{"id":46590,"date":"2017-05-10T16:39:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T20:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=46590"},"modified":"2017-05-10T16:41:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T20:41:26","slug":"ohio-epa-wetlands-damaged-pipeline-company-decades-recover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/ohio-epa-wetlands-damaged-pipeline-company-decades-recover\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio EPA Says Wetlands Damaged By Pipeline Company Will Take Decades To Recover"},"content":{"rendered":"
Energy Transfer Partners, the company heading the Dakota Access pipeline program, is also constructing a pipeline across Ohio. When completed, it will transport\u00a03.25 billion cubic feet of gas each day from West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan to Ontario, Canada. In April, the company discharged some 2 million gallons of a substance known as bentonite clay into sensitive wetlands.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a tragedy in that we would anticipate this wetland won\u2019t recover to its original condition for decades,\u201d Ohio EPA spokesman James Lee told ThinkProgress. \u201cAnd had [ETP] more carefully followed best practices and been prepared to respond to the bentonite release, this likely would not have occurred on the scale that we are dealing with now.\u201d Ohio has told Energy Transport Partners it owes the state $430,000 as a result of the “inadvertent” damage to the wetlands.<\/p>\n
“Horse puckey,” says the company. Displaying a complete lack of concern for the spill, it tells Think Progress it has done nothing wrong. \u201cWe have placed a great deal of focus and importance on our construction and mitigation efforts. We are not out of compliance with any of our permits. It is unfortunate that the Ohio EPA has misrepresented the situation and misstated facts in its recent comments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company says the discharge \u201cis a mixture of naturally occurring bentonite clay and water and is safe for the environment. Bentonite is commonly used in a variety of household products that we use every day such as beer and wine, sugar, honey, creams and lotions, baby powders, laundry detergents and hand soaps. We do not believe that there will be any long term impact to the environment.”<\/p>\n
The Ohio EPA has issued a proposed order requiring ETP to develop a contingency plan to prevent future spills and setting forth what penalties will apply in the event any do occur. But the company is having none of it. It contends that the state does not have the\u00a0 \u201cauthority to enforce violations of its federally delegated state water pollution control statutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isn’t it interesting how the fossil fuel industry sings out of both sides of its mouth at the same time? If a state tries to protect its citizens, it’s a federal issue. If the federal government tries to protect its citizens, it is in violation of “states rights.” In essence, its position is that it is answerable to no one and should be free to do whatever it wants whenever it wants.<\/p>\n
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Indeed, the permitting and oversight process for pipelines that cross state and national boundaries is an impenetrable thicket that provides any number of loopholes for those looking to take advantage of the process. The Army Corps of Engineers, the US Forest Service and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are all involved.<\/p>\n
That means a company like ETP can bog any enforcement efforts down in interminable delays. By the time someone steps in and sorts things out, the pipeline will be complete and ETP will be off to rape another wilderness. Indeed, the Ohio EPA has written to FERC but gotten no reply. And Humpty Trumpty in the White House, a man who never met a coal mine or a fracking operation he didn’t like, it is highly unlikely the feds are going to step up on this issue.<\/p>\n