Investigations: Texas Officials Covered up Radioactive Drinking Water

State officials in Texas covered up elevated levels of radioactivity in drinking water for years, even though it violated federal standards, according to this five-part investigation by KHOU-TV News. Even so-called "safe" levels of radiation in drinking water actually lead to cancer, the series reports.

That's also a common issue in Canada. There, the government's ceiling on radioactive material in drinking water is set at a level that leads to 511 lifetime cancers per million people - or 17,000 lifetime cancers for Canada's 33 million people, according to this story I did on the fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in The Georgia Straight.

Resources: IRE Conference Audio and Tip Sheets Available

Streaming audio and tip sheets from the 2011 Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Orlando are now available at the IRE site. A great resource for newbies and vets of the business. The IRE's site is a trove of other great material worth exploring, including its journal, searchable story and tips database, forums and beat guides.

Investigations: Mouldy Homes for Haiti

Check out the Canadian Centre of Investigative Reporting's newly revamped website. The redesign coincides with the release of an interesting new CCIR-backed story investigating the troubled international efforts to help Haiti rebuild after 2010 devastating earthquake.

One rebuilding project, supported by Bill Clinton's humanitarian foundation, saddled Haitians with shoddily constructed, mould-ridden shelters, the story found. Air samples taken inside them contained carcinogens. The story was done in collaboration with The Nation magazine. (Disclosure: I'm the president of the CCIR's board.)