Earlier this month, we told you about the reporting of NPR and Center for Public Integrity about lack of Clean Air Act enforcement by state and federal regulators. The four-part series chronicles stories from rural places and people struggling with toxic air pollution, and are good examples of how to cover environmental stories.
One part of the series focused on Ponca, Okla., and carbon black, a fine, black powdery substance and potential human carcinogen used to strengthen tires and other rubber products in the Continental Carbon facility, which adjoins a residential community on the outskirts of the town. Through their investigation of the company, reporter Howard Berkes and his colleagues found hundreds of residents in Ponca have faced "a persistent and frustrating struggle" with the company and carbon black. The effects of carbon black can be felt and seen miles away from the town, where the former mayor of Ponca said complaints about playgrounds and cars being tainted black flowed into his office.
Two parts of the series detail the fight by residents of Chanute, Kan., for closer regulations of the nearby Ash Grove cement plant. Though the Kansas regional Environmental Protection Agency administrator says the plant is in compliance, Berkes and crew report "cement kilns are legally allowed to pump more toxins into the air than are hazardous-waste incinerators, which burn many of the same dangerous materials." To read stories from the series, click here.
One part of the series focused on Ponca, Okla., and carbon black, a fine, black powdery substance and potential human carcinogen used to strengthen tires and other rubber products in the Continental Carbon facility, which adjoins a residential community on the outskirts of the town. Through their investigation of the company, reporter Howard Berkes and his colleagues found hundreds of residents in Ponca have faced "a persistent and frustrating struggle" with the company and carbon black. The effects of carbon black can be felt and seen miles away from the town, where the former mayor of Ponca said complaints about playgrounds and cars being tainted black flowed into his office.
Two parts of the series detail the fight by residents of Chanute, Kan., for closer regulations of the nearby Ash Grove cement plant. Though the Kansas regional Environmental Protection Agency administrator says the plant is in compliance, Berkes and crew report "cement kilns are legally allowed to pump more toxins into the air than are hazardous-waste incinerators, which burn many of the same dangerous materials." To read stories from the series, click here.
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