Other Consequences of Lack of Regulation

The Bush administration leaves office in January with a shameful record of governance. We've already seen the consequences of lack of regulation of the market and of financial institutions; now we're seeing the consequences of lack of environmental regulation. I've been following the story of the collapse of the lagoon holding coal sludge in Tennessee since the event occurred. The story finally received more national attention in an article in The New York Times, as authorities realized the spill was "three times as large as originally estimated." That "actual amount

was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep.

The amount now said to have been spilled is larger than the amount the authority initially said was in the pond, 2.6 million cubic yards. [Shaila Dewan, "Tennessee Ash Flood Larger than Initial Estimate," The New York Times, posted December 26, 2008.]

As Sue Sturgis reports in Facing South (h/t truthout), Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans warned the government earlier this year in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources that "the federal government's broken pledge to regulate disposal of the potentially dangerous material threatened the health and safety of communities across the country." She further emphasized that

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in its Regulatory Determination on Wastes from the Combustion of Fossil Fuels published in 2000 that federal standards for disposal of coal combustion waste were needed to protect public health and the environment.

Environmental activists have been trying to warn the public and our leaders of this danger for some time: See "Activists Say EPA Ignoring Threat from Coal Ash," by Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 9, 2007.

Of course, the regulation-allergic Bush administration did little for the environment in its eight years of governing (See here and here) and it is gutting what it can of environmental regulations as it begins to vacate its offices. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Oh, and my favorite? A change to the Endangered Species Act that "reduces the number of scientific reviews of projects performed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service." The Bush administration has squashed scientific inquiry and conclusions many times during the past eight years. (See "The Ungreening of America: Dirty Secrets" in Mother Jones.)

Of course, this isn't the first coal slurry spill on Bush's watch, and the results of that spill illustrate the administration's antipathy toward environmental regulations and sympathy for businesses violating those regulations. A spill in 2000, in Inez, Kentucky, was being investigated and charges of criminal negligence being brought against the company at fault when the Bush administration moved into its offices and dramatically narrowed the focus of the investigation. (See Salon, "Dirty Business," by Philip Babich, November 13, 2003.) The experienced mining engineer, Jack Spadaro, was originally in charge of the investigation, but the Bush administration replaced him, and an investigation was implemented to get Spadaro dismissed:

The apparent vendetta against [Spadaro], and a mass of other evidence including damning off-the-record comments by officials involved in the investigation and a heavily-redacted report, raise serious questions as to whether Bush administration officials, ranging from mining safety officials all the way to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, orchestrated a coverup to whitewash Martin County Coal of any serious responsibility for the coal slurry disaster.(Babich)

Bush had also stacked the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration with former mining executives:

Lauriski, MSHA's chief, was an executive with Energy West Mining. Deputy assistant secretary John Caylor worked for Cyprus Minerals, Amax Mining and Magma Copper. MSHA's other deputy assistant secretary, John Correll, worked for Amax Mining and Peabody Coal.(Babich)

And that has been the Bush administration's modus operandi for most of its oversight appointments. Finally, however, our new president is turning once again to scientists and experienced environmental regulators for his environmental appointments. Maybe something will really be done about potential catastrophes such as the coal sludge spill in Tennessee.