Crypto ignites conflict
In upstate New York, cryptocurrency mining causes rifts between local businesses and an enterprising corporation.
Latest chemical plant fire unnerves, infuriates Houston-area residents
A recent investigation by Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune revealed government negligence before and during a devastating 2019 fire at a tank farm in the Houston suburb of Deer Park. Earlier this month, a public hearing was held for that facility. The next day, another big fire broke out at a plant down the road.
‘Haunting’ turmoil remains
The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.
Lung disease strikes countertop cutters
This story is part of a collaboration among Public Health Watch, KPCC/LAist and Univision, and is being re-published by IRW. UPDATE: May 17, 2023: California’s OSHA takes action. LOS ANGELES — The men are haggard, starved of breath and tethered to oxygen tanks. Neither will live to an old age; without lung transplants, both may …
How four decades of tax cuts fueled inequality
A dense fog rolling in off the Pacific enveloped President Ronald Reagan’s majestic 688-acre ranch, high in the hills above Santa Barbara, California. Visibility was limited, but a crowd of cameramen, photographers and reporters were gathered on that day in 1981 to record the president signing a major piece of legislation. Wearing jeans, a faded …
Continue reading “How four decades of tax cuts fueled inequality”
Case closed?
A clean energy company that once operated at William Koch’s Oxbow plant in Port Arthur, Texas, claimed in a lawsuit that Oxbow manipulated sulfur dioxide emissions to avoid spending millions on pollution controls. Oxbow said it complies with the law.
Iowa’s toxic brew
The convergence of two rivers in Des Moines, Iowa, is a bullseye illustrating the connection between climate change and toxins in drinking water. Legislation and litigation haven’t worked. So the Des Moines Water Works is getting into the farming business.
Cancer cases in kids rising
The incidence of childhood cancer is rising. Some experts blame toxic chemicals.
Lobbying data includes convictions
The Accountability Project database now includes 5 million new records with data from federal lobbying disclosure filings. We have collected all filings from the API operated by the Senate Office of Public Records and extracted the relevant data into five new datasets that can now be instantly searched alongside our existing collection: Quarterly lobbying client …
‘Dying in silence’
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, mandated by federal law to publicize and investigate the death of every detainee in its care, has been using a loophole to avoid full accountability. A recent investigation discovered that ICE underreported fatalities by releasing sick inmates to hospitals, where some died shortly afterward.
