The 40th Meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of
Air Quality in the
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua / El Paso, Texas / Doña Ana County, New Mexico
Air Basin
DATE: Thursday February 28, 2008
TIME: 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM
LOCATION: El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization
10767 Gateway W. Suite 605 / El Paso, Texas
Clinton takes a big stinkin' dump on Ohio
by Zwoof
Sun Feb 24, 2008 at 04:01:50 AM PST
Actually, a big stinkin' toxic waste incinerator...
I've written on this before but I feel that it needs more attention that it received because of the upcoming Ohio Primary.
Short and sweet this time:
WTI wanted to build America's largest toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. The incinerator is located 1,100 feet from an elementary school.
WTI was owned by Jackson Stephens, who donated $200,000 to Bush #1 to help this project along.
There were problems and the project was not going to be approved during the Bush #1 administration.
When Bush's ratings tanked during his bid for re-election, Stephens donated $100,000 to Clinton #1 as well as extending a 2 million line of credit to the DLC when they were tapped out.
Bill Clinton won and with some serious monkey business (a Hillary crony) at the EPA, the permit was approved.
more down below....
- Zwoof's diary :: ::
President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited East Liverpool while campaigning for election in 1992; at that time, Mr. Clinton said that, if he were elected, WTI would never be allowed to operate. But the huge incinerator began burning hazardous waste in 1993.
Mr. Clinton has not returned to East Liverpool since he became President in 1992.WTI failed part of its test burn in 1993, releasing four times more mercury than allowed. Children at the elementary school were tested for mercury in their urine prior to WTI operation and again six months after the facility started burning as part of a state health study. In the first test, 69 percent of the children tested negative; the follow-up test found that nearly the same number tested positive.
U.S. EPA's own risk assessment of the facility found at least 27 possible accident scenarios that could threaten the lives of the children in the nearby elementary school.
Despite these and other problems, the U.S. EPA issued WTI a full commercial operating license in 1997. The agency has also allowed the facility to nearly double the types of wastes it can burn.
When Clinton became president, he appointed Carol Browner head of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Because a memo to Ms. Browner from one of her staff was leaked to Greenpeace (a plaintiff in the lawsuit trying to shut down WTI), Ms. Browner's staff were forced to admit under oath that after Ms. Browner took office on January 20th, EPA conducted a secret risk assessment on the WTI incinerator.
EPA's secret risk assessment revealed that the incinerator would be 1000 times more dangerous than EPA had estimated in the risk assessment they released to the public.
New EPA appointee Browner recused herself from the issue
She left the matter in the hands of Robert Sussman, Deputy EPA Administrator.
The EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Sussman that eventually approved WTI's application was a law school classmate of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Sussman had previously acted as legal counsel to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, at a time when two of its biggest clients, Du Pont and BASF, were negotiating contracts to supply two-thirds of the waste to WTI." The Nation Magazine
The plant opponents cited Sussman's appointment to the EPA through the influence of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose former law firm represented the original founder of Waste Technologies, Jackson Stephans.
Source Archives Cleveland Plain Dealer
The gift to Ohio that keeps on giving..
Recently a new ruling from the Ohio EPA allowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration
I don't think Hillary will stop by East Liverpool asking for votes. They are familiar with Clinton campaign promises.
Previous Diary with pictures and more...
Just a few problems at this incinerator you might want to know about...
Explosion under investigation, Operations suspended at Von Roll WTI
EAST LIVERPOOL -- "An explosion at the Von Roll WTI plant...... One employee was taken by ambulance to East Liverpool City Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Wayne did not release the name of the employee but stated, The Review.
Dec 6, 2006: U.S. EPA fines WTI
EAST LIVERPOOL -- "WTI/Von Roll officials call it a 'legacy issue' going back to 1999, and said they agreed to a $750,000 fine from the U.S. EPA and U.S. Justice Department so they could put the matter behind them. Fred Miller, East Liverpool
Review.
Blast Injures Worker at WTI Plant
PITTSBURGH -- "An explosion at the Waste Technologies Industries (WTI) plant in East Liverpool, Ohio this afternoon has sent a worker to a hospital ....The blast actually blew siding, insulation and other debris outside the plant, injuring injured a worker who was outside at the time" KDKA TV.
Mar 29: WTI fireball rattles windows
EAST LIVERPOOL -- ...At first you could see some flames, then there was a huge loud explosion and a giant ball of fire shot up in the air. It was huge. I've never seen anything like it before,' said Estell. 'There was smoke everywhere. The plant was kind of lost in the smoke for awhile,' she said. 'My windows rattled. It was huge. The noise was huge. . . I screamed for my kids to get back into the house,'" Fred Miller, East Liverpool Review.
Oct 5, 2004: EPA cites Von Roll for clean-air violations
CHICAGO -- "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has filed an administrative complaint. EPA alleges Von Roll discharged more lead and cadmium from its incinerator than is allowed by the Clean Air Act during tests in December 2003 and in March 2004. Excessive exposure to lead may cause anemia, kidney disease, reproductive disorders, and neurological impairments such as seizures, mental retardation and behavioral disorders. Children and the unborn are especially susceptible to low doses of lead. Exposure to cadmium may cause damage to the lungs, kidneys, liver, immune and nervous systems and the blood. Long-term inhalation of cadmium can increase the risk of lung cancer," press release, US EPA .