- pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/need-to-know-september-30-2011-chemical-pollution-and-the-epa/11748/
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Emily Senay, MD, MPH
Laura LeBlanc
Brenda Breslauer
Marc Rosenwasser
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
30-Sep-11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The piece explores the environmental and health consequences of the Toxic Substances Control Act. Intended to protect Americans from toxic chemicals, the law is, in fact, so weak that out of the 84,000 chemicals currently in use only 5 have been regulated because of toxicity. “Toxic Law?” demonstrates how lax laws and weak policy leads to poor health outcomes.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The story was prompted by the publication of findings by the President’s Cancer Panel in May 2010: Reducing Environmental Risk: What we can do now? The report was startling and clear: the true burden of environmentally induced cancers had been grossly underestimated and strong action was needed to reduce people’s widespread exposure to carcinogens. We spent several months researching the best approach to illustrating the story in a way that drew a clear line between the weak law and a direct effect on human health. Our research led us to profile one chemical–trichloroethylene (TCE). We consulted numerous experts on the human health impact of chemical exposure and reached out to all major stakeholders including the makers of TCE, chemical lobbyists, corporations involved in chemical clean-ups, local politicians and community advocates, health experts and numerous families affected by chemical pollution.
Explain types of human sources used.
Interviews with a family with two members affected by the same cancer possibly linked to exposure to TCE. Interviews with environmental health experts, local and national politicians, and numerous off-camera interviews with industry representatives.
Results:
We had to overcome numerous challenges in presenting this critical story: the topic is technically very complicated and it took almost a year of research to verify our approach; many families were reluctant to speak as the result of on-going lawsuits; industry would not provide on-camera interviews. We were very active in reaching out to the EPA and industry and perhaps as the result of our enquiries, the EPA, after years of stalling, finally declared TCE a carcinogen two days before this piece aired.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections, clarifications or challenges to accuracy. Uniform praise from environmental activists as well as industry representatives: • “The piece was straightforward and balanced. And the issues raised were responsibly presented.” • “That was a great piece!! Using TCE to illustrate the failure of TSCA was perfect!!”
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
This was a technically complicated story that required a great deal of time to research and prepare. There was no previous journalistic work done into the link between the weak law and TCE regulation. When undertaking this type of story make sure you really understand the depth and breadth of the topic prior to casting or shooting interviews.