Lylla Younes

News Applications Developer

Lylla Younes was a reporter and developer on ProPublica’s news apps team. Her work mapping cancer-causing industrial pollution in Louisiana helped lead to the suspension of Formosa Plastic's permit in St. James Parish and won the 2020 Nina Mason Pulliam Award for Outstanding Environmental Reporting. In 2020, she was part of a team that wrote a peer-reviewed paper linking COVID-19 deaths to air pollution. She has also collaborated with the Oregonian and OPB on a series about how Oregon's timber industry hollows rural communities. The series won the 2021 John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism.

She was previously a data reporter with New York Public Radio (WNYC) and Gothamist.

EPA Calls Out Environmental Racism in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

In a “remarkable” letter, the EPA accused Louisiana regulators of neglecting Black residents’ concerns about toxic air pollution and urged the state to move kids out of a school where monitors found extreme levels of a cancer-causing chemical.

Visualizing Toxic Air

Making data public isn’t enough when it’s incomprehensible to the people it affects. ProPublica set out to decode a complex EPA data set to expose hot spots of industrial air pollution across the U.S.

Air Monitors Alone Won’t Save Communities From Toxic Industrial Air Pollution

Calvert City, Kentucky, has long had what people in other toxic hot spots have been begging for: monitors to prove they’re being exposed to toxic industrial air pollution. Regulators have years of evidence, but the poison in the air is only growing.

We’re Releasing the Data Behind Our Toxic Air Analysis

Last year, ProPublica revealed more than 1,000 hot spots of carcinogenic industrial air pollution. Now we’re releasing the data behind that analysis.

The Dirty Secret of America’s Clean Dishes

The world’s largest chemical maker, BASF, produces ingredients for America’s most popular products, from soaps to surface cleaners to dishwasher detergent. Emissions from their U.S. plants elevate cancer risks for an estimated 1.5 million people.

Veneno en el aire

La EPA permite a los contaminadores que conviertan barrios en “zonas de sacrificio” donde los residentes respiran carcinógenos. ProPublica revela dónde están esos lugares en un mapa, el primero de este tipo, y con análisis de datos.

El mapa más detallado de contaminación atmosférica industrial que causa cáncer en los EE. UU.

Utilizamos información de la EPA para trazar un mapa de las emisiones atmosféricas industriales que causan cáncer hasta el nivel de los barrios. Busque su casa para ver si usted y sus seres queridos están viviendo en un lugar peligroso.

¿Puede la contaminación del aire causar cáncer? Lo que usted tiene que saber sobre los riesgos.

Si usted vive cerca de ciertas instalaciones industriales, puede tener un riesgo estimado de cáncer más alto. Aquí hay respuestas a preguntas comunes, datos producto de una colaboración participativa y cómo compartir su experiencia.

How You Can Report on the Toxic Hot Spots Near You

A journalist’s guide for investigating cancer-causing air pollution from industrial facilities by using ProPublica’s original air toxics map and data.

The Most Detailed Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the U.S.

Using the EPA’s data, we mapped the spread of cancer-causing industrial air emissions down to the neighborhood level. Look up your home to see if you and your loved ones are living in a hot spot.

Poison in the Air

The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe carcinogens. ProPublica reveals where these places are in a first-of-its-kind map and data analysis.

How We Created the Most Detailed Map Ever of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution

We analyzed billions of rows of EPA data to do something the agency had never done before: map the spread of cancer-causing industrial air emissions down to the neighborhood level.

Can Air Pollution Cause Cancer? What You Need to Know About the Risks.

If you live close to certain industrial facilities, you may have a higher estimated cancer risk. This may sound alarming. Here are answers to common questions, some crowdsourced tips and how to share your experience to help our investigation.

Permit for Controversial $9 Billion Plastics Plant in “Chemical Alley” to Be Put on Hold

Proposed emissions from the plant would triple the levels of cancer-causing chemicals in one of the most toxic areas of the U.S., but the Army Corps of Engineers intends to suspend the permit.

The EPA Refuses to Reduce Pollutants Linked to Coronavirus Deaths

Particulate matter kills people. That was true before the pandemic, and new research has tied it to coronavirus deaths. But the EPA is ignoring scientists who say stricter particulate matter limits could prevent tens of thousands of early deaths.

Oil Companies Are Profiting From Illegal Spills. And California Lets Them.

California may be a global leader on combating climate change, but state regulators have allowed companies like Chevron to make millions from inland oil spills that can endanger workers and damage the environment.

New Research Shows Disproportionate Rate of Coronavirus Deaths in Polluted Areas

The type of pollution emitted by many chemical plants in Louisiana's industrial corridor is correlated with increased coronavirus deaths, according to new peer-reviewed research from SUNY and ProPublica.

Big Money Bought the Forests. Small Logging Communities Are Paying the Price.

Wall Street investment funds took control of Oregon’s private forests. Now, wealthy timber corporations reap the benefits of tax cuts that have cost rural counties billions.

How We Analyzed Data From Oregon’s Timber Industry

A data investigation by OPB, The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica found that timber tax cuts have cost counties at least $3 billion in the past three decades. Here’s how we did our analysis.

Coronavirus in New York City: How Many Confirmed Cases Are Near Me?

We’re tracking how many New York City residents have tested positive for the coronavirus in every ZIP code and how each neighborhood compares with others.

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