WatchDog TipSheet

US EPA and Army Corps of Engineers say they "cannot make the list of 'high hazard' coal ash impoundment sites public," even though risk to communities exists -- like the December 2008 pond failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee.

The Obama EPA partially reverses a Bush-era procedure for setting health-based standards under the Clean Air Act.

New evidence indicates the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry fails to protect communities from dangers such as the now-disappearing plumes of toxic groundwater carrying cancer-causing chemicals far beyond the Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio, TX.

The Government Printing Office web site apparently took down the publication after discovery of the mistake -- but the entire report is still available on the site of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

NYT: "The goal is to open up a system in which the agency failed to inform the public that a widely prescribed heartburn drug was especially toxic to babies; that a diabetes medicine and a painkiller increased heart attack risks; and that antidepressants increased suicidal thoughts and behavior in children and teenagers."

The Mine Safety and Health Administration still denies FOIA requests, including one filed in Oct. 2008 by mine safety attorney Tony Oppegard for some witness statements.

The Newark Star-Ledger reports a move by a top New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection official to prevent public disclosure of scientific information that should be public until political appointees without science credentials and press officers have approved it.

Billy Wolfe, of the Clarksburg Exponent Telegram, learns more about the chemicals in the hydraulic fracturing fluid used by gas-drilling companies.

The Supreme Court of Canada will consider this week a request by the National Post, civil liberties and media groups to overturn an Appeal ruling that police investigations override the Charter guarantee of free expression.

The browsable report lists the date the request was received, the date a response is due, and the status.