WolfeNotes.com

This is not the change we were promised

Bill WolfeObama speaks at Harrisburg Pa. primary campaign rally.

Today the House voted to approve a FISA bill that would provide retroactive immunity for criminal domestic spying violations by Telecom companies and expand Bush domestic spying powers. Here is a link to the vote tally – NJ Republicans Ferguson, Freylinghuysen, Garrett, Saxton and Smith were joined by lone NJ Democrat Sires to vote yes in support of the bad bill – Democrats Andrews, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, and Rothman stood up for the Constitution and opposed the bill.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll437.xml
Waiting until after the vote to take a position on the bill, Obama has finally come forward and issued a statement – looks like Obama reversed his prior strong opposition to both retroactive immunity for criminal acts by telecoms and expanded domestic spying powers. According to Glenn Greenwald at Salon:http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
“Barack Obama got around to issuing a statement and — citing what he calls “the grave threats that we face” — he just announced that he supports this warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty bill:
Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. . . .
After months of negotiation, the House today passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year’s Protect America Act. . . .It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives — and the liberty — of the American people.” [end Obama statement quote]
“Telling Americans that they have to give up basic constitutional rights in order to save ourselves from “the grave threats we face” sounds awfully familiar. Obama has obviously calculated that sacrificing the rule of law and the Fourth Amendment is a worthwhile price to pay to bolster his standing a tiny bit in a couple of swing states.”
[end Greenwald quote]
Link to Obama statement:
http://utdocuments.blogspot.com/2008/06/statement-of-barack-obama-supporting.html

Today’s NY Times report that Israel rehearsed bombing Iran amounts to a trial balloon – if there is no outraged response, it will happen. So, don’t say you weren’t warned about the onset of WW 3. Pick up the phone and call Senators Menendez and Lautneberg and your district Congress person and demand that they act to block this insanity:
U.S. Says Exercise by Israel Seemed Directed at Iran
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: June 20, 2008
WASHINGTON — Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military’s capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran’s nuclear program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/washington/20iran.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Apparently, building schools for urban, disadvantaged, and mostly black kids on toxics sites without the knowledge or consent of parents is not considered fraud or mismanagement or a scandal or immoral.
Could there be a larger environmental justice issue?
What’s up with that? (paraphrasing an infamous historical figure who inquired: “What is Truth?”)
Corzine urges school construction
He calls on legislators to restart stalled program with an extra $3.9B
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1213936620135540.xml&coll=1
Here are the required elements of reform related to siting and building schools on toxic sites:
Calling Out Scott Weiner on school reforms
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bill_wolfe/2008/05/calling_out_scott_weiner.html
Here are the bills pending – let me know if you can find any provisions in them related to environmental safety and health, school siting, and toxic waste sites:
Senate bill, S1457,
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/S1500/1457_I1.PDF
Assembly bill, A2873
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A3000/2873_I1.PDF
(ps – wonder why my posts – on the rare occasion that they get an Editors Pick – it only lasts for 15 minutes?)

State Failures to Enforce Law Lead to Worst Delays in the Country

[Update: here is today’s news coverage of this story – Star Ledger is notably absent:

N.J. told toxic site cleanups too slow
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/NEWS01/806190393/1006

Feds criticize state, fed environment officials over toxic sites
http://www.northjersey.com/environment/environmentnews/Feds_criticize_state_fed_environment_officials_over_toxic_sites.htm

Washington, DC — The New Jersey program for cleaning up old toxic sites has broken down and requires immediate federal intervention, according to a new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (IG). Significantly, the major problem in New Jersey is not lack of resources but lack of aggressive enforcement, echoing long-standing criticisms leveled by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

The new EPA OIG report blasts inordinate delays and mismanagement of state-supervised Superfund clean-ups performed under the authority of federal law. The report focused on several toxic clean-up operations that had been going on for more than 20 years without completion and concluded that –

• New Jersey had the worst track record in the nation, accounting for more than one quarter of all unresolved Superfund clean-ups more than 20 years old;
• Delays were primarily due to the state department of Environmental protection (DEP) not using legal tools available to them to force responsible parties to clean up pollution; and
• The U.S. EPA should step in and take over mired state-supervised clean-ups.

“New Jersey used to have the strongest clean-up program in the country but now it is among the worst,” stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, a former DEP analyst. “We should be embarrassed that George Bush’s EPA has to step in and take over pollution control in our state.”

New Jersey DEP has been claiming that delays in these projects were due to overwhelming workloads and staff shortages. On examination, however, the EPA OIG rejected that excuse as unfounded:

“Claims about New Jersey’s overwhelming workload were brought to our attention during the evaluation. At that time, we requested documentation from NJDEP to support this workload challenge. We specified that we would need evidence that spanned the 20 year period since these sites were listed on the NPL. NJDEP did not provide this information.”

The Regional Office of EPA overseeing New Jersey and other Mid-Atlantic states agreed with all of the OIG findings and recommendations, including more rigorous federal oversight of state anti-pollution operations. By contrast, DEP, as represented by Assistant Commissioner for Site Remediation Irene Kropp, quibbled with the OIG findings and defended the progress made on the long-overdue clean-ups.

“This report argues strongly for replacing Irene Kropp with someone who can get the job done and stop making excuses,” Wolfe added, noting that these delays increase risks to the environment and human health while dramatically increasing clean-up costs. “DEP suffers from a shortage of will, not staff.”

The seven long-delayed (more than 20 years) sites reviewed by EPA OIG in depth were –

• Brick Township Landfill, Brick Township, Ocean County
• Evor Phillips Leasing Company, Old Bridge Township, Middlesex County
• Hercules, Inc., Gibbstown, Gloucester County
• American Cyanamid, Bridgewater Township, Somerset County
• Jones Industrial Services Landfill, Inc., South Brunswick, Middlesex County
• Universal Oil Products, East Rutherford, Bergen County
• Ventron/Velsicol, Wood Ridge Borough, Bergen County

###

Read the U.S. EPA Inspector General Report
http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2008/20080602-08-P-0169.pdf

Look at recent retreats in DEP toxic clean-up practices
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1036

See Commissioner Jackson’s admission that toxic site program is “broken”
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=932

Examine flawed DEP plan to completely privatize clean-ups
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1034

New Jersey PEER is a state chapter of a national alliance of state and federal agency resource professionals working to ensure environmental ethics and government accountability

As Craven Legislators Push Permit Extension Act, new documents reveal that Builders have made similar headway in securing DEP Flood Prevention and Stream Buffer Protection Loopholes
Trenton — After weeks of denial, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has quietly admitted that they created large loopholes in the recently adopted Flood Hazard regulations and the highly touted buffer requirements for exceptional water quality streams, according to agency documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result, hundreds of projects will be grandfathered from the protections of the new Flood Hazard rules and “Category One” or C1 requirements of 300-foot stream buffers around sensitive rivers and lakes.
“These concessions will greatly worsen flooding and water quality problems that both Governor Corzine and DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson allegedly have made a priority and pledged to combat,” stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, a former DEP analyst. “You can’t have an effective safety net if you keep carving holes in it.”
In June 2006 Governor Corzine was touring flooded areas by helicopter and declaring flood prevention a high priority. Similarly, Jackson defended strong DEP flood protection rules just last March 24, saying:
“Building affordable housing there [in flood zones] would be morally wrong.”
Nonetheless, new rules officially published just yesterday in the New Jersey Register enact gaping loopholes that would grandfather hundreds of projects that had previously obtained DEP permits or local land use approvals, as well as exemptions for pending projects.
Moreover, the Flood Hazard grandfather loophole is far larger in scope because these rules apply statewide to all streams including urbanized watersheds, while the C1 buffers only apply to a very small subset of waterways. A new “Fact Sheet” posted on the DEP website confirms both types of loopholes.
The central concept of the Flood Hazard or “stream encroachment” rules is to keep human development out of areas with high risks of inundation. These rules were strengthened on November 5, 2007.
“Keeping people from building in flood zones just makes common sense; consequently making all of these exceptions serves no one’s interests but the developers,” Wolfe added, pointing to recent devastating floods in New Jersey which gave rise to the rules. “The disheartening pattern is that DEP unveils a package of new protections with great fanfare and then allows legal termites to gnaw a maze of loopholes through the whole package.”
###
ee the new DEP Fact Sheet with grandfather descriptions at the end
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/wms/bwqsa/BUFFER_Fact_Sheet_2.pdf
Read the June 29, 2006 press release from Governor Corzine on flooding
http://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/approved/20060629a.html
View the new grandfather escape hatches
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1058
Decipher the convoluted rationale for Flood Hazard exemptions
http://www.peer.org/docs/nj/08_18_6_nj_grandfather_rationale.pdf
Look at the growing danger of floods in New Jersey
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=845
Examine the state Flood Hazard rules
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/landuse/se.html
New Jersey PEER is a state chapter of a national alliance of state and federal agency resource professionals working to ensure environmental ethics and government accountability