Big Polluters Freed from Environmental Oversight by Stimulus-BP, Westar & DuPont Among Co Exempted

[kpete]

Source: The Center For Public Integrity

Big Polluters Freed from Environmental Oversight by Stimulus
BP, Westar, and DuPont Among Companies Exempted from Environmental Law
By Kristen Lombardi and John Solomon | November 28, 2010

In the name of job creation and clean energy, the Obama administration has doled out billions of dollars in stimulus money to some of the nation’s biggest polluters and granted them sweeping exemptions from the most basic form of environmental oversight, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found.

The administration has awarded more than 179,000 “categorical exclusions” to stimulus projects funded by federal agencies, freeing those projects from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Coal-burning utilities like Westar Energy and Duke Energy, chemical manufacturer DuPont, and ethanol maker Didion Milling are among the firms with histories of serious environmental violations that have won blanket NEPA exemptions.

Even a project at BP’s maligned refinery in Texas City, Tex. — owner of the oil industry’s worst safety record and site of a deadly 2005 explosion, as well as a benzene leak earlier this year — secured a waiver for the preliminary phase of a carbon capture and sequestration experiment involving two companies with past compliance problems. The primary firm has since dropped out of the project before it could advance to the second phase.

Agency officials who granted the exemptions told the Center that they do not have time in most cases to review the environmental compliance records of stimulus recipients, and do not believe past violations should affect polluters’ chances of winning stimulus money or the NEPA exclusions.


Read more: http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2565/

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Disgusting.

:puke:

[Altoid_Cyclist]

2. Every time that I see the words "voluntary compliance", I know that the environment

is going to suffer.

Why do we even continue the charade that there are government agencies that will see to it that laws are followed? The only laws that matter are ones that pertain to the little guys it seems.

On edit: If the environment suffers, humans will pay a price also. The corporations inflicting the damage won't pay more than a few hours worth of profits in the name of "regulation".

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. *sigh*

[Lorien]

4. Insanity

We pay with our health while once again enriching the wealthy. x(

[valerief]

5. Jobs in what country? nt

[RandomKoolzip]

6. But...but...Obama's the most progressive president in 40 years!! Right?!

THESE ARE NOT THE ACTIONS OF A PROGRESSIVE ADMINISTRATION.