there's something real dirty about Schultz-Schwarzenegger

[grasswire]

I wonder what's beneath the surface of this George Schultz support of Schwarzenegger. I have a feeling California is about to be raped again.

Look at this stuff on Schwartz's corporation Bechtel:

Bechtel holds 21% of Inter North Inc, which, with another US Company, Energy Transmission Systems, in 1983 was planning to transport coal slurry from Wyoming's Powder River basin area - already ravaged by uranium mining - to southern central US (7).

Among Bechtel's notable mishaps are the following:


The Humboldt Bay, California, plant was one of the first operating nuclear power plants to be shut down permanently, in 1977, after it was discovered it was sitting directly on top of an earthquake fault.

Consumers Power Co of Michigan sued Bechtel for US$300 million in 1974 when its Palisades plant broke down shortly after it started operation. Bechtel agreed to a US$ 14 million settlement.

Portland General Electric Co sued Bechtel for US$32 million after severe leaks in the steam generator tubes of its Trojan nuclear plant shut it down, and the discovery that it did not meet earthquake standards set by the NRC. Bechtel countersued, and an out-of-court settlement was reached in 1981.

The 420-ton reactor vessel of its San Onofre Unit 2 was installed 180 degrees backwards in 1977: this was not discovered for seven months, a fact other nuclear engineers found incredible. San Onofre also sits near an earthquake fault. Unit 1 has been shut down by the NRC until it meets federal seismic standards after being almost constantly plagued with other mechanical problems preventing its operation.

Bechtel designed the first privately-owned fuel reprocessing plant in West Valley, New York, which shut down in 1972 after six troubled years. During its operation there were repeated radioactive leaks into the air and into a creek that feeds into Lake Erie. Left behind are 600,000 gallons of high-level radioactive wastes buried underground in leaking tanks and 163 tons of irradiated fuel sitting in the spent fuel pool.

Four Bechtel plants are among those having the most severe accidents in the last 10 years, according to a new NRC report: Rancho Seco, California; Turkey Point 3, Florida; Point Beach 1, Wisconsin; and Davis-Besse, Ohio (8).

check next post for the link

[grasswire]

1. another tidbit

Among its most recent contracts, Bechtel was awarded work on the new L10 million Gold Quarry gold mine in Nevada, operated by Newmont. Bechtel has also been awarded smaller contracts to build gold mines in Nevada (9). Meanwhile, Bechtel's Los Angeles Power Division (called LAPD but not to be confused with the LA Police Department!), together with Bechtel Petroleum, is completing the USA's first coal-gasification plant in southern California. Vaunted by the company as an operation which may launch a "new breed of power plant", the Cool Water scheme involves grinding coal, which is mixed with water to form a dirty "slurry", pumping this to a gasifier, combining it with oxygen, and converting it into gas (along with pollutant sulphur) suitable for a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) turbine. According to Bechtel, since "clean up" happens before combustion, sulphur removal and waste disposal is therefore made more effective. This new scheme, says Bechtel, obviates the necessity of expensive coal-scrubbers.

Owners of the Cool Water plant include General Electric, Bechtel Power Corp, an unnamed Japanese consortium, and the Electric Power Research Institute - all are notable proponents of nuclear power.

Within the first two years of its operation the programme ran into financial snags - but the new US Synthetic Fuels Corp, created by US Congress in 1980, then stepped in with a US$120 million commitment in price support (10).

http://www.sea-us.org.au/gulliver/bechtel.html

[Clete]

2. Dianne Feinstein's hubby ?? Blum.

Isn't he involved with Bechtel? Sorry it's too late at night for me to go hunting. I don't really remember her husbands first name, but maybe this is why Dianne stayed out of the race. Curious?