Now This is a Headline and Lede

From time to time we recognize good environmental journalism, as well as criticize what we call stenography of government press releases.
Here’s our latest recognition to the reporter Michael Lamendola and the South Berganite for how to write a hard hitting headline and lede:
Environmentalist: NJ has worst cleanup program
(by Michael Lamendola – July 23, 2008)
A scathing report by the top watchdog office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) details how the federal agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) are dragging their feet when it comes to the remediation of sites listed in the federal Superfund program. In particular, two sites in the Meadowlands, one in East Rutherford, were listed as specific sites that should be further along in their cleanup processes. The two sites, Universal Oil Products in East Rutherford and Ventron/Velsicol in Wood-Ridge have been listed on the National Priorities List for cleanup for over 20 years with remediation plans in some cases still not complete.
“New Jersey used to have the strongest cleanup program in the country but now it is among the worst,” said Bill Wolfe, a former analyst with the NJDEP and now director of the New Jersey Public Employees for Environmental Employees, a watchdog group for proper environmental remediation.”
Now that’s telling it like it is!
For full story, see:
http://www.southbergenite.com/NC/0/1536.html
We give honorable mention to this Courier Post editorial:
DEP has no excuse for missing deadline
A Plan for reducing emissions in New Jersey should have been complete, on time, by June 30.
We share the concerns of a watchdog group that’s questioning why the state has already failed to live up to the first part of its year-old legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey.
A year ago, Gov. Jon Corzine signed the Global Warming Response Act of 2007. The act’s goal is to reduce polluting emissions 20 percent by 2020, a lofty goal. The first step the act called for was having a preliminary plan for hitting the mark on time. That plan was supposed to be complete by June 30, 2008. The plan was to include “specific recommendations for legislative and regulatory action.”
Guess what, the plan isn’t done. The state Department of Environmental Protection had a year to get it finished and it didn’t happen.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080707/OPINION/807070302/1046
Great headline – Way to hold ’em accountable!