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Dam inspections began before the Dec. 2008 spill incident of 5.4 million cubic yards of coal-ash slurry in Tennessee. Afterward, the initial draft engineer's report of the pre-spill inspection noted several eroded areas needed to be fixed "immediately;" the word was subsequently struck from the report.

Under fire from all sides for excessive secrecy, the Obama administration has just issued a status report touting its "open government" achievements. One assessment of the report came from the Federation of American Scientists' long-time secrecy watchdog, Steven Aftergood.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has reintroduced a bill that would establish a limited federal protection for journalists when prosecutor and courts seek to compel them to disclose their confidential sources. A similar measure died on the Senate floor at the end of the last Congress.

Judge Gregory Presnell ruled that the federal Freedom of Information Act did not allow an injunction before the agency itself had made its decision on whether to release the records.

Details and documents on the 2006 US-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement will be released after a federal appeals court ruled Sept. 16, 2011, against claims by the Office of the US Trade Representative that the documents, sought by the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation Northwest, were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

The event, co-sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists and other groups, is free and open to the public (RSVP). Panelists include: Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review science editor; Joseph A. Davis, (SEJ) WatchDog editor; Felice Freyer, Association of Health Care Journalists; Darren Samuelsohn, Politico’s senior energy/environment reporter; and Clothilde Le Coz, Reporters Without Borders energy/environment reporter.