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This really burns me up. It is
the deep resource industries that have ruined and refuse to pay for that damage
to the aquifers in Oklahoma. Why is it that we are so willing
to damage our children and then piously warn the world that abortion is
murder? After they're born, you can do anything to them you want but
don't have any responsibility for stopping that birth if you can't care properly
for an accident? It was a cousin, working for the oil
companies who told me years ago about pumping salt water into the
aquifers of Oklahoma to get that last little drop of oil for the company's
wallets. I didn't need anyone to tell me about the crimes of the
Eagle Picher Mining company. So am I wrong?
Personal responsibility means that even if I never take a cent from it, I am, by
virtue of citizenship, responsible. If my child suffers from
drinking the water then by keeping my mouth shut, I did it to her.
This garbage is only getting by because people are distracted by the war and
GWB's tears. No wonder his girls drink.
REH
Bush Administration Exempts Oil Industry
>From Clean Water Act
 By Elizabeth Shogren LA Times Staff Writer Saturday 08 March 2003 WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has decided to give the oil and
gas industry two years to comply with a storm-water regulation that goes into
effect across the country Monday, and will consider granting a permanent
exemption. Environmental groups and environmentalists in Congress argued that the
administration is granting special rights to a favored industry, at the risk of
polluting rivers and lakes. The administration said it needs additional time to determine the
effect the rule would have on the industry and whether it should be applied to
companies producing and exploring for oil and gas. The rule orders builders and others whose construction projects cover
from one to five acres to get permission from state or federal officials before
beginning work. It also requires municipalities with populations of less than
100,000 to seek permits for urban runoff from streets and parking lots. It was written in 1999, but its effective date was delayed for four
years. The regulation is the second phase of an effort intended to reduce by
80% sediment and other polluted runoff from cities, towns and construction
projects. Existing rules under the Clean Water Act cover construction areas
greater than 5 acres and communities with populations greater than 100,000. Environmental Protection Agency officials said they were delaying the
oil and gas industry's compliance because they had mistakenly believed that most
oil and gas construction projects would not impact more than one acre. The industry, however, said most of the 30,000 sites drilled annually
fall within the range of one to five acres. Seeking to be excluded from the rule, the oil and gas industry argued
that drilling sites do not create large runoff problems and that complying would
be too expensive. Industry representatives also argued that the Clean Water Act
bans the EPA administrator from requiring the industry to get storm-water
permits for a variety of activities, including production, exploration and
processing. "We think these storm-water discharges are exempted from the permitting
requirements of the Clean Water Act," said Lee Fuller, a vice president of the
Independent Petroleum Assn. of America. EPA spokesman John Millet said the provision does not apply to the
industry's construction projects, but agency officials would determine whether
it should in the next two years. Environmental groups and sympathetic legislators argued that the oil
and gas industry's construction projects should be regulated like all other
construction projects. "While small communities and small construction projects in every other
sector of the economy must comply with strong storm-water standards, the Bush
administration is giving a free ride to the oil and gas industry," said Sen.
James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.), who was the chairman of the Environment Committee
before Republicans gained control of the Senate. "With this proposal, we are
seeing our nation's water quality standards go down the drain." But EPA officials said the industry made a strong case. "EPA agrees that sediment from all sources is a concern but believes
that the oil and gas industry has raised significant questions about the
differences between the nature of construction at oil and gas sites and other
construction," EPA officials said in the formal notification of their decision.
It will be published in the Federal Register on Monday. Millet said EPA officials needed the extra time because they had
conflicting information about environmental damage from the oil and gas
industry's construction projects and the potential economic damage to the
industry. Environmental groups said water quality would suffer if the industry is
given a two-year delay. "Everybody admits there is pollution coming from these sites," said
Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"They're being excused from the process that requires them to address that."
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