Thursday, 17 March 2011
Koch Industries accused of polluting Arkansas waterway
The complaint alleges that a Georgia-Pacific paper mill on the Coffee Creek in Arkansas - owned by the billionaire Koch Brothers -emits 45 million gallons of paper mill waste including hazardous materials like ammonia, chloride, and mercury each day
Coffee Creek then flows into Louisiana's Ouachita River where the pollutants have left the formerly pristine water speckled with odorous foam, slime and black pockets of water, said Jerry Johnson, who has been visiting the Ouachita River for 35 years.
"People used to swim in it," said Johnson, who now lives along the river. "In the summertime, it was the place to go."
But Johnson said the number of visitors has dwindled as the river conditions continued to grow worse, preventing the area from reaching its full economic potential as a vacation destination. The pollution is so bad it has kept Johnson from fishing in the river.
"If I did fish out of it, I don't know if I would eat it," Johnson said.
Barry Sulkin, a field office director for PEER, said Georgia-Pacific is blatantly breaking a provision of the Arkansas state permit that prohibits the discharge of "distinctly visible solids, scum or foam of a persistent nature."
Though the pollution problem with Coffee Creek started years ago, the issue was compounded by the state's refusal to correct water quality standards in 2010, said Sulkin, a former chief of environmental enforcement for the Tennessee Division of Water Pollution Control.
Environmental groups lobbied for stronger environmental standards but in September, the state issued the Georgia-Pacific mill a permit.
"It's obvious to me that the state is allowing this to continue for apparent economic reasons," Sulkin said.
Georgia-Pacific said in a statement that the water has been repeatedly analyzed by the EPA and the Arkansas and Louisiana regulatory agencies.
"We are in compliance with all water permits issued by these agencies, most recently, our updated water discharge permit, which was issued in 2010," Georgia-Pacific said in the statement.
"For decades, Georgia-Pacific has been a very active environmental steward in Ashley County and surrounding areas in Arkansas and Louisiana," the statement added. "Our employees live in this community and we are committed to operating a facility that is environmentally sound. We have a long-term interest in the Ouachita River's quality and habitat."
An EPA spokesperson for the South Central Regional Office said he could not comment on this specific complaint but said "we will review them and respond as appropriate."
Regardless of the outcome with the EPA, Cheryl Slavant, the designated Riverkeeper for the Ouachita River, said she knows the damage to the waterway can still be easily repaired.
"All the corporation has to do is spend some money-a lot of money-but they can clean this up," she said.
Chris Zawistowski @'CBS'
No non-violent political action please, we're Australian
'Civil rights, women's rights, gay rights... it's all wrong. Call in the cavalry to disrupt this perception of freedom gone wild. God damn it! First one wants freedom, then the whole damn world wants freedom.'
Gil Scott-Heron -'B Movie'
Over the long weekend just past, there were several breakouts from the Christmas Island detention centre. Also, a 300 strong protest that officials said was a riot and quelled with beanbag rounds. Labor’s Immigration Minister Chris Bowen accused some of the asylum seekers of waging an “orchestrated campaign.”Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thompson, speaking on ABC radio, agreed. He said the detainees on Christmas Island had set out “to make a peaceful protest,” going “into the community to be seen and to be heard”. Their purpose? To “draw media attention to their plight.” A plight that, according to refugee advocates, includes severe overcrowding at the facility (built for 500 people, it now houses more than 2,500) and extended delays in visas, including those already deemed refugees.
The Shire President went on to say that having met with the asylum seekers, his impression was that “a fairly strategic approach was taken to protests.” He continued. “These people have come here with the purpose of getting a visa… They’re forging a path for their families to follow… The primary motivation of the protests is to get attention to their plight and to have their situation resolved one way or another.”
Like many Australians, I have been following the national debate about asylum–seekers arriving by boat since it became a partisan issue during the Howard years. I remember well the dead-fish tones of then Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock insinuating that all attempts by refugees to achieve a “desired migration outcome” were – and should rightly be viewed by the community - as manipulative of our emotions, Australian law, or both.
We saw this back in 2000 when senior government ministers including Ruddock and Prime Minister John Howard said that asylum seekers had thrown their children overboard, claims that would later be shown to be false – and to have been known to be false by those making them...
Continue reading
Leslie Cannold @'ABC'
Evacuation Zone around Nuclear Plant
The American Embassy in Tokyo, on advice from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told Americans to evacuate a radius of “approximately 50 miles” from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The advice represents a graver assessment of the risk in the immediate vicinity than the warnings made by the Japanese, who have told everyone within 12 miles to evacuate and those between 12 and 19 miles to take shelter.
jonsnowC4 Jon Snow
The Saudis knew a good week to bury bad news: send army into Bahrain to assist beating up of protesters whilst worlds's attention on Japan.
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