In North Carolina, another success story for the 'hands off' approach to environmental regulation

Associated Press: Canoe guide Brian Williams dipped his paddle downstream from where thousands of tons of coal ash has been spewing for days into the Dan River, turning the wooden blade flat to bring up a lump of gray sludge.

On the river bank, hundreds of workers at a Duke Energy power plant in North Carolina scrambled to plug a hole in a pipe at the bottom of a 27-acre pond where the toxic ash was stored.

Since the leak was first discovered by a security guard Sunday afternoon, Duke estimates up to 82,000 tons of ash mixed with 27 million gallons of contaminated water has spilled into the river. Officials at the nation’s largest electricity provider say they cannot provide a timetable for when the leak will be fully contained, though the flow has lessened significantly as the pond has emptied.

An Associated Press reporter canoed downstream of the spill at the Dan River Steam Station and saw gray sludge several inches deep, coating the river bank for more than two miles. The river had crested overnight, leaving a distinctive gray line that contrasted with the brown riverbank like a dirty ring on a bathtub.

Williams, a program manager with the Dan River Basin Association, worried that the extent of the damage might not be fully understood for years.

“How do you clean this up?” he said, shaking his head as he churned up the ash with his paddle. “Dredge the whole river bottom for miles? You can’t clean this up. It’s going to go up the food chain, from the filter feeders, to the fish, to the otters and birds, to people. Everything in the ecosystem of a river is connected.”

According to the AP, the sludge is a “witches’ brew of toxic chemicals, including lead, arsenic, mercury and radioactive uranium.” But here’s the kicker:

Environmentalists and government regulators have been warning for years that the 31 ash ponds at Duke’s power plants in North Carolina had the potential for calamity, especially after a similar pond in Kingston, Tenn., burst open in 2008.

“Even without a spill, these settling ponds have been releasing continuous contamination into the rivers downstream from coal-fired power plants,” said Avner Vengosh, a professor of geochemistry at Duke University, which was named for the same family that founded the power company.

So the ponds leak chemicals into drinking water, have resulted in a previous spill, and now this disaster. But this is North Carolina, so how much do you want to bet that absolutely nothing will change as a result?

After all, going after the “job creators” for taking a big toxic crap in your drinking water would be class warfare. And we can’t have that.

Coburn clearly feeling the heat for his hostage-taking

Talking Points Memo: Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) office on Tuesday afternoon slammed critics of his position that any additional disaster relief funds to tornado victims in his state must be offset with spending cuts.

“It is crass for critics to play disaster aid politics when first responders are pulling victims from the rubble,” his office said in a memo to reporters.

Wait, you’re holding potential disaster relief for your own constituents hostage to budget cuts and your critics are playing “disaster politics”? Really? The person making the conditional demands is the one playing politics, because they’re using the disaster as leverage. I’m really hoping this statement’s the most bass-ackward thing I read today, because anything worse may actually cause brain damage.

His office explains his hostage-taking.

“Dr. Coburn has opposed disaster aid bills in the past because he believes disaster funding should be used to pay for disasters, not a wish-list of parochial or backlogged priorities that have nothing to do with helping victims,” his office said. “If an additional emergency aid package is necessary Dr. Coburn will not change his long-standing position on offsets.”

Of course, this is complete BS. Coburn has pulled this hostage-taking before and when his demands weren’t met, he went ahead and shot the hostage. Of course, you can’t come right out and say that without seeming like a villain, so he makes up excuses. But his demands are villainous.

“Especially in the wake of the sequester cuts, the notion that the federal budget is larded with easily eliminated spending is ludicrous,” writes Joan Walsh at Salon. “Would Coburn like to see more kids thrown out of Head Start? More seniors losing Meals on Wheels? The federal deficit is shrinking faster than at any time since just after World War II, but Coburn is going to insist that someone, somewhere, must lose their federal help so Oklahoma can get it instead.”

And what exactly does Coburn — and the rest of the GOP, for that matter — have against taxpayer money going back to the taxpayer? That’s what all of their cuts are about, whether it’s disaster relief or Medicare. This is money that you and I pay in and Republicans seem to believe it should all just disappear — preferably into our  bloated military and its corporate contractors.

He’s not lashing out like this because he’s getting a ton of praise for his stance. I went out of my way to try to find defenders. I didn’t have a lot of luck. He’s trying to turn the criticism around on his detractors by trying the strategy conservatives so dearly love — playing the victim card. I doubt anyone will bite.

Oklahoma death toll rises to at least 91 (UPDATED)

New York Times: A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 91 people, 20 of them children, as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools.

The injured flooded into hospitals, and the authorities said many people remained trapped, even as rescue workers struggled to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred.

Amy Elliott, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner, said at least 91 people had died, including the children, and officials said that toll was likely to climb. Hospitals reported at least 145 people injured, 70 of them children.

Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore was reduced to a pile of twisted metal and toppled walls. Rescue workers were able to pull several children from the rubble, but on Monday evening crews were still struggling to cut through fallen beams and clear debris amid reports that dozens of students were trapped. At Briarwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City, on the border with Moore, cars were thrown through the facade and the roof was torn off.

“Numerous neighborhoods were completely leveled,” Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department said by telephone. “Neighborhoods just wiped clean.”

The immensity of this disaster is just appalling. If you want to help, donate to the Red Cross here.

[photo via Wikimedia Commons]

UPDATE: The state medical examiner has since revised the estimate down to 24.

Oklahoma experiences one of the worst tornado disasters in history

CBS News/AP: A mix of volunteers and first responders began combing through debris in the Oklahoma City area Monday evening to look for survivors after neighborhoods were flattened and buildings burst in flames from a destructive, mile-wide tornado.

Television footage on Monday afternoon showed homes and buildings that had been reduced to rubble in Moore, Okla., south of Oklahoma City. Footage also showed vehicles littering roadways south and southwest of Oklahoma City.

CBS News affiliate KWTV reported that emergency personnel were rushing rushing toward an elementary school in south Moore, trying to rescue students and staff that were trapped.

Reports of casualties are still coming in as hospital officials remain on emergency alert, although KWTV reports there are already multiple deaths. One hospital in Moore was hit by the tornado, and patients were being evacuated.

It’s too early for anything approaching a casualty count, but the loss of life is potentially catastrophic.

Libertarian Paradise

Signe Wilkinson

Residents near fertilizer plant blast site allowed access to their destroyed homes

Washington Post: Officials in this small Texas town ravaged by a fertilizer company explosion started allowing residents to return to their wrecked homes to collect belongings on Saturday afternoon.

The owners of the West Fertilizer Co. plant, which triggered a massive explosion Wednesday night, issued a statement Friday expressing regret for the 14 deaths and massive structural damage caused by the blast.

Owner Donald Adair said his “heart is broken with grief for the tragic losses,” noting that one of his employees, who was a volunteer firefighter, was among the dead. The toll of the explosion, which damaged 50 homes and wounded roughly 200 people, “will continue to hurt deeply for generations to come,” Adair added.

The explosion has raised troubling questions about the oversight of plants that store highly volatile chemicals such as ammonium nitrate, which has been used to make bombs.

I don’t really have much to add here, other than to point out that WaPo deserves some praise for putting this under the heading of “National Security” — where it belongs — rather than under “Business” or the generic “National News.” Unregulated industry is a matter of national security and more people need to start talking about it in that light.

[photo by The Bay Area’s News Station]

Texas fertilizer plant at heart of disaster ignored disclosure laws

Reuters: The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Yet a person familiar with DHS operations said the company that owns the plant, West Fertilizer, did not tell the agency about the potentially explosive fertilizer as it is required to do, leaving one of the principal regulators of ammonium nitrate - which can also be used in bomb making - unaware of any danger there.

“It seems this manufacturer was willfully off the grid,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-MS), ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement. “This facility was known to have chemicals well above the threshold amount to be regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act (CFATS), yet we understand that DHS did not even know the plant existed until it blew up.”

Shockingly, for a business that has the potential to turn into a giant bomb, West Fertilizer was given almost no government oversight. the Dallas Morning News has reported that the company self-reported that it “presented no risk of fire or explosion.” Apparently, there was no follow up inspections to make sure the company’s self-reporting was accurate. The result of this misplaced trust in the management of such a dangerous enterprise may have resulted in a disaster that is — at the very least — nearly five times as deadly as both Boston Marathon bombs put together. The death toll is now at fourteen and is almost certain to rise.

Someone needs to go to prison for this. But we also need to stop pretending that federal oversight is a bad thing. It’s policing and “regulations” is just a PR buzzword used because it sounds more unreasonable than “laws.” Not all policing and every federal law overseeing business is a bad thing. I don’t care what some Republican or Blue Dog tells you. We need government oversight of business, because the honor system just plain isn’t working.

And people are dying as a result.

[photo by The Bay Area’s News Station]

Perspective: fertilizer plant explosion far more deadly than Boston bombings

CNN: Twelve bodies have been recovered in West, Texas, Sgt. Jason Reyes said Friday, two days after a fiery explosion ripped through the heart of the close-knit central Texas town.

Sixty people are unaccounted for, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Friday. He said authorities are checking to see whether any of them are in hospitals.

Reyes said 200 people have been injured and 50 homes have been destroyed.

“This is still being treated as a crime scene,” Reyes said.

At the very least, twelve are dead — I want to impress on you that that number is the best case scenario. If we’re lucky and that number holds, then the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. was four times as deadly as two bombs deliberately set by suspected terrorists in Boston. And I think we’re all sure that we aren’t going to be that lucky. That number is not going to hold.

It’s becoming clearer every day that West Fertilizer was ridiculously under-inspected and under-regulated, despite the incredibly dangerous chemicals being used there. Last year, it paid a fine of just $5,250 for violating Hazardous Materials Regulations — a paltry sum, knocked down from the already paltry original judgment of $10,100.

So once the smoke clears on these incidents, which event do you think is going to going to get the spotlight in Washington, lax regulation of industries using dangerous chemicals or terrorism?

The answer’s so obvious the question might as well be rhetorical.

[photo by The Bay Area’s News Station]

Asteroid near-miss not so harmless after all

Reuters:

A meteor streaked across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to earth which shattered windows and damaged buildings, injuring more than 500 people.

People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave, according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 950 miles east of Moscow.

The fireball, travelling at a speed of 19 miles per second according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, had blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 125 miles away.

Car alarms went off, windows broke and mobile phone networks were interrupted. The Interior Ministry said the meteor explosion had caused a sonic boom.

»READ MORE»

"I'd like to take the CEO of BP and jam his face in that pile on the beach"

From the St. Petersburg Times:

Kevin Reed, 36, of Pensacola breaks down and weeps upon seeing the oil-defiled shores of Pensacola Beach on June 23, 2010. Reed's father taught him to swim in these waters, and Reed just taught his five year old son to swim here. "This will never be the same," he says. "I'd like to take the CEO of BP and jam his face in that pile on the beach."

Where no comment is necessary, I won't offer any.

Oil Leak Coming Down in Rain Along the Gulf Coast

"It's raining oil... It is literally raining oil," a Louisiana resident reports.

And that's just a normal rain. We're heading into hurricane season.

Surprise! Judge Who Blocked Offshore Drilling Moratorium is Invested in Offshore Drilling

Associated Press has a bit of bad news for people who think that we ought to hold off on offshore drilling until we at least know the rigs aren't as screwed up as Deepwater Horizon.

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects imposed after the massive Gulf oil spill.

The White House promised an immediate appeal. President Barack Obama's administration had halted approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling of 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.

[...]

Several companies that ferry people and supplies and provide other services to offshore drilling rigs asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans to overturn the moratorium, arguing it was arbitrarily imposed.

Feldman agreed, saying in his ruling the Interior Department assumed that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling pose an imminent danger.

"The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an unprecedented, sad, ugly and inhuman disaster," Feldman wrote in his decision. "What seems clear is that the federal government has been pressed by what happened on the Deepwater Horizon into an otherwise sweeping confirmation that all Gulf deepwater drilling activities put us all in a universal threat of irreparable harm." Despite all evidence that all deepwater drilling is as fucked up as Deepwater Horizon, it would be irresponsible to assume it to be true. The responsible reaction here is "Drill baby, drill!"

So who is Judge Martin Feldman? He's a Reagan appointee and great big fan of investing in the oil industry. "Feldman, 'a true blue outcome-oriented judicial activist who led the law where he wanted it to go' in Katrina litigation, definitely knows where he's going with the decision he will make in this case," reported local Louisiana Mississippi blog Slabbed. "Anyone doubting the outcome need only to look at his Financial Disclosure Report..."

And that financial report is a doozy. It's peppered with investments in energy, pipeline, and drilling companies -- including Transocean and Halliburton. And don't expect this to be an isolated incident:

ProPublica:

Since BP’s ruptured well began spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico, more than 150 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts seeking damages for the harm that the environmental disaster has dealt to the livelihood of coastal fishermen and business owners. But finding judges to hear these spill-related lawsuits against BP, Halliburton and Transocean may be a challenge. More than half of the “64 active or senior judges in key Gulf Coast districts in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida” have ties to industry, according to The Associated Press.

Some judges own stocks or bonds in the companies named in the lawsuits. Some are related to plaintiffs’ attorneys. Others even receive royalties from oil and gas companies. One judge, according to financial disclosure statements, is a member of Houston’s Petroleum Club,  an “exclusive, handsome club of, and for, men of the oil industry,” reported AP.

It appears that Judge Feldman is a member of that "exclusive, handsome club."

VP Biden is Very Unhappy with Smokey Joe Barton

Hey idiot pundits, you want more emotion from the White House in regards to the oil gusher? Here ya go:

A passionate declaration of Democratic Party principles and the role of government in public life. You can shut up now.

White House Attacks Barton in Email to Supporters

The White House is making hay with Rep. Joe Barton's apology to BP for the "shakedown" that the $20 billion dollar escrow account negotiated by the White House and BP execs. Here's the email blast being sent out:

Organizing for America
XXXX --

When BP CEO Tony Hayward testified before Congress this morning, many expected to hear him apologize for the disaster his company has caused. Instead, GOP Congressman Joe Barton was the one saying he was sorry -- to BP.

In his opening statement, Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to the oil giant. He said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."

Other Republicans are echoing his call. Sen. John Cornyn said he "shares" Barton's concern. Rep. Michele Bachmann said that BP shouldn't agree to be "fleeced." Rush Limbaugh called it a "bailout." The Republican Study Committee, with its 114 members in the House, called it a "shakedown."

Let's be clear. This fund is a major victory for the people of the Gulf. It's a key step toward making them whole again. BP has a responsibility to those whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the disaster. And BP oil executives don't deserve an apology -- the people of the Gulf do.

Stand with us to show that the American people support holding BP accountable -- and we won't apologize for doing so.

We support holding BP accountable. And we won't apologize for doing so. Add your name.

Rep. Barton and Republicans like him don't understand that the real tragedy is what's happening to the people in the Gulf Coast. They're the ones who deserve his apology -- not BP.

But big oil knows exactly who its allies are. And if Republicans win control of the House, Rep. Barton could be chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- overseeing regulation of the oil and gas industry.

Notably, companies like Halliburton -- the folks responsible for cementing the Deepwater Horizon rig -- are directing their political committees to deliver thousands of dollars to GOP candidates this cycle. Barton himself has received more than $100,000 from the oil and gas industry this election cycle.

Barton should apologize to the people of the Gulf and he should step down as the highest-ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Adding your name to our open letter is one of the best ways you can show him and other Republicans that they weren't elected to defend big oil.

Sign the open letter today:

http://my.barackobama.com/NoApologies

Thanks,

David Plouffe

Barton really stepped in it and Democrats are probably not going to let it go any time soon. The GOP is trying to distance themselves from the comment, but they're going to have a little trouble on that front.

More on this tomorrow.

On Dick Cheney, the Newly-Invisible Man

There was a fun exchange on ABC's This Week between Steny Hoyer and John Boehner. The subject was the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the Bush administration's love for deregulation.

HOYER: ...The psychology of neglect in terms of regulatory oversight that was pursued in the Bush administration, which led to the banking failure, insurance prices going way up, and oil companies thinking they could do whatever they wanted because the "drill, baby, drill" crowd, all they wanted them to do was to drill. So I think John's right. I think the regularly psychology of the last administration was not appropriate, and there was mistakes made in this administration, as well.

BOEHNER: How long are you going to blame the Bush administration?...

I thought that question tied in well with this video from MNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, where Kate Sheppard discusses a piece she wrote for Mother Jones:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

When will we stop blaming the Bush administration? About the same time that their idiotic decisions stop having catastrophic consequences. In other words, not for a long, long time, Rep. Boehner. Get used to it.

George Will's Punditry Fail

One of the things that infuriate me to no end is smug, mocking certainty in people who are obviously wrong. You see it all over the net, in comment threads and on twitter, in blog posts and Sarah Palin's Facebook page; people being ridiculed for being right. "Haha! You really think Barack HUSSEIN Obama's a citizen? You libtard!" or "My grandpa's no monkey, you evolution-believing moonbat!" It's one thing to be ignorant and proud of it, it's another to jam everyone's face in your ignorance and mock them for not sharing it.

So you can see why I had a problem with George Will on ABC's This Week:

Steve Benen points out the problem:

As the columnist sees it, the president said the government could solve problems. And since it hasn't yet solved this problem, the disaster "just strikes at the narrative of competence."

I continue to be mystified by this. Blaming the president is unfair, Will conceded, because the president is doing all he can under impossible circumstances. But blaming the president is worthwhile, Will added in the next breath, because we now know government officials can't quickly shut down a gushing oil leak a mile below sea level.

If we were to take Will's point to the next step -- the federal government lacks the wherewithal to fix every problem, so some tasks should be left in the hands of private enterprise and the states -- I suppose the lesson is we should have BP and Louisiana state agencies solve the problem.

That ought to work, right?

The alternative to "big government" is big business -- the private sector. How can George Will possibly walk away from this thinking the lesson to be learned is that the private sector is more competent than government? At every step, BP has done the wrong thing. I don't know about you, but I'm still waiting for the Invisible Hand of the Market to jam its Divine Finger into that leak and solve this whole thing. It may be that at no point in my life has the argument that private industry corners the market on innovation and solutions been so thoroughly shown to be absolute horseshit.

I often find myself wondering how in the hell George Will ever got a reputation as a brainiac -- and never more than now.

Shut up, Rush. Just Shut the Fuck Up

Hate radio shock jock Rush Limbaugh continues his campaign against the White House's efforts to raise money for disaster relief in Haiti.

I have no idea why anyone would listen to this clown, other than to laugh at him and -- as I'm doing here -- point out what a useless fucking moron he is. What a horrible prick.

Here's the link to the White House's donation info page. Give until it hurts and, for the love of God, do yourself a favor and turn off this idiot the next time he oozes out of your radio. You'd actually be better served by static.

Wyclef Jean in Haiti

Not surprisingly, Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean is in Haiti, helping to deal with the aftermath of the massive earthquake in that country. The clip's too wide for my center column, so you'll either have to deal with my popup by clicking below or go watch it on Youtube.


Click for video

That info again is "Text: YELE @ 501501." The White House has also set up a page to help people give.

Notice that after he gets done talking to the foxbot, Jean goes off to find another news crew to keep getting the word out.

Good on him.

Griper Blade: The Disaster Movie

Yesterday, I compared the election of Barack Obama to a movie, saying that the inauguration -- after such a long election campaign -- seems like the time the credits would roll. But, of course, that long campaign was just the opening credits. This movie is just beginning.

The last movie to play in this theater has just wrapped up and the reviews are coming in. Not surprisingly, they aren't very good. As movies go, this Bush flick was a dog.

Editorials worldwide say Bush was a "failure," "worst president ever," and "a buffoon and a warmonger." His two terms were marked by a "singular lack of curiosity in international matters," "a 'friend-or-foe' mentality," and a "web of manipulation has cost America $900 billion and the lives of 4,000 soldiers -- along with at least 500,000 Iraqis."

This movie really, really blew...

[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Obama's Red Cross Appeal

From my inbox:

Today, the thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with those in the path of Hurricane Gustav -- and many of you are asking what you can do to help.

We do not yet know what the impact of Hurricane Gustav will be, and we hope with all our hearts that the damage will not be as great as it was three years ago.

But we know there will be damage, and there is something you can do right now.

Your financial support will strengthen organizations like the American Red Cross that are evacuating Gulf Coast residents and planning to help communities get back on their feet.

Make a donation to support the American Red Cross today.

At times like this, it is our compassion and resilience that define who we are as a nation.

Please give whatever you can afford, even $10, to make sure the American Red Cross has the resources to help those in the path of this storm:

https://donate.barackobama.com/redcross

Thank you for your generosity, and I hope you will join Michelle and me in praying for the safety of those in the path of the storm and the first responders who are doing all they can to ensure the safety of their communities.

Barack

As always in this sort of emergency, send money. Food, clothing, blankets, etc. are easier to coordinate if they're bought as needed. Not only is it cheaper to get it all where it's needed that way, but they can be sure they have what they need.

Don't send items, send money.