Port Arthur’s Chemical Romance
June 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Port Arthur (population: 58,000) has produced more than its fair share of ridiculously talented people - Janis Joplin, Robert Rauschenberg, Clifford Antone, Jimmy Johnson, and Pimp C to name a few. Maybe there’s something in the water.
Unfortunately, mostly what’s in the water, air, and soil in Port Arthur these days is an unhealthy gumbo of toxic crap released by the petrochemical companies abutting the town’s West Side. And now a French-owned company, Veolia, wants to import 20,000 tons of toxic PCBs from Mexico for incineration in its Port Arthur facility. Despite a decades-old law banning the import of PCBs into the United States, the EPA has granted preliminary approval to the idea. Now, some locals and enviros are crying foul.
Today, the EPA is holding a meeting in Port Arthur (more information) to hear from the parties. Judging from some of the public comments submitted to the EPA already, regulators will be getting an earful. One letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson begins, “Dear Whore for Vested Corporate Interests…” Another impolitic valentine compares the Mexican PCBs to the immigration of “ILLEGAL MEXICAN ALIENS.” (By the way, what is it with anti-immigrant types and CAPITALIZATION?!)
Most damning are comments from Adlene Harrison, a former administrator for EPA’s Region 6, which includes Texas and Arkansas. In an affidavit circulated today by the Sierra Club, she reflects on her own approval of PCB incinerators in Arkansas and Texas during her tenure.
I would not make the same decision today. I have since come to the conclusion that incinerators of PCBs, Dioxin, and hazardous wastes, if such incinerators are to be used at all, should not be located in populated areas nor should they be located in areas where farming is done, where livestock is raised, or where they might otherwise contaminate the food chain.
Later in the affidavit she writes:
During my tenure as Region 6 EPA Administrator, it was clear that I had the authority, and the obligation, to delay approval of a trial burn or final permit, or to deny approval, if I received information that indicated the trial burn or incinerator operation might pose a significant health risk… There is no doubt in my mind that the current EPA Administrator and Regional Administrator have this same authority and obligation.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I was very naive about how bad the oil companies pollute. Then, we moved to a ranch that had been in my husband’s family for 80 years. Humble/Exxon has had a lease since 1935. They are still the operators. IT is such a disaster. We have filed lawsuits and they don’t care at ALL. They just have tanks leaking in plain site — marked BENZENE CANCER HAZARD. Not just one or two tanks. Lots of tanks. They pump salt water from neighboring leases thru us and the pipes constantly leak.
I used to think that tree-hugger types were just exaggerating and being dramatic.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Don’t expect anything to change anytime soon. The TCEQ is managed by a new generation of good old boys. Ethics and the law be damned. They are working hard for industry so they will all have better paying jobs when they walk out the front door. Hell, the governor even had a new position made for his boy Covar. He’s got a man on the inside. They all live in or near Austin. They don’t need to concern themselves with the quality of life in Port Arthur. It’s all about money.