John Ryan
Environment Reporter
About
John Ryan joined KUOW as its first full-time investigative reporter in 2009 and became its environment reporter in 2018. He focuses on climate change, energy, and the ecosystems of the Puget Sound region. He has also investigated toxic air pollution, landslides, failed cleanups, and money in politics for KUOW.
Over a quarter century as an environmental journalist, John has covered everything from Arctic drilling to Indonesian reef bombing. He has been a reporter at NPR stations in southeast and southwest Alaska (KTOO-Juneau and KUCB-Unalaska) and at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
John’s stories have won multiple national awards for KUOW, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi awards for Public Service in Radio Journalism and for Investigative Reporting, national Edward R. Murrow and PMJA/PRNDI awards for coverage of breaking news, and Society of Environmental Journalists awards for in-depth reporting.
John welcomes tips, documents, and feedback. Reach him at jryan@kuow.org or for secure, encrypted communication, he's at heyjohnryan@protonmail.com or 1-401-405-1206 on the Signal messaging app.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English, some Spanish, some Indonesian
Professional Affiliations: SAG-AFTRA union member and former shop steward; Society of Environmental Journalists member and mentor
Stories
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Environment
Seattle bans natural gas in new buildings
The city of Seattle has banned most uses of fossil fuels in new buildings.
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Environment
Beachgoers unhappy as Navy SEALs get OK to train in Washington State Parks
Washington state has OK'd a plan to allow Navy SEALs to train in up to 17 parks. Parkgoers worry about their safety and peace of mind.
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Health
How the Makah Tribe beat the coronavirus odds and flattened the curve
"Our goal is to not lose one single life, and so far, we've met that goal.”
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How the Whatcom oil train derailment went down
The oil train derailment in the town of Custer last month could have been a lot worse, but for a swift emergency response and some luck. We get the story from KUOW reporter John Ryan.
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Environment
What led to oil-train disaster? Investigators eye equipment, tracks, even sabotage
Why would a train moving 7 miles an hour derail? Why would supposedly puncture-resistant tankers rupture at such a low speed? The FBI wants to know.
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Environment
“The train is on fire”: the tense moments after an oil train derailed
Here’s what the train’s three-person crew and firefighters did to keep an oily disaster from getting much worse.
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Environment
King County blames power outages for big sewage spills. Tribe blames the county.
While King County officials blame power outages from a wind storm for millions of gallons of sewage entering Lake Washington and Puget Sound early Wednesday morning, critics say the county needs to be held accountable for the pollution.
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Millions of gallons of raw sewage spill into Seattle-area waters
The recent region-wide power outage caused wastewater pumps to spill raw sewage into Seattle-area waters, such as Puget Sound and Lake Washington.
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Environment
Inslee unveils new plan to tackle climate change 'head on' in WA
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says there’s no silver bullet for the climate, so he’s pushing a sweeping package of policies to lower the state’s carbon footprint, economy-wide.
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Top WA elections official threatened, doxxed after challenging Trump campaign's election misinformation
Secretary of State Kim Wyman's office confirmed on Monday that it has notified the Department of Homeland Security and the state’s own counterterrorism center, the Washington State Fusion Center, about a death threat against one of her employees.