Investigations

POISONED

Part 1: Hundreds of workers are exposed to poisons inside Florida’s only lead factory

At Gopher Resource in Tampa, workers recycle 50,000 used car batteries a day. Their safety equipment doesn’t always protect them, an 18-month Tampa Bay Times investigation found.

Part 2: Federal regulators have been missing in action at Florida’s only lead factory

OSHA inspectors haven’t been inside Gopher Resource in five years, even as mechanical breakdowns plagued the Tampa plant and made conditions worse for workers.

Part 3: The fallout

Gopher Resource promised changes at Tampa's old lead factory. It kept polluting.

Unprotected

Part 1: Lesson learned?

Tampa teens reported a teacher’s sexual comments. Then a student’s life was upended.

Part 2: 'Students shouldn't be scared'

Tampa teens wanted their school to protect them. Instead, they say, it got worse.

Tampa police called for hundreds to be evicted. Entire families lost their homes.

Officers sent notices to landlords detailing arrests and encounters with their tenants that put families at risk of eviction even when charges were later dropped.

Targeted

Pasco’s sheriff created a futuristic program to stop crime before it happens. It monitors and harasses families across the county.

Pasco’s sheriff uses grades and abuse histories to label schoolchildren potential criminals.

The kids and their parents don’t know.

The man behind the machine

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco built a controversial data-driven approach to policing. He also built a wide circle of powerful friends who don’t question his tactics.

This major armored truck company took dangerous shortcuts. Mayhem followed.

From its headquarters in Boca Raton, GardaWorld has put unsafe trucks on the road, and its workers and unsuspecting motorists have suffered the consequences.

Big banks entrusted money to GardaWorld. It secretly lost track of millions.

Federal agency knew Garda was “really bad” at safety. It took little action.

LATEST

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Sixty-four workers allege they were exposed to dangerous levels of lead and other toxic chemicals at Gopher Resource.

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Reporting team that won Pulitzer did work regulators should have done in Tampa years ago
May 10• Investigations
Tampa Bay Times journalists filled the void left by regulators to tell the story of Florida’s lone lead smelter.
Tampa Bay Times reporters win Pulitzer Prize for ‘Poisoned’ series
May 9• Investigations
For exposing dangers at a local lead smelter, they earn journalism’s top prize — the newsroom’s third for investigative reporting and its 14th overall.