Frackers Use Loophole To Avoid Permits for Dangerous Chemicals: Report
"Federal laws meant to protect drinking water require fracking companies to get a permit before using diesel fuel in the drilling process."
Source: Columbus Dispatch, 10/23/2014
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Why Doesn't Congress Want You To Read These Reports?
For decades, Congress has refused to release taxpayer-funded reports by the Congressional Research Service. Fortunately, the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project gets them and releases them. Here are some new explainers that may be of use to environmental journalists.
Getting Past Park Service PIO Harder Than 13-Mile Hike
It's true — some public information officers are really paranoid. High Country News reporter Tristan Baurick, trying to report on preservation of a historic chalet in Olympic National Park, found "a bizarre blockade on press freedom, the likes of which I’d never experienced outside a military base or murder scene."
Interior IG Releases Few Investigative Reports
Of the 457 investigations closed by the Interior Department's Inspector General's office last year, the office released public reports on only three. Not only were many of the reports withheld or redacted, but even the list of investigations was redacted before it was released.
Toxics: Find Kids at Risk in Your Congressional District
The Center for Effective Government has compiled an interactive mapping database of some of the most dangerous chemical facilities in the U.S., showing their proximity to schools. The group also mapped which Congressional districts contain the most schoolkids at risk.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy To Speak at Georgetown University
The McCourt School of Public Policy invites you to attend the 2014 LEAD Conference, The Power of Opinion: How Americans' Preferences on Energy Point a Way Forward on Climate Change on October, 24, 2014. The Honorable Gina McCarthy, current Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will keynote the event.
"Environment Is Grabbing Big Role in Ads for Campaigns"
"WASHINGTON — In Michigan, an ad attacking Terri Lynn Land, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate, opens with a shot of rising brown floodwaters as a woman says: 'We see it every day in Michigan. Climate change. So why is Terri Lynn Land ignoring the science?'"
Source: NY Times, 10/22/2014
"EPA Starts MCHM Air Testing, But Lacks Adequate Data"
"Federal regulators on Friday unveiled a program to monitor air quality during the remaining cleanup at the Freedom Industries facility along the Elk River in Charleston, but they said their effort suffers from the same lack of data about potential health efforts of the chemical MCHM as did testing of the region’s drinking-water supply after the Jan. 9 leak."
Source: Charleston Gazette, 10/22/2014
"U.S. Revisiting 'Broken' Workplace Chemicals Regulation Process"
"The U.S. government will soon begin receiving public suggestions on how federal regulators should update their oversight of toxic chemicals in the workplace."
Source: IPS, 10/22/2014
"The Problem With America’s Abandoned Mines"
"A mine plans its death before its birth. The leftover waste from mines is so hazardous that mining companies must figure out what to do with it decades in advance, even before they start digging."
Source: Ctr for Investigative Reporting, 10/22/2014
