Since its founding in 2021, Public Health Watch has prompted regulatory reforms, legislation, community action, editorials and other positive developments. Our journalism has won national and regional awards. Here’s a running list of our accomplishments:
Fumed Podcast Wins Two Awards in National Business Reporting Contest
Public Health Watch’s inaugural podcast, Fumed, has won two Best in Business awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW).
IMPact
PHW Executive Director Appears on ‘Hello Houston’ to Discuss Petrochemical Investigation
Jim Morris was interviewed on the Houston Public Media talk show February 12 about health threats associated with an infrastructure boom in Texas
‘Fumed’ Found Problems With Houston’s Industrial Permitting Process. The City Changed Its Policies.
Public Health Watch’s podcast highlighted residents’ lack of protection from industrial facilities moving into their neighborhoods — even when deed restrictions were in place. Three months later, the Houston Planning Department addressed the underlying problem.
‘Fumed’ Wins National Business Investigative Reporting Award
The Public Health Watch serial podcast “Fumed” has won a Barlett and Steele award for investigative business journalism.
Ruminations on PHW’s 4th Birthday
Four years ago Public Health Watch went live with its first investigations focused on the prevention of illness, injury and death.
We’ve been here all along
Public Health Watch rarely covers breaking news, but its investigative reporting often foreshadows it. Consider the push to slash Medicaid coverage for the poor.
Tough New Bill Aims to Curb Benzene Pollution in Channelview
A Texas state senator has introduced a bill that addresses issues uncovered by Public Health Watch’s reporting in Channelview, which has been plagued by cancer-causing benzene for at least 20 years.
California Introduces Online Dashboard to Track Silicosis Cases
The tool allows users to follow the spread of the deadly lung disease among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops
California Lead Battery Recycler Admits Violating Permit, State Law in Consent Order
The agreement resolves tank-related violations reported by Public Health Watch last fall.
Goodyear Agrees to Remedy Carcinogen Emissions From Niagara Falls Plant
The consent order with New York regulators, which includes a penalty, comes after months of investigative reporting by WBFO and Public Health Watch.
Our Top Ten Stories of 2024
Public Health Watch produced cutting-edge journalism on a wide range of topics in 2024. Here are nine stories and one column that stood out.
Public Health Watch Journalist Honored in National Podcast Awards
An NPR podcast featuring Howard Berkes, a reporter for Public Health Watch, won two Signal Awards for an episode related to his investigation of black lung disease among coal miners.
‘Toxic Texas Air’ Series Wins Two National Awards
Public Health Watch won two prestigious awards this week for its series on air pollution in the petrochemical industry.
PHW-Univision Collaboration Nominated for News Emmy
The project examined possible causes of soaring rates of Alzheimer’s disease in the Rio Grande Valley. A 15-minute video, “No Me Olvides,” is nominated in the “Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish” category.
‘sweat and blood … and even death’
by Public Health Watch
July 28, 2024
Two years ago, Public Health Watch’s editor-in-chief got a tip about an unpublicized silicosis epidemic among immigrant workers in the LA area. Having written about this fatal lung disease before, he quickly grasped what a huge story this was.
‘Toxic Texas Air’ Wins National Environmental Reporting Award
The National Press Foundation announced Friday that Public Health Watch had won the 2023 Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing.
A month of honors for Public Health Watch
Projects on unchecked air pollution and life without health insurance were honored in multiple journalism contests.
Federal Mine Safety Regulators Finally Focus on Silica Dust — With Thousands Of Miners Sick And Dying
Fifty years after first being urged to act, federal mine safety regulators will finally impose strict exposure limits on silica dust in mines. Silica is blamed for an epidemic of severe black lung disease among coal miners.
Public Health Watch Town-Hall Event Draws Nearly 100 People in Polluted Texas Community
About 90 people attended a town-hall meeting in Channelview, Texas, near Houston, on January 12 to discuss a Public Health Watch investigation into high levels of the carcinogen benzene in the community.
‘We Are Not Taking This Lightly’: Texas Legislator Promises Action After Public Health Watch Investigation in Channelview
Texas State Sen. Carol Alvarado is exploring new legislation to address the issues uncovered during Public Health Watch’s investigation of chronic benzene pollution in the unincorporated community of Channelview.
California Issues Emergency Rule to Address Silicosis Epidemic
One hundred cases of the fatal lung disease have been documented among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops in the state. Public Health Watch and two collaborators broke the news of the cluster.
Impact: Federal Mine Safety Agency Considers Tougher Response to Silica Dust After Public Health Watch Report
A proposed rule to protect coal miners from severe black lung acknowledges just a fraction of thousands of cases of disease.
Public Health Watch Wins National Investigative Reporting Award
PHW and collaborators LAist and Univision garner top honors in prestigious Barlett and Steele competition for silicosis investigation
Impact: OSHA Announces Enforcement Initiative After Public Health Watch Reveals Silicosis Cluster in California
At least 77 fabricators of engineered-stone countertops in the state have been diagnosed with an accelerated form of the fatal lung disease since January 2016
PHW Collaboration on Lung Disease Outbreak Wins Los Angeles Press Club Award
A collaborative investigation by Public Health Watch and KPCC into a deadly workplace epidemic won a top honor Sunday in the Southern California Journalism Awards, sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club.
L.A. County Supervisors Take Initial Steps Toward a Ban on Artificial-Stone Countertops
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took preliminary steps Tuesday that could lead to a countywide ban on artificial-stone countertops, the source of an epidemic that is killing workers who fabricate the products.
Texas Legislators Boosted Alzheimer’s Program Funding. It’s Not Enough.
Texas lawmakers set aside $14.2 million for the 2024-2025 biennium to help victims of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, a $4.2 million increase over the current two-year budget. Advocates for the state’s 400,000 dementia patients say it’s not enough.
Texas Lawmakers Raised Pollution Fines for the First Time in More Than a Decade. But Regulatory Concerns Remain.
The Texas Legislature raised the maximum daily fine for polluters from $25,000 to $40,000. But it also gave environmental regulators more latitude to avoid investigating citizen complaints.
Packed East Texas Safety-Net Clinic Finally Gets Federal Lifeline
Thousands of uninsured and underinsured residents of Henderson County depend on the clinic for care.
California Regulators Drafting Emergency Rule to Combat Deadly Lung Disease
Cases of silicosis are mounting among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops in the state. Two agencies are working to address the epidemic.
A Story With Legs
The reverberations from Public Health Watch’s June 2 investigative package on air pollution in Harris County, Texas, continue.
Public Health Watch Collaboration Wins National Award
A collaboration between Public Health Watch, Columbia Journalism Investigations, NPR and public radio stations in Texas and California has won a prestigious award from Investigative Reporters and Editors.