Robert Jablon

Associated Press
Latest in Safety
Tesla vehicles line a parking area at the company's Fremont, Calif., factory on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025.
Tesla Under Investigation After Delays in Reporting Self-Driving Crashes
August 22, 2025
A sign stands at Prospect Ranch outside of Prospect Valley Dairy east of Keenesburg, Colo., Aug. 21, 2025.
6 People Found Dead at a Colorado Dairy; Authorities Suspect an Accident Involving Gas Exposure
August 22, 2025
The Geneva Steel mill under construction in 1942 in Vineyard, Utah. The mill was among Utah’s biggest polluters before it closed in 2001.
New Analysis Suggests Industrial Pollution’s Imprint Lasts Generations
August 21, 2025
Utility Metamorworks
How Covert Adversaries Are Embedding Themselves in Critical Infrastructure
August 21, 2025
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The Metrorail system that serves the nation's capital and its Virginia and Maryland suburbs shut down for a full-day for an emergency safety inspection of its third-rail power cables. Making for unusual commute, as the lack of service is forcing some people on the roads, while others are staying home or teleworking.
Safety
Systemic Problems Remain in Subway
Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld listens to a question during a news conference to announce that the DC Metrorail service will be shut down for a full day at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority headquarters, on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, in Washington. Wiedefeld said the system would be shut down for an emergency inspection of the system’s third rail power cables.
Safety
Entire Subway System Shut Down
Google Generic 56eabe74259b6
Safety
77% of Google's Traffic is Encrypted
In this photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday, March 14, 2016, in Cimarron, Kan., and released by NTSB, a frontal view of an agricultural vehicle that damaged the rails involved in the Kansas Amtrak derailment.
Safety
Feed Truck Hit Track Before Amtrak Accident
More from Robert Jablon
This aerial photo shows the Standard Oil Refinery in El Segundo, Calif., with Los Angeles International Airport in the background and the El Porto neighborhood of Manhattan Beach, Calif., in the foreground, May 25, 2017.
Regulation
Southern California Enacts New Smog Rules on Refineries
The new rules will reduce NOx emissions by around eight tons per day.
November 8, 2021
This Jan. 12, 2017, file photo, shows a gas gathering plant on a hilltop at the Southern California Gas Company's Aliso Canyon storage facility near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. California regulators on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, voted to increase the capacity of a Southern California natural gas storage field where a 2015 blowout caused the nation's largest-ever methane leak and forced thousands from their homes.
Operations
California's PUC OKs Boosting Storage at Infamous Gas Field
Neighbors and activists said the increase was unnecessary.
November 5, 2021
It was the latest effort to deal with the proliferation of ghost guns, which are put together from commercial kits or parts bought online.
Safety
Deputies Shot in Ambush Sue 'Ghost Gun' Kit Maker
Law enforcement agencies say the weapons are increasingly turning up at crime scenes.
August 10, 2021
This undated photo provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows Indonesian citizen Rudy Kurniawan. Kurniawan, who bilked wine collectors out of millions by selling cheaper hooch he relabeled in his kitchen has been deported to his native Indonesia. U.S. immigration officials say Kurniawan was deported last week from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Tangerang City.
Food & Beverage
'Sour Grapes' Wine Fraud Con Man Deported
He bilked wine collectors out of millions by selling cheaper booze he rebottled in his kitchen.
April 14, 2021
Firefighters work on a house destroyed by a wildfire called the Getty Fire in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019.
Safety
Utilities: Equipment Probably Sparked Fires
A Monday fire was sparked after high winds blew a eucalyptus branch onto an electric line that caused it to arc, ignite dry grass and destroy a dozen homes.
October 30, 2019
In this May 21, 2015, file photo, an oil-covered bird flaps its wings amid at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif. A California jury has found a pipeline company guilty of nine criminal charges for causing a 2015 oil spill that was the state's worst coastal spill in 25 years. The jury reached its verdict against Plains All American Pipeline of Houston on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, following a four-month trial. The jury found Plains guilty of a felony count of failing to properly maintain its pipeline and eight misdemeanor charges, including killing marine mammals and protected sea birds.
Regulation
Pipeline Found Guilty in 2015 CA Oil Spill
Plains All American Pipeline had faced a total of 15 charges for the rupture of a corroded pipeline that sent at least 123,000 gallons of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
September 10, 2018
In this July, 7, 2004, file photo, a sign at the entrance to the Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water Company bottling plant, owned by Swiss conglomerate Nestle, on the Morongo Indian Reservation near Cabazon, Calif. Nestle, which sells Arrowhead bottled water, may have to stop taking millions of gallons of water from Southern California's San Bernardino National Forest because state regulators concluded it lacks valid permits. The State Water Resources Control Board notified the company on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, that an investigation concluded it doesn't have proper rights to pipe about three-quarters of the water it currently withdraws for bottling.
Supply Chain
Nestle Warned Over Water Rights
The company may have to stop taking millions of gallons of water from a national forest.
December 22, 2017
Cadiz
Product Development
Lawsuit Could Block Desert Water Project
The plan would pump water from beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California cities and counties.
November 29, 2017
FILE - This Feb. 18, 2015, file photo shows a structure damaged after an explosion in a processing facility at a refinery in Torrance, Calif. A federal safety board says the 2015 explosion was preventable and is recommending changes to its safety procedures.
Safety
CA Refinery Blast Was Preventable
The explosion destroyed a large part of the refinery, rocked the neighboring community 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles and sent a fine white ash raining down on nearby homes and cars.
May 4, 2017
Work is underway Tuesday morning, July 19, 2016, to repair a sewage spill at Mission Road and 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles. Beaches in Long Beach have been shut down after a sewage spill that began near downtown Los Angeles the day before, flowed down the LA River to the ocean. Long Beach officials estimate that more than 100,000 gallons of sewage reached the city, and its ocean waters will be closed until testing shows it's safe.
Safety
CA Beaches Closed After Sewage Spill
A buried pipe in Los Angeles collapsed, causing a blockage that belched 2.4 million gallons of stinky sludge onto streets and into storm drains.
July 20, 2016
A fire department spokesperson said the the construction worker plunged 50 stories to his death from the building under construction and hit the back of a passing car in downtown Los Angeles.
Safety
Skyscraper Plunge Investigated as Suicide
He had taken off his hard hat and had not been wearing a safety harness because it wasn't required for the bottom floors he'd been working on.
March 21, 2016
Passerby's look up at the Wilshire Grand Tower on South Figueroa Street where a worker fell to his death on Thursday, March 17, 2016. A fire department spokesperson said the the construction worker plunged 50 stories to his death from the building under construction and hit the back of a passing car in downtown Los Angeles.
Safety
Electrician Falls Off of Skyscraper, More Than 50 Floors
According to the company, he wasn't supposed to be above the third floor.
March 18, 2016