If you aren’t already a Tampa Bay Times subscriber, we highly recommend you amend that ASAP. The assiduous team of journalists work exhaustively to cover the entire Tampa Bay region. Their work shines a light on the things that matter most in this region. Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of the Tampa Bay Times were award the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for their Poisoned series. Editors on the series include Mark Katches, Kathleen McGrory, Adam Playford and Maria Carrillo. Poisoned features photography by Martha Asencio-Rhine, Luis Santana, James Borchuck, Yalonda M. James and Octavio Jones, with guidance from photo editor Boyzell Hosey.
Tampa Bay Times journalists spent 18 months investigating what happens at Florida’s lone lead factory, owned by Gopher Resource. The series itself is broken up into 3 parts, and can be read online here. The findings from the investigation include the discovery that eight out of ten workers from 2014 to 2018 had enough lead in their blood to put them at risk of increased blood pressure, kidney dysfunction or cardiovascular disease. Dust from the plant has been the suspected cause of lead exposure in at least 16 children — the sons and daughters of employees who unwittingly carried the poison home. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration hasn’t inspected the factory for lead-related issues since 2014 and has missed problems in previous visits.
If you’d like to read the full report, you can click here.
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