Cost to BP should not be a factor in implementing precautions
By Linda L. Young
I live in the Florida Panhandle, about 200 feet from the Gulf of Mexico. Soon I will lose track of the number of times that I’ve smelled the growing mass of oil that looms out past the southern horizon. When I go for my evening walk these days, I’m already conditioned to check the air first to make sure that “the smell” is not back. I learned that lesson a few weeks ago when, after walking in it for over an hour, I returned home with a splitting headache.
It’s been almost six weeks since the BP oil well exploded and took 11 lives. There has been a lot of criticism of the federal government’s handling of this unprecedented disaster, but my expectations are much closer to home. I’ve waited and watched for encouraging signs that my state and local governments are gearing up to provide maximum protection for our waters. I do see a few oil booms stretched out here and there along shorelines and I was able to get a copy of my county’s protection plan, which completely relies on these few booms.. However, the county initially wanted more extensive protections for our fairly pristine, highly productive estuaries, bayous, marshes and rivers, but those plans were scaled back by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). What??? Why would the state agency that is tasked with protecting our environment ask a county to take fewer precautions?
Could it have anything to do with the fact that FDEP signed a no-bid contract with a consulting firm called WRSCompass, which was hired to work with Florida cities and counties in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster? This North Carolina-based company’s chief executive is Kathleen Shanahan, a former chief-of-staff to Jeb Bush and former vice-president Dick Cheney. Cheney’s former company, Halliburton, conducted repairs on the Deepwater site hours before the April 20 explosion which triggered the massive oil spill. Records show that on May 8th, FDEP awarded the contract, which is worth as much as $250,000 to the company. General Counsel for WRSCompass is Greg Munson, whose most recent position was General Counsel for the Florida FDEP. That may sound appropriate for a consulting firm now advising counties as they prepare for the onslaught of toxic oil, but Mr. Munson’s litigation strategies for the Bush administration were often much more friendly to the state’s polluters than to clean water and air advocates.
While I am no expert on keeping oil off of our beaches and out of the intercoastal waterway, I can see from my research that we are not doing anywhere near all that we can do to prepare and protect our waters from the oil that is sure to come. Additionally, what plans are in place to move people who can’t live in their homes when the oil moves closer and the fumes are overwhelming? I have heard nothing of these plans so far.
On May 20th, I served a verified complaint on Mike Sole, Secretary of the Florida DEP. My complaint reminded Secretary Sole that he is obligated by Florida law to protect Florida’s air, water and land from unlawful pollution. Our air has already been impacted by BP’s disaster and soon our waters will, as well. It has been six weeks since this disaster began and our state has not taken enforcement action against BP. Is this overly-slow reaction further related to the appointment of former Attorney General Jim Smith as a key strategizer for the state’s potential litigation against BP? Mr. Smith was a registered lobbyist for BP for several recent years.
Whatever the reason, time is wasting and we, the taxpayers of Florida, want assurances that our state officials are doing everything in their power to protect our resources. As citizens we have the authority to hold the Florida DEP accountable when it fails to enforce our environmental laws. My verified complaint to Mr. Sole gives him notice that legal actions may result if his sluggish response to this disaster continues, and any citizen of Florida can join me in this effort. For more information go to my organization’s website: www.cleanwaternetwork-fl.org.
Linda Young is the director of the Clean Water Network of FL, a non-profit environmental organization with 300 member groups and thousands of individuals that are working together to protect Florida’s waters.