va., Sunday Gazette-Mail "the nation's miners face a mounting risk because of a rescue system that is growing ever short on personnel and is in major need of reforms." From 2000 to 2002, the number of safety teams approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration dropped by 10 percent. A team of reporters, including Tara Tuckwiller, Scott Finn, Eric Eyre and Dave Gustafson, have contributed to the series of stories. Other stories include a history of the safety violations at the Sago Mine, an analysis of data that indicates lightning strikes may have played a role in the accident, and a story questioning whether the mine had adequate state environmental permits.

Yolanda Rodriguez of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with assistance from Craig Schneider, Leon Stafford and database editor David A. Milliron, used a FOIA request to show that “Georgia hotels have billed taxpayers more than $19 million to house evacuees who fled after hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast last year.” The agency has paid for rooms in 650 Georgia hotels, ranging from Atlanta’s Ritz-Carlton to lower-priced hotels. A map shows the location of the hotels.

Bob Marshall of The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reports the Army Corps of Engineers knew about "engineering mistakes that led to the canal levee failures that flooded most of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina" but dismissed them. "Documents, obtained by The Times-Picayune and provided to forensic engineers studying the levee breaches, show project engineers made a critical mistake in assessing soil strengths on the 17th Avenue Canal project, said Robert Bea, a University of California-Berkeley professor who is a member of the National Science Foundation team."