NetRootsMass » Environment

397. Government OK’s dumping mining debris in and near streams

Hugh — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:29:11 +0000

On December 2, 2008, the Bush Administration in its last days approved a Department of Interior rule which will allow coal companies to shear off the tops of mountains and dump the debris into surrounding valleys and streams. This change would primarily affect coalfields in Appalachia. Current regulations establish a minimum 100 ft. buffer between dumped material and streams. By changing the environmental effect on streams from “adversely impact” to “significantly degrade,” the new rule would allow variances that would reduce or eliminate the buffer. Stephen Johnson (items 23, 321, 348) the current head of the EPA and one of the Adminstration’s most active anti-environmentalists, stated that fish, streams, and wildlife would be protected. What Johnson did not say was that this would be done by changing the definition of “protected”. The rule also contains a lot of wiggle room in how runoff and water pollution would be minimized “to the extent possible using the best technology currently available.” For mining interests and this Administration, “the extent possible” can mean “not much” and “the best technology currently available” can mean whatever is handy.

393. Oh, and another Bureau of Land Management shady deal in the West

Hugh — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:04:01 +0000

On November 17, 2008, the Interior Department announced another final rule to go into effect on January 17, 2009, three days before President-Elect Obama’s inauguration. This one would open up 1.9 million acres to exploitation of oil shale deposits in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Shale remains both a dirty and largely unproven technology and requires large amounts of water in a region that has none to spare. This lack of water and the collapse in oil prices in the second half of 2008 will, however, limit the damage to the environment which the Bureau of Land Management and the Interior Department contemplated. Still they tried.

392. BP receives a slap on the wrist from Justice Department

Hugh — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:11:34 +0000

On October 25, 2007, oil giant BP agreed to pay $373 million in fines to settle 3 different investigations against it. In February 2004, BP tried to corner the US market in propane and stick its customers with higher prices. To avoid a criminal prosecution, it agreed to pay $303 million in fines.

On March 23, 2005, an explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas killed 15 and injured more than 170. The EPA found that BP had failed to install equipment mandated by the Clean Air Act to prevent the release of potentially explosive chemical vapors. As part of a felony plea agreement, BP paid $50 million in fines.

On March 5, 2006 a 200,000 gallon leak from a BP pipeline on to the arctic tundra was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The spill occurred over 5 days and was the result of BP skimping and cutting corners on routine maintenance over a period of years. In August 2006, a second spill occurred in the eastern part of the North Slope field. For these, BP pled guilty to a misdemeanor and paid $20 million in fines. A November 10, 2008 McClatchy article reports that the Justice Department terminated the investigation early going for a misdemeanor rather than a felony charge (which investigators thought they could get if given more time to process the evidence). The DOJ also accepted a fine amount which was substantially lower than that recommended by the EPA.

What this goes to show is that in spite of BP being a really bad corporate citizen and repeated offender, killing its workers, screwing its customers, and poisoning the environment, it was essentially let off by the Bush Justice Department. While $373 million may seem like a lot, BP’s gross profits for 2007 alone came to more than $31 billion, and the fine settled the government’s claims against it for the preceding 3 years. Looking at it from this longer perspective, BP executives could write it off as an acceptable cost of doing business.

391. The Bureau of Land Management and shady deals in Utah again

Hugh — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:51:43 +0000

The Bureau of Land Management is set to open public lands to drilling near 3 National Parks in Utah. Bypassing usual input from the Parks Service which would delay the process into the next Administration, the BLM will auction leases in the area on December 19, 2008. Consider it a parting gift by the Bush Administration of your resources to the oil and gas companies. The Utah office of the BLM seems prone to these kind of funny deals (See item 211) and for all I know there may even be someone in that office who isn’t owned by the energy industry and developers although I think that is unlikely.

On February 4, 2009, the new Secretary of the Interior in the Obama Administration Ken Salazar cancelled these leases.

354. USDA to no longer track pesticide use

Hugh — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:10:41 +0000

The National Agricultural Statistics Service, an agency within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), announced in May 2008 that it could no longer afford to spend $8 million a year to track pesticide use in agriculture. Since this information is only used by farmers, consumer groups, environmental groups, the EPA, and the pesticide companies themselves I can see why the NASS would think that such tracking is not cost effective.