Local Reporting Network

Vermont Was Supposed to Get an Audit of Its Lake Champlain Cleanup. It Never Happened.

Halfway through a 20-year push to get Vermont’s waterways in line with tougher EPA standards, some lawmakers worry the project’s strategies aren’t as cost-effective as they could be — especially as a state-mandated audit was never done.

by Jonathan Mingle, Seven Days

November 4, 2026, 10:05 am EST

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Vermont Has Spent Nearly a Billion Dollars to Clean Up Lake Champlain. But the Green Slime Keeps Coming Back.

Vermont kicked off an ambitious effort in 2015 to clean up waterways and meet tougher EPA restrictions. But after a decade and nearly a billion dollars spent, potentially toxic algae still lingers in Lake Champlain. What happened?

by Jonathan Mingle, Seven Days, with additional reporting by John Dillon, Seven Days

November 4, 2026, 10:00 am EST
Do You Live Near Lake Champlain? Help Seven Days and ProPublica Investigate Algae Blooms.

Seven Days and ProPublica have teamed up to investigate the cleanup of Lake Champlain. Have you been affected by this issue? We’d like to hear from you.

by Jonathan Mingle and John Dillon, Seven Days

November 4, 2026, 9:55 am EST
Detroit Could Block Billionaire-Owned Concrete Plant From Further Neighborhood Expansion

We reported on how a concrete plant took over a Detroit neighborhood after a historic land swap facilitated by city officials. Now after years of complaints from residents about dust and noise, officials say they want to limit further growth.

by Jena Brooker, BridgeDetroit

October 29, 2026, 6:00 am EDT
Toxic Pressure

This Oil Company Is Linked to 1,000 Pollution Incidents and Other Violations. Oklahoma Never Punished It.

Staff at an Oklahoma regulatory agency spent over a year building a case against Citation Oil & Gas, a company notorious for oil field pollution. Instead of disciplining the company, agency leaders chose to let it resume operations.

by Nick Bowlin, The Frontier

October 27, 2026, 5:00 am EDT