More tank stories
The Kansas City Star story covered the big picture - the effectiveness of the regulations - but there are many smaller pieces to this puzzle. You might find a story here that is easier and less time-consuming.
Insurance funds: Most states have a gas-tax-funded insurance fund that helps clean up contamination from leaking tanks. Tank owners pay premiums to be covered in case their tanks leak, but the bulk of the cleanup funding comes from a gas tax. Originally, the states planned these funds as temporary measures to ensure sites were cleaned up, with the hope that private insurance companies would take over after the new regulations stemmed the bulk of the leaks. Since the leaks are continuing, a few state funds are starting to run out of money.
Inspections: Focus on the state oversight aspect by studying the inspection system. How many sites do the inspectors visit annually? What's the workload like for the typical inspector? What do the inspectors generally find in terms of compliance with the laws?
Equipment: We found that some tank owners did not properly use leak-detection and corrosion-protection systems. Some incorrectly programmed the computer for the leak detection, ignored alarms indicating a leak, or turned off the electricity necessary for corrosion protection. There is also growing evidence nationally that the interior lining in steel tanks is sloughing off, leaving the tank susceptible to corrosion.
Advice
This area can be a quagmire. But it's worth wading into. Here are my recommendations, if you're going to dive in:
Spend as much time as possible in advance getting to know the lingo and the laws of underground storage tanks before starting the reporting. I found people in this industry are particularly harsh to reporters who don't know what they're asking about. Once I could speak the lingo, industry officials were frank and forthcoming, as if I was a colleague. Look for brochures and newsletters geared toward tank owners.
Request a handful of paper files for leaking sites and read those before you get too far in your investigation. By going through even just a few documents, I really got a better sense of how the system operated and what all the lingo meant. I could also clearly see how the database was constructed and identify the pitfalls.
Be prepared to spend a good deal of time on this story, even if you pick out one of the smaller stories. Simply getting to know the lingo will take you a few weeks. This is a good story for picking at slowly while you're working on other stories.
Maryjo Sylwester can be reached by e-mail at imsylwester@publicintegrity.com