Marian Wang
Marian Wang was a reporter for ProPublica, covering education and college debt.
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.
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,
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.
by Marian Wang,