Advertisement
  1. special reports

Investigations

66° F, Partly Cloudy66° F, Partly Cloudy
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pasco’s sheriff created a futuristic program to stop crime before it happens. It monitors and harasses families across the county.
Targeted
Pasco’s sheriff created a futuristic program to stop crime before it happens. It monitors and harasses families across the county.
The kids and their parents don’t know.
Pasco’s sheriff uses grades and abuse histories to label schoolchildren potential criminals.
The kids and their parents don’t know.
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.
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.
From its headquarters in Boca Raton, GardaWorld has put unsafe trucks on the road, and its workers and unsuspecting motorists have suffered the consequences.
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.
An outbreak. Evacuations. Forty families shattered.
How did coronavirus overwhelm this nursing home so quickly?
An outbreak. Evacuations. Forty families shattered.
Solar panels on Ruskin homes purchased with PACE loans.
An energy efficiency finance program is trapping Florida homeowners in debt
Scientology’s international spiritual headquarters in downtown Clearwater is anchored by the Flag Building, on left. An elevated walkway connects the building to the Fort Harrison Hotel, the church’s first purchase in the city in 1975.
How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years
Michael Jenkins spent seven days at North Tampa Behavioral Health last July. Since then, he says his three children have been afraid he’ll leave and not come home.
You’re trapped. This Florida hospital is cashing in.
Leslie Lugo’s family visits her grave in September.
Despite warnings, All Children’s kept operating. Babies died.

LATEST

  1. Florida’s only lead factory finds itself in damage-control mode
    Yesterday• Investigations
    Photos taken by workers at Gopher Resource in Tampa show a factory plagued with problems.
    Gopher Resource had been working to clean up and fix problems before inspectors arrived. After a five-year absence, regulators finally showed up.
  2. Federal OSHA regulators begin inspection of Tampa lead factory
    Apr. 6• Investigations
    Gopher Resource is seen on Tuesday in Tampa. On Monday regulators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began inspecting at the company.
    After five years away, inspectors arrived Monday at Gopher Resource. The visit follows a Times investigation that found hundreds of workers exposed to high levels of poisons.
  5. Castor and Crist call for U.S. justice department to investigate Florida lead factory
    Apr. 1• Investigations
    A worker inside Gopher Resource passes through a cloud of dust laced with the neurotoxin lead. The factory recycles 50,000 used car batteries a day. It is the only factory of its kind in Florida.
    The U.S. representatives urge the Department of Justice to open a probe into Gopher Resource after Tampa Bay Times series.
  6. Castor and Crist call for expedited OSHA review of Tampa lead smelter
    Mar. 31• Investigations
    A worker inside Gopher Resource passes through a cloud of dust laced with the neurotoxin lead. The factory recycles 50,000 used car batteries a day. It is the only factory of its kind in Florida.
    In the wake of a Tampa Bay Times investigation, local representatives urge fast action.
  7. Times project exposing lead dangers at Florida factory cost about $500,000
    Mar. 31• News
    Eric Telemaque, who now lives in an assisted living facility, is one of the workers featured in Poisoned, a Tampa Bay Times investigation that examined the dangers inside Florida's only lead factory. Telemaque ended his last shift at the factory on the locker room floor after suffering a stroke.
    Poisoned, which spun off from earlier reporting, took 18 months. Reporters found that hundreds of workers have been exposed to extreme amounts of the neurotoxin.
  8. Federal regulators have been missing in action at Florida’s only lead factory
    Mar. 29• Investigations
    Dust covers machinery in 2014, the same year that OSHA last inspected the factory for lead issues.
    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.
  9. Tampa’s Castor ask feds to scrutinize Tampa lead smelter
    Mar. 26• Investigations
    Tampa Mayor Jane Castor called this week’s Tampa Bay Times investigation into unsafe work conditions at Gopher Resource, LLC concerning. She has directed city staff to gather information from regulatory agencies that monitor the East Tampa plant.
    Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor issue calls for action after the Tampa Bay Times investigation into dangerous practices at Gopher Resource factory.
  10. Hundreds of workers are exposed to poisons inside Florida’s only lead factory
    Mar. 25• Investigations
    A worker inside Gopher Resource passes through a cloud of dust laced with the neurotoxin lead. The factory recycles 50,000 used car batteries a day. It is the only factory of its kind in Florida.
    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.
  11. Hundreds of workers are exposed to poisons inside Florida’s only lead factory
    Mar. 24• Investigations
    A worker inside Gopher Resource passes through a cloud of dust laced with the neurotoxin lead. The factory recycles 50,000 used car batteries a day. It is the only factory of its kind in Florida.
    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.
  12. The dangers start with the dust inside Florida’s only lead smelter
    Mar. 22• Investigations
    Gopher Resource in Tampa.
    Hundreds of workers at a Tampa lead smelter have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead and other toxins. The consequences have been profound.

Send us a confidential tip.

Learn how to securely call, message or email us at tampabay.com/tips.

Our team

Kathleen McGrory, Deputy Editor for Investigations

Corey G. Johnson, Investigative Reporter

Rebecca Woolington, Investigative Reporter

Bethany Barnes, Investigative Reporter

Eli Murray, Data Reporter

Advertisement

Most Read

Advertisement
Today's Featured Advertisers
Advertisement
Advertisement