"A small but vitally important program within the Environmental Protection Agency is in a fight for its life. The Integrated Risk Information System, or IRIS, is the only division of the EPA that independently assesses the toxicity of chemicals."
After an EPA Superfund settlement was rebuffed by a small town, a local environmental advocate goes to jail while executives behind a chemical plant contamination remain free. In the latest Q&A for our Inside Story column, we hear from investigative reporter Sharon Lerner of The Intercept about the complex challenges of telling this award-winning tale.
"President Donald Trump’s 2019 budget proposal will again call for ending the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent agency that investigates major industrial accidents, according to a senior government official familiar with the plan."
Top reporters at an event sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists predicted clashes in 2018 over climate, drilling on public lands, environmental laws, infrastructure, national monuments and more. Here's what these journalistic veterans forecast. Plus, check out the accompanying annual issues guide.
OSHA stops publishing on its website a list of U.S. workers who died on the job, a new "Silencing Science Tracker" tool and a journalists' guide to working with whistleblowers are released, plus a powerful politician pressures a scientist on environmental health policy. All in the latest WatchDog TipSheet.
"Honeybees are amazing and adorable, and they suffer when people spray pesticides or mow down wildflowers. We've heard plenty in recent years about collapsing bee colonies."
"U.S. scientists found neonicotinoid insecticides in about three-quarters of samples from 10 major Great Lakes tributaries."
"The United States on Tuesday accused Syria’s government of a chlorine gas attack on civilians in the same rebel enclave hit more than four years ago by the deadliest known chemical assault in the Syrian war."
"OLYMPIA – Local fire departments could be banned from using a group of fire-fighting chemicals that are contaminating some wells in Airway Heights and other water sources near military bases."
This is a decisive time on the energy and environment front, with challenges and confrontation expected over the consummation of the Trump deregulatory agenda. Our second annual issues guide provides a roadmap for covering the big stories. The guide's formal launch took place at an SEJ event in Washington, D.C. on January 26. If you missed it, the webcast is archived here.
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