Dirt Diggers Network: Digest No. 25
December 4, 2002
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. EPA introduces website with facility compliance data
2. The Corporate Library launches board interlock research tool
3. AutoTrackXP rolls out federal infractions database
4. Report on Tenet documents 700% drug markups
5. Guide to accessing online court dockets and documents
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. EPA introduces website with facility compliance data
In a major advance for researching corporate environmental compliance
records, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a pilot
website containing enforcement data on some 800,000 regulated
facilities nationwide. The service, called Enforcement and Compliance
History Online (ECHO), can be found at http://www.epa.gov/echo/.
The EPA, which initiated a 60-day comment period about the site, said that
ECHO "allows users to find permit, inspection, violation, enforcement action,
and penalty information covering the past two years about facilities in their
communities. Facilities included on the site are Clean Air Act (CAA) stationary
sources, Clean Water Act (CWA) facilities with direct discharge permits (under
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System), and generators/handlers
of hazardous waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA). When available, information also is provided on surrounding demographics."
Noting that the data in ECHO was previously available only through FOIA requests
and mainframe computer subscriptions, the EPA said the new site "makes it much
easier for the public to obtain these data records on the Internet."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The Corporate Library launches board interlock research tool
The Corporate Library <www.thecorporatelibrary.com>, a website devoted to
corporate governance issues, has introduced what appears to be a valuable online tool
for researching relationships among directors at some 1,900 publicly traded companies.
The Director Interlock Tool allows one to explore the links between corporations
stemming from the fact that they share directors. The profiles of some 20,000
directors also feature their positions on the boards of non-profit organizations
and professional associations.
Unfortunately, the service is priced so that only wealthy organizations can
afford to use it. A single-user subscription costs $3,000 a year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. AutoTrackXP rolls out federal infractions database
AutoTrackXP <www.autotrackxp.com>, a public records subscription research tool
owned by Choicepoint Inc., has created a new database consisting of information on
individuals and companies that appear on various federal lists of regulatory violators.
The Infractions database includes listings from agencies such as the Office of Foreign
Assets Control, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Bureau
of Export Administration.
AutoTrackXP has also created a database with information from about 30 states on
inmates, sexual offenders and those currently on parole or probation. The Criminal
Offenders database allows searches by social security number for three states:
Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Report on Tenet documents 700% drug markups
The California Nurses Association and the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic
Policy have released a report on the markups taken by Tenet Healthcare on the drugs
provided to patients at its for-profit hospitals. The study, which examined federal cost
reports, found that Tenet's markup was more than 700%. In California, the company
was charging more than 1,000 percent above its cost. For more information on the
report, see http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/112502.html.
Tenet, which has been accused of gouging the federal Medicare program, has just
announced that it will adopt a more restrained pricing policy for its services.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Guide to accessing online court dockets and documents
The legal research website LLRX.com has published a handy guide to online court
research written by Carole Levitt <http://www.llrx.com/features/onlinedockets.htm>.
The guide covers both free and pay websites that provide access to court dockets, along
with information on the growing trend among federal and some state courts to put
the full text of court filings on the web.
------------------------------------
Philip Mattera
Director of the Corporate Research Project
Good Jobs First