Don't Drink the Water
Reporter Matt Hanley of The Beacon News in Aurora, Ill., has taken on one of the state's Goliaths. His "Did Bad Water Make Nicor Workers Sick?" investigates whether faulty plumbing in the giant gas company's local facility made many of its workers desperately sick. Hanley does a nice job of explaining the complexities of the chemicals and plumbing involved, sharing the stories of the sick workers and using OSHA and city documents to back up their claims. His writing is crisp throughout. The Beacon News Web package also includes a useful timeline and mini-profiles of the sick workers with powerful portraits by photographer Donnell Collins. This is a nice example of a small city paper dedicating resources to investigative reporting.