Archive • The Data Liberation Project's newsletter

DLP Dispatch #8

Hello, and welcome to the eighth edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. This is a quick one, bringing you freshly-obtained data from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

New data: Thefts and losses of controlled substances

The Data Liberation Project just got you some more government records! In this case, they’re spreadsheets from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) quantifying the thefts/losses of controlled substances and “listed chemicals” reported to the agency, aggregated by state, business activity, loss type, and year.

May 16, 2023

DLP Dispatch #7

Hello, welcome to the seventh edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. Inside: A deeply-reported CNN investigation based on DLP-liberated data, the case of the missing prairie dogs, citation-level data for Animal Welfare Act inspections, documentation of CFBP’s enforcement database, and the latest batch of FOIAs.

CNN investigation based on DLP-liberated data

On Thursday, CNN published a deeply-reported investigation into worker injuries caused by ammonia leaks at Tyson Foods meatpacking plants.

May 9, 2023

DLP Dispatch #6

Hello, welcome to the sixth edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. Inside: Hazmat incident data liberated, improvements to prior releases, the latest batch of FOIAs, the DLP’s new email discussion list, and other news from the data-FOIA-sphere.

Hazmat incident data liberated

Not long after the previous DLP Dispatch, the Data Liberation Project released another dataset, this one with 600,000+ hazmat incident reports submitted to the US government from the 1970s through the near-present.

April 3, 2023

DLP Dispatch #5

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. Inside: Two major datasets liberated, FMCS database documentation, the latest batch of FOIA requests, and a volunteering form.

Data, liberated: Facilities handling hazardous substances

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program rule requires facilities handling “certain hazardous substances” to submit “risk management plans” at least every five years, detailing the chemicals they use, the risks that usage poses, what the facility is doing to minimize accidents, and a five-year accident history.

February 21, 2023

DLP Dispatch #4

Hello, happy new year, and welcome to the fourth edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. Inside: Progress on the EPA Risk Management Program data, the DLP’s first grant-supported project, the latest batch of FOIA requests, DLP metadata, and other news from the data-FOIA-sphere.

Progress on the EPA Risk Management Program data

In DLP Dispatch #3, I shared the news that the Environmental Protection Agency had agreed to (largely) fulfill the Data Liberation Project’s FOIA request for the agency’s Risk Management Program database.

January 12, 2023

DLP Dispatch #3

Hello, and welcome to the third edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. Inside: Our first FOIA win, opportunities for collaboration, the DLP’s latest batch of FOIA requests, a new way to express interest in specific requests, and other news from the data-FOIA-sphere.

Our first FOIA win (🎉)

Through its Risk Management Program (RMP), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains a database of risk management plans and accident histories submitted by “facilities that use extremely hazardous substances.” In late October, the Data Liberation Project sent a FOIA request seeking that database (with the exception of the “Off-Site Consequence Analysis” records deemed non-disclosable by 40 CFR Part 1400).

December 6, 2022

DLP Dispatch #2

Hello, and welcome to the second edition of the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. There are now 480+ of you who’ve subscribed to these updates, something that encourages me. Thank you for your attention; I’ll try to reward it with concision. Without further ado:

The latest batch of FOIA requests

In the final days of October, I filed the second batch of Data Liberation Project FOIA requests. They seek:

November 3, 2022

DLP Dispatch #1

Hello there! Thank you for subscribing to the Data Liberation Project’s newsletter. This is the first edition. I hope to send these semi-regular dispatches at least monthly but no more than weekly. I’ll also try to keep them short. So: Onward!

FOIA request updates

The Friday before launching, I submitted the DLP’s first batch of five FOIA requests. Here’s where they stand:

October 4, 2022