Back when the Recovery Board released the Recovery.gov redesign contract, many in the transparency community were upset at the extent to which the General Services Administration redacted the contract. While we certainly expected General Services Administration (GSA) - the agency which conducts most of the federal government's procurement - to redact proprietary information, the document had massive swaths blacked out, including such ridiculous sections as the number of peak users and one part titled "Introduction."

Today, OpenTheGovernment.org released its 2009 Secrecy Report Card.  The report makes use of most quantitative indicators currently available to compare the Obama and Bush administrations.  While it is too early to effectively compare the two administrations the report notes a slight decrease in secrecy levels during the end of the Bush administration.  Further, while the Obama administration is pursuing a promise of unprecidented openness the results are mixed.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from several environmental groups, the EPA released a list of 584 coal ash dump sites around the country. Coal ash is the toxic leftover waste from coal-fired power plants. The list identifies wet coal ash dumps, which are more dangerous than dry landfills because they are more vulnerable to leaks, overflows, and failures. The information is central to protecting public health and the environment. Last December, a dike failed at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash dump. The spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, TN sent more than 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge flowing into the nearby community and the Emory River.