David Shaffer
Investigative reporter | General assignment, agriculture, DNR
Phone: 612-673-7090
E-mail: david.shaffer@startribune.com
David Shaffer is an investigative reporter at the Star Tribune. He was part of a team that in 2008 exposed continuing damage to state lands by off-road vehicles. His 2007 series “The Longest Cleanup” revealed that vast areas of groundwater beneath the Twin Cities contain chemical traces from decades-old industrial dumps. He reported in 2007 that the Minnesota Health Department suppressed research about Iron Range miners who died of a rare asbestos-related cancer, leading to the resignation of the state health commissioner and passage of a 5-year, $4.9 million University of Minnesota-led effort to uncover the cause of the disease. His stories in 2007 on a Department of Natural Resources game warden conference led to the departure of two top enforcement officials.
Shaffer joined the Star Tribune in 1999, serving as public safety editor and then health-science-environment editor before joining the investigative team in 2005. He previously was a reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Shaffer holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State University.
