Kevin Ozebek
Kevin Ozebek is an investigative reporter at ABC7 Eyewitness News who focuses on the environmental consequences of industrial incidents and how authorities handle the fallout. His work links real-time air quality data, regulatory records and community experience to show what pollution and hazardous releases mean for residents living closest to these events. Alongside his environment beat, he pursues accountability stories that track fraud and misuse of public funds in high-stakes social programs.
Industrial fires and environmental fallout
Ozebek’s recent coverage has centered on the Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights and the environmental mess it left behind. He documents how millions of pounds of stored food turned into bulk waste after the fire, creating persistent odors and attracting vermin in surrounding neighborhoods.
His reporting follows the cleanup from initial fire response through the removal of all food waste, explaining the milestones required under air quality regulators’ abatement orders and the timelines for odor relief.
He uses these stories to show how a single industrial incident can become a long-running environmental nuisance, requiring sustained oversight from regulators and cooperation from the company involved. The coverage keeps attention on the communities impacted by smoke, smell and debris rather than on the facility alone.
Air quality data and community health
Ozebek makes air quality data central to his environment reporting, treating numbers as a way to clarify risk rather than obscure it. In his coverage near the Boyle Heights warehouse fire, he highlights readings from a temporary air sensor placed a few blocks from the facility and explains how the Air Quality Index surged overnight to 621, far beyond the “hazardous” threshold of 300.
He shows how those readings dropped back to moderate levels within a day, using the rapid change to illustrate how wind patterns and other conditions can quickly shift exposure for nearby residents. His stories spell out the health categories attached to AQI values and connect them to practical guidance, such as staying indoors when levels reach “very unhealthy” or “hazardous.” Ozebek also directs residents to tools like the EPA’s AirNow Fire and Smoke Map so they can check the sensor closest to their home, emphasizing that people should not rely solely on official advisories to understand local conditions.
In doing so, he positions environmental reporting as a bridge between technical monitoring and everyday decisions about safety.
Fraud, oversight and public money
Ozebek extends his investigative lens beyond environmental hazards to the systems meant to address social crises. In coverage of arrests tied to a crackdown on fraud and misuse of funds earmarked to combat the homelessness crisis, he focuses on how money intended for vulnerable populations has been diverted and what enforcement agencies are doing in response. The framing treats the story as both a criminal case and an accountability test for programs designed to address one of the region’s most pressing issues. By pairing this kind of reporting with his environment work, Ozebek shows a consistent interest in how institutions perform under stress and whether public resources reach the communities they are meant to serve.
Long-running environmental risks and climate disasters
Before joining ABC7, Ozebek built a track record reporting on environmental risks that develop slowly and disasters that strike suddenly. His past work includes stories on the environmental impact of orphan wells along the Texas coast, which examined how abandoned oil infrastructure can leak pollutants and threaten nearby communities.
He has brought attention to chronically flooding homes, showing how repeated inundation reshapes neighborhoods, damages property and challenges local governments. Ozebek has also covered the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction, following recovery efforts and documenting how extreme weather events expose weaknesses in planning and protection.
This background gives his current reporting a longer horizon; he treats incidents like the Boyle Heights warehouse fire as part of a broader pattern of environmental risk, regulatory response and community resilience.
4 more environment journalists.
Alan Halaly
Alan Halaly is a water reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal who treats the Colorado River as a working system, not a backdrop, making its governance, infrastructure and risks central to his beat. He covers how policy decisions and infrastructure projects shape the region’s water future, linking high-level choices on the Colorado River, dams, mining and data centers to everyday consequences under mounting heat and growth pressures. He reports deeply on new laws, lawsuits and regulatory shifts, focusing on on-the-ground impacts. His coverage spans Colorado River cuts, Hoover Dam operations, extreme weather, heat and parks, septic system rules, workplace and public health risks, lithium and gold mines, protected landscapes, data centers, AI infrastructure and public funding. Previously he reported for metropolitan dailies, digital outlets and public media, including the Miami Herald, WUFT, The Daily Beast and Miami New Times, with work recognized by Hearst, ONA and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Alejandra Borunda
Alejandra Borunda reports on how climate change affects human health for NPR. Her work treats global warming as a direct cause of physical and mental health risks. She covers extreme heat, including undercounted deaths, lost sleep and local efforts to track heat-related fatalities. She also reports on wildfire smoke, hurricanes, disease spread such as dengue fever, trauma, stress and unequal health impacts. Her stories examine how communities protect themselves and recover, as well as practical solutions involving climate-resilient crops, agriculture and diet. Before NPR, she wrote about climate science and environmental issues for National Geographic, including glacier retreat, shade and heat inequity, and shrinking ice-fishing seasons. A former climate scientist, she combines field reporting with scientific data to connect atmospheric research to everyday risks, choices and people’s lived experiences.
Alex Lubben
Alex Lubben is an environment reporter at The Times-Picayune/The Advocate who connects climate risk to policy, industry and community change. He covers Gulf warming, flood protection, coastal restoration, wetlands litigation, industrial projects such as SpaceX’s possible expansion, invasive species and local ecosystems. His reporting tracks how law, politics and corporate decisions shape levees, drainage, marshes and long-term resilience. He also examines climate relocation, housing and labor, showing how hurricanes, floods and wildfires displace vulnerable communities and expose gaps in government systems. He works on a small environment team and brings an investigative background to document work, data analysis, legal and policy research, and field reporting. His work has appeared in VICE News, The Center for Public Integrity, The Nation, Jewish Currents and NBC News.
Alex Wigglesworth
Alex Wigglesworth reports on how climate, land use and public policy shape California communities. She covers the Inland Empire and Mojave Desert for the Los Angeles Times and is part of its environment team. Her beat includes wildfires, megadrought, extreme weather, desert development, conservation, wildlife, industrial hazards, aging infrastructure and regulatory enforcement. She has covered Western Joshua trees, desert tortoises, beaver-led restoration, toxic lead pipes, air-quality concerns after industrial fires and the effects of nuclear war on food systems. Earlier, she was a general assignment reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. She combines breaking news with detailed reporting grounded in scientific studies, modeling and expert interviews. Her work connects fires, drought and other hazards to climate change, while examining how agencies, companies and land-use decisions affect people and ecosystems.