Government inspections often failed to detect important safety and security lapses at laboratories working with dangeorus germs and toxins that can be used as bioterror weapons, a recent audit found. Meanwhile, a new GAO report says the United States is at increased risk of accidents at these high-containment labs because there continue to be no national standards for their design, construction and maintenance.
USA TODAY's "Ghost Factories" series was recently a finalist in two categories of the Scripps Howard Awards. It was a finalist for the Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service reporting, and also a finalist for the Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize for Investigative Reporting. (Full press release.)
The series also received an honorable mention in the competition for the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism. (Full press release.)
In the wake of USA TODAY's "Ghost Factories" investigation, the EPA's inspector general announced this week he plans to investigate the agency's performance in addressing risks from lead smelters. The probe is listed among the independent watchdog's new investigation priorities for 2013. Read the full USA TODAY story: Watchdog to probe EPA handling of lead smelter risks
More than a decade ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was alerted to the danger posed by hundreds of forgotten factory sites that operated from the 1930s to 1960s and likely contaminated surrounding properties with hazardous levels of lead. A researcher even gave the agency a list of the sites' locations. Yet a 14-month USA TODAY investigation has found that the EPA and state regulators did little to assess the danger around many of the sites, leaving thousands of families in harm's way.
Regulators never looked for some of the sites, at others investigations were cursory. Even when regulators did soil sampling and found dangerous levels of lead in neighborhoods, they filed away the reports and never warned people living nearby that their children could be poisoned by the simple act of playing in the dirt. Meanwhile, some children who played in contaminated yards have dangerous levels of lead in their bodies, medical records obtained by USA TODAY showed.
USA TODAY reporters traveled to 13 states and tested more than 1,000 samples of soil in 21 neighborhoods near former smelter sites. In numerous locations, the soil was so contaminated that children shouldn't be playing in it.
Even before the series was published, government agencies began taking actions at old smelter sites in 14 states.
The two-part Ghost Factories series was published in print on April 19 and 20. In addition to the investigative news articles, the online project website includes a massive interactive with:
14 videos telling the stories of people living in fallout zones, profiling neighborhoods and explaining how USA TODAY did its investigation.
Extensive site profiles of more than 230 former factory sites where USA TODAY found evidence of smelting, foundry work or lead manufacturing.
Rare online access to historical Sanborn fire insurance maps for more than 170 of the sites. The maps are either overlayed onto modern Google satellite imagry or presented in an interactive mode that allows users to zoom in and explore.
Soil testing data mapped onto the 21 neighborhoods where USA TODAY did its sampling.
Copies of hundreds of government reports and other records allowing users to dig deeper into sites of greatest interest.
As a reporter, this was a unique project. Not only did I file more than 140 open records requests, report and write the stories, graphics and online interactive text, I was also trained to test soil with a $41,000 hand-held XRF analyzer.
The complex online interactive involved a significant team effort. Full credits are listed in the "About the Project" link at the top of the Ghost Factories interactive.
Despite never being approved by the FDA as a treatment for pre-term labor, doctors have prescribed it for that purpose for years. On Thursday the agency warned that this "off-label" use may cause "serious maternal heart problems and death." The FDA is requiring a boxed warning -- the agency's strongest warning -- be put on the drug's label. Still, many doctors and mothers strongly believe in the drug -- even though reviews have found evidence of its effectiveness lacking. Read the full story in USA Today: FDA flags risks on popular drug used during pregnancy
More than 15 million passengers have been put through new full-body scanners at U.S. airports and the Transportation Security Administration has told members of Congress that there hasn't been a single malfunction that might have exposed anybody to an excessive dose of radiation. But the TSA still hasn't released any of its X-ray inspection reports, two months after members of Congress called for transparency after USA TODAY was unable to gain access to the records. The TSA says it's still reviewing the reports for "sensitive information." The chairman of a House homeland security subcommittee calls the delay "inexcusable." Read the full story: 'Inexcusable' delay on TSA body-scanner safety reports
A federal "Do Not Board" list failed one-third of the time to stop people from flying who had been deemed serious health threats to other airline passengers, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the "Do Not Board" list is separate from the terrorism "No Fly" list, its purpose is similar: to keep those who might pose a threat to travelers from flying. So far this year, the health list failed three times to stop high-risk individuals with tuberculosis from taking commercial flights. The incidents occurred in the months before a man who tried to bomb Times Square was able to board a Dubai-bound flight in May despite being on the "No Fly" list. TSA took action to close a key loophole in the lists after the May incident. Why didn't TSA act earlier? Read the full story in USA TODAY: Loopholes in 'Do Not Board' list let infected travelers fly
Thousands of passengers undergoing new full-body backscatter X-ray scans at U.S. airports are relying on the Transportation Security Admnistration to ensure the machines only deliver the small radiation dose needed to see through their clothes. But a 2008 report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's workplace safety arm found TSA and its contractors have failed in the past to identify baggage X-ray machines that were emitting more radiation than regulations allow. The TSA says all its X-ray machines -- for people and luggage -- have passed recent inspections. But so far the TSA hasn't released any of the reports, despite USA TODAY's repeated requests since last month. Read the full stories: Lawmakers call on TSA to release X-ray inspection records and TSA workers, experts worry about X-ray malfunctions
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan -- a nonprofit created to help keep healthcare costs affordable -- has tried to derail a physical therapy company that designed programs to save auto giants Ford and Chrysler millions of dollars annually, according to a USA TODAY review of hundreds of pages of emails, internal documents and other court records. "They tried to destroy us," says Robert Whitton, CEO of the physical therapy company TheraMatrix. "We shouldn't have been in this position for creating a program that helped save health costs." Blue Cross denies any wrongdoing. Read the full story at: Case against Blue Cross shows difficulty of cutting health costs
Outbreak investigators for the Food and Drug Administration this week released details of what they found at two Iowa egg processing firms implicated in a nationwide salmonella outbreak. It was the FDA's first time inspecting Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms and they found mounds of manure, rodents, rodent holes, flies and other vermin. Yet the U.S. Department of Agriculture has had egg graders on site at both firms at least 40 hours a week -- including before the outbreak began. According to USDA's Regulations Governing the Voluntary Grading of Shell Eggs, the agency's workers were supposed to enforce rules against rodents and vermin. Why didn't they see the problems found by FDA?
Alison Young has more than 20 years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor at major U.S. newspapers. She is currently a member of USA TODAY's investigative team and is past president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, a national journalism training organization. Young is a frequent speaker on the techniques of watchdog journalism. This site is her personal portfolio of articles and reporting tips. You can reach her at ayoung@usatoday.com.
