2012 Finalist, Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting

A Matter of Risk: Radiation, Drinking Water, and Deception

KHOU-TV’s I-team discovered public drinking water so contaminated with radiation, the underground plumbing it traveled through was turned away by scrap yards as “too hot” to recycle. Radiation lab test
results for every community in Texas were wrongfully lowered, leaving consumers in the dark about their true health risks. After this report, many of the most radioactive “water wells” were taken offline, while grassroots pressure from citizens at town hall meetings and scientists from around the country forced other widespread changes.

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