The Margin

We’re diving into the data behind our recent reporting, The Pesticide Papers and Fortress Guam, produced in partnership with @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social Join us for Inside: The Margin on Thursday, October 29 8 PM EST/ Friday, October 30, 10 AM CHsT.

SCOTUS heard arguments last week in a case challenging open munitions detonation in Guam. Our reporting with @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social, Fortress Guam & The Pesticide Papers explores the environmental stakes.

Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the Department of Air Force vs Prutehi Guahan in a case that could have broader implications for how the U.S. military is regulated by local and state environmental authorities, especially for U.S. territories such as Guam.

For years, a banned pesticide sat in a Yigo drinking-water well. Residents weren't told to stop drinking it for more than 10 years. Federal officials flagged elevated dieldrin levels in Guam’s drinking water as early as 2012. Residents weren’t warned until 2025.

This story was produced in partnership with @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social , an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service and veterans. Sign up for their newsletter: thewarhorse.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe/po...

For years, a banned pesticide sat in a Yigo drinking-water well. Residents weren't told to stop drinking it for more than 10 years. Federal officials flagged elevated dieldrin levels in Guam’s drinking water as early as 2012. Residents weren’t warned until 2025.

For residents, the questions are deeply personal: What did years of exposure mean for their families? How long was the contamination present? And why weren’t they warned sooner? The contaminated well has since been treated and the do-not-drink advisory lifted.

For years, a banned pesticide sat in a Yigo drinking-water well. Residents weren't told to stop drinking it for more than 10 years. Federal officials flagged elevated dieldrin levels in Guam’s drinking water as early as 2012. Residents weren’t warned until 2025.

The Margin and @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social reviewed thousands of pages of previously unreleased records showing pesticides including dieldrin, aldrin, and chlordane in soil around military housing at Andersen Air Force Base.

For years, a banned pesticide sat in a Yigo drinking-water well. Residents weren't told to stop drinking it for more than 10 years. Federal officials flagged elevated dieldrin levels in Guam’s drinking water as early as 2012. Residents weren’t warned until 2025.

The Margin wins its first Covering Climate Now Journalism Award for Outstanding Displacement & Migration Reporting for “Saving Sinking Homes” by Jess Zhang and Megan Gannon, with Katie Basile.

Judges said Zhang and Gannon offer “a great exploration of how climate impacts pile on top of other longstanding challenges,” calling the story “beautiful and memorable.”

About 500 New Yorkers die from heat every year. City officials call these deaths “entirely preventable.” If these deaths are preventable, why isn't cooling accessible to everyone who needs it?

Our latest investigation, by Jordan Gass-Pooré and Helina Selemon, examines the gap between the communities most vulnerable to extreme heat and the resources available to protect them. themargin.us/features/ove...

About 500 New Yorkers die from heat every year. City officials call these deaths “entirely preventable.” If these deaths are preventable, why isn't cooling accessible to everyone who needs it?

Even when someone gets an A/C, the program doesn't pay the electricity bill to run it. This leaves many low-income New Yorkers choosing between cooling off and rising energy costs.

About 500 New Yorkers die from heat every year. City officials call these deaths “entirely preventable.” If these deaths are preventable, why isn't cooling accessible to everyone who needs it?

One answer is buried in New York's cooling assistance program. We know that access to safe, reliable cooling helps people survive extreme heat. But New York's largest safety net for low-income residents facing energy insecurity wasn't designed around the reality of today's hotter summers.

Presented by The Margin as part of the day-long Stories that Move at NYC Climate Week.

This program brings together investigative journalists, editors, and photographers to discuss the power of investigative and data-driven reporting that centers the people and places most affected by environmental and climate injustice.

The Margin wins its first Online Journalism Award in 2026 for Jess Zhang, Katie Basile, and Megan Gannon’s reporting, “Saving Sinking Homes” and ‘Morning Land that Leaves.” Here's what the judges had to say:

"The judges all agree that this is a tough category, and the winner took a unique and targeted look at the effects of climate change on a population that had traditionally been neglected by the US government."

@ottavias.bsky.social spent months reporting for The Margin on the United Houma Nation's fight for federal recognition and the Tribe's exposure to climate disasters. 2 years later, the Tribe received $56.5M to build the resilience infrastructure it needs. That work is underway now.

“[Regulations] like that are designed not with science in mind, not with public health in mind, but with giving the utilities and the coal industry indirectly a break at the cost of the people who live closest to the facilities.” #CoalAsh #Kentucky

Watch the whole conversation now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUOY... #EnvironmentalJustice

“[Regulations] like that are designed not with science in mind, not with public health in mind, but with giving the utilities and the coal industry indirectly a break at the cost of the people who live closest to the facilities.” #CoalAsh #Kentucky

A 2024 rule finally required these old, often abandoned dump sites to be identified and addressed. Mill Creek alone likely has at least three of these sites, according to data analyzed by Earthjustice.

“[Regulations] like that are designed not with science in mind, not with public health in mind, but with giving the utilities and the coal industry indirectly a break at the cost of the people who live closest to the facilities.” #CoalAsh #Kentucky

"Disasters disproportionately affect those who are already socio-economically marginalized in a community."

Additional research from scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and Rice University shows that after a disaster, white households gained wealth while households of color lost wealth. In Swannanoa, undocumented families aren't eligible for any FEMA funding following #HurricaneHelene.

"Disasters disproportionately affect those who are already socio-economically marginalized in a community."

That's according to FEMA's National Advisory Council, in a report published in December 2021, which warns that disaster survivors already struggling economically are pushed even further into poverty. #wealthgap