- http://kbia.org/post/end-lead-laced-era-polluting-smelter-close-after-120-years
- http://kbia.org/programs/health-wealth-desk
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Jacob Fenston, KBIA producer for the Health & Wealth desk, a collaborative desk located at KBIA Radio
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Herculaneum, Mo., a small town on the bluffs above the Mississippi River, was always a company town. The company, Doe Run, is the largest lead producer in North America, trucking in lead from Missouri’s rich mines to a 120-year-old smelter on the river. For 25 years, the smelter didn’t meet federal air standards for lead, and now, after decades of battling government regulators and angry parents, Doe Run is leaving town at the end of next year. In this feature, Jacob Fenston visits the town and talks with residents, town officials and public health experts about the impact of the smelter on this rural Missouri community.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Jacob utilized data from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and its Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, to fill in the picture he was getting from sources about the health effects of lead in children and in the Herculaneum community. Jacob also consulted legal records regarding the EPA and lead standards. I don’t believe he filed FOI requests for this story.
Explain types of human sources used.
Jacob conducted extensive interviews with experts from the EPA, the Missouri DNR, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, the Washington University’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, and the CDC, in addition to visiting with community members, parents and activists in Herculaneum.
Results:
Anecdotally, KBIA received more feedback on this story than any other in recent memory. Overwhelmingly, listeners were moved by the report, and wrote in to let us know that.
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 challenges to accuracy have been made that we know of.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Immerse yourself in the story, get to know the people involved, and don’t be afraid to present the complications in the story that arise from conflicting points of view. Everyday people – many of them in under-reported and forgotten areas – have an important story to tell.