Marian Wang was a reporter for ProPublica, covering education and college debt. She joined ProPublica in 2010, first blogging about a variety of accountability issues. Her later stories focused on how rising college costs and the complexity of the student loan system affect students and their families. Prior to coming to ProPublica, she worked at Mother Jones magazine in San Francisco and freelanced for a number of Chicago-based publications, including The Chicago Reporter, an investigative magazine focused on issues of race and poverty.
Marian Wang
Reporter
BP Fined $5.2 Million for False Reporting
BP America has been fined by the government for “false, inaccurate, or misleading” reports about energy production on tribal lands in Colorado. It is the first enforcement action taken by the revamped successor to the Minerals Management Service.
Health Effects After Exxon Valdez Went Unstudied
The Exxon Valdez disaster was a missed opportunity for answering questions about worker health now being asked in the Gulf. Both Exxon and the government say they haven't done research on long-term health problems among that spill's cleanup workers.
After 3 Weeks, BP Handed Over Samples Requested By Scientists
After first refusing, BP finally provided researchers at the University of South Florida with oil samples from the Gulf of Mexico. But the company came through only after getting pressure from lawmakers.
Gulf Disaster Changes Landscape for Scientists Eager to Do Research
BP has pledged millions for research on its oil spill in the Gulf, but scientists worry about how well the money will be spent. A report says Gulf Coast governors are demanding that the money be given to universities in their own states.
Scientists Predict Larger ‘Dead Zones' in Gulf
Federally-funded scientists predicted a "larger than average" dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico this year. It's unclear whether the oil spill is contributing to it.
Gulf Cleanup, Foreign Assistance, and Jones Act Confusion
Contrary to some claims, the Jones Act of 1920 hasn't kept foreign vessels from helping clean up the Gulf oil spill. Fifteen foreign vessels are already helping, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen.
Relief Wells Getting Close, But Could Take a Few Tries
The relief wells that BP is drilling in the Gulf of Mexico are nearing the ruptured Macondo well, but intercepting the oil flow is unlikely to happen on the first try. The Ixtoc spill in 1979 and the Montara spill last year, both in much shallower water, demonstrate the difficulty involved.
BP Document: Big Plans for Deepwater Drilling
A BP document shows the oil company had big plans to push deepwater drilling.
Top BP Exec Still Says Spill Flow Rate Doesn't Matter
BP still insists that the volume of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico doesn't affect it spill response, even though its own documents say otherwise. A company official, Doug Suttles, says a precise oil flow figure is irrelevant.
Read: BP's Plan For Controversial Arctic Drilling Project
Read BP's controversial plan to drill in the Arctic.
NOAA Confirms Oil Plumes Are From BP’s Well
Government scientists conclude that BP’s spewing well is the source of oil plumes found in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico. Their report says the oil appears to be chemically dispersed, noting that the ecological effects of such oil are unknown.
Moratorium Won't Stop Unprecedented BP Project in the Arctic
Off the coast of Alaska, an unusual BP oil project skirts the federal freeze on offshore drilling. Some engineers consider the work to be risky, and two scientists from the Minerals Management Service said regulators let BP write its own environmental review for the project.
EPA Response on Dispersant Reduction: 'BP Only Uses Lowest Volume of Dispersant Needed'
EPA responds to our earlier post about BP's continued use of dispersants. Here's the response from the agency's press secretary.
After EPA Order, BP Only Slightly Decreases Use of Dispersants
BP's daily use of oil dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico has dropped by only 9 percent since the EPA asked it to "significantly scale back" on them. But the EPA is calculating the company's improvement using different numbers.
As BP Works Through Backlog, Cleanup Worker Illness Stats Triple Since Prior Report
Following questions about its data, the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command is now reporting more than 300 cases of illness among cleanup crews working on the Gulf oil spill, an increase from 86 cases in a report a week earlier. A BP employee speaking for the response team said the increase was due partly to a backlog in the recording of incidents.
Gov't Watchdog: Offshore Drilling Regulator Has Too Few Inspectors And Poor Training
In congressional testimony, the Interior Department inspector general says the Minerals Management Service relies too heavily on the oil and gas industry to report accurately on the work it is doing.
Oil and Gas Lobby, Unfazed by Gulf Disaster, Defends Regulators and Status Quo
Despite documented problems in offshore drilling regulation, the oil and gas industry, not surprisingly, is defending the authority of the Minerals Management Service and the status quo on regulations.
GAO: Liability Caps Needed a Raise Even Before BP's Gulf Disaster
For years, the Government Accountability Office has suggested that liability limits are too on oil spills are low. Its most recent report repeats, word for word, what it said about liability caps two and a half years ago, showing recent calls for a cap increases are not a knee-jerk response to the BP oil spill.
No Signs that BP's Tracking Role of Chemical Exposure in Worker Illnesses
Though there are indications that chemical exposure may be related to some illnesses, records released by BP have little information about the effects that oil and disperants could be having on cleanup workers.
