Sen. Eliot Shapleigh Shows how TCEQ is lapdog of polluters

[sonias]

Court showdown over the public's right to know
Court showdown over the public's right to know

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is headed into court this afternoon fighting for documents from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that he says will show the agency is little but a lapdog for polluters.

He mocks the agency for using the Watergate "executive privilege" defense in its resistance to give up those documents. The Texas attorney general and a state district court already have instructed the agency to produce the documents under the state's Public Information Act.

The Commission on Environmental Quality has appealed to the Third Court of Appeals.

"We anticipate we will win on every count. The people have a right to know what government is doing," Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said of the case.

He also believes the issue eventually will lead to a criminal investigation.

Senator Shapleigh's web site 1/27/10
Appeals court gets TCEQ records case

A state senator's pursuit of documents he believes will lead to a criminal investigation of senior staff members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is now in the hands of an appeals court that heard arguments Wednesday about whether the records should be public.

Written by Gary Scharrer, San Antonio Express-News

AUSTIN – A state senator's pursuit of documents he believes will lead to a criminal investigation of senior staff members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is now in the hands of an appeals court that heard arguments Wednesday about whether the records should be public.

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, wants all the records of top agency officials who met privately with representatives of a copper smelter while the company's application for an operating permit was pending before them.

During a bankruptcy case, lawyers for ASARCO, the smelter firm, submitted a fee-payment request that revealed meetings between senior TCEQ members, including Commission Chairman Buddy Garcia, and ASARCO representatives. Shapleigh calls those meetings “secret and illegal,” coming as they did during the pending air emissions permit application.

The press conference Senator Shapleigh held yesterday is awesome. It's 20 minutes long, but he lays it out pretty well. TCEQ is claiming some "executive privilege" bullshit! $560 million dollars estimated for clean up costs in El Paso for arsenic and lead slag. Taxpayers have a right to know what TCEQ did. TCEQ is so fucked up!

I wish him the best on this case!

:yourock: Senator Shapleigh! I'm going to miss this guy! :cry:



Sonia

[sonias]

1. Here is the link to the press conference

Real Audio archive from the Texas Senate: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/avarchive/

Direct link:
www.senate.state.tx.us/avarchive/ramav.php?ram=00004545

:kick:

Sonia

[kentauros]

2. Glad to see someone standing up to them and investigating.

:D

The Houston Press did an excellent cover story of polluters along the Ship Channel and how the TCEQ is basically their enabler in the government. Here's that story if you want to read it:

A Quiet Hell
Thanks to lax enforcement by TCEQ, plants along the Houston Ship Channel launch tons of toxic gases into our air, and face little penalty even when they exceed pollution limits over and over again.

By Chris Vogel
Published on December 15, 2009 at 2:20pm

[sonias]

3. TCEQ should be sunsetted

It's a worthless captured agency that does nothing for Texans but plenty for the agencies it's supposed to regulate.

Lets look at the facts from your article:

• More than 20 million pounds of pollutants, 450,000 of which are known carcinogens, were emitted due to equipment breakdowns or unscheduled maintenance, startup or shutdown events;

• TCEQ rarely took ­enforcement action, and when the agency did, the fines were nominal and in most cases later significantly reduced;

• The plants with the most violations paid the lowest percentage of their fines;

• TCEQ is so understaffed that it can take years to finalize penalties, and some critics say it avoids assessing time-consuming violations altogether.

• And, as a matter of policy, TCEQ strayed from federal law by combining multiple federal permit violations into a single state violation, thereby giving industry a break by assessing fewer and less costly penalties.

TCEQ is run by three commissioners who are appointed by the state's governor, currently Republican Rick Perry. Studies show that Perry (as well as other politicians throughout the state) has received more campaign money from the oil and gas industry than any other governor in the country, and critics say he has a vested interest in keeping air pollution regulation and enforcement at a minimum and appointing commissioners who share his pro-business agenda.

Totally worthless commission. I'll be following Senator Shapleigh's lawsuit. TCEQ is trying to make the case that Senator Shapleigh is not entitled to the documents because he's resigning his seat. What a load of crap! Until he's replaced in the Senate by whomever wins the race this year - he is an acting Texas State Senator.

Sonia

[onestepforward]

4. Wow. What a sham commission.

I wish Shapleigh the best in getting the documents and his lawsuit. Thanks for all the information! :)

[sonias]

5. He's one of the best Senators in our Lege

It really kills me to think he's not going to be there anymore. He's like our Russ Feingold for Texas.

I just hope that the person that wins that open seat race can fill his shoes.

Sonia

[sonias]

6. Texas Observer OpEd on TCEQ

Texas Observer 1/22/10
Blessed Intervention

A few days before Christmas, the Observer received a letter from a TCEQ employee. The anonymous letter-writer, "EnviroFriend," shared some strong opinions on his employer: "TCEQ is a cesspool and a farm team for aspiring lobbyists," the person wrote. "It should be dissolved by the Sunset Commission."

That’s the sentiment of somebody who collects a paycheck from the agency. Mothers with asthmatic kids choking on foul air in Houston, rural folks set to lose their way of life to a coal plant, or anyone clear-eyed about the coming consequences of climate change might be inclined to use stronger language.

While a Bolton-style dissolution is unlikely, there are promising signs that Texas finally might be forced to clean up its act. For the past year, President Barack Obama’s EPA has been giving the state what-for, ordering TCEQ to scrap its laughably "flexible" permitting program for major industrial facilities and demanding more opportunities for citizens to participate in decisions. And in a move that elated Lone Star greens, the Obama administration picked a dream candidate to run the regional EPA office.

Al Armendariz grew up in El Paso in the shadows of the now-closed Asarco smelter, an ugly, lead-spewing symbol of environmental injustice that plagued the city for more than 100 years. He is a scientist, a professor at SMU, and an eminently credible critic of Texas’ environmental policies who has brought his expertise to bear on the Metroplex’s smog problems.

Perry and his cronies will not play nice. Hours after Armendariz’s nomination, TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw issued a back-handed congratulation warning Armendariz not to use his position "as a podium for environmental activism"—as if Shaw hasn’t been engaged in his own regulation-shredding activism.

TCEQ is a cesspool!

Sonia

[onestepforward]

7. I wish Mr. Armendariz all the best.

It will be very tough trying to clean up Texas with our current "leadership." I hope he will come down hard on them. It doesn't make sense to me that clean air and water take a backseat to short-term business profits, but I know it does all the time.