Fmr EPA Investigator Scott West:US Has Told BP"It Can Do Whatever It Wants-Won’t Be Held Accountable

[kpete]

Source: NPR

Fmr. EPA Investigator Scott West: US Has Told BP "It Can Do Whatever It Wants and Won’t Be Held Accountable"

One month after the BP oil spill, we speak to Scott West, a former top investigator at the Environmental Protection Agency who led an investigation of BP following a major oil pipeline leak in Alaska’s North Slope that spilled 250,000 gallons of oil on the Alaskan tundra. Before West finished his investigation, the Bush Justice Department reached a settlement with BP, and the oil company agreed to pay $20 million. At the same time, BP managed to avoid prosecution for the Texas City refinery explosion that killed fifteen workers by paying a $50 million settlement.

..............

SCOTT WEST: When the Bush administration took over at the Department of Justice, and the US attorney came in, it was—became a bottom-of-the-barrel case and was ultimately settled out for a very low amount of money. And I have been talking with one of the investigators on that case, and he said the amount of money that was determined as the fine in that matched what the insurance companies were willing to pay. So Olympic Pipe Line essentially did not have to actually pay the fine, but it was covered by their insurance company. Now, that Olympic Pipe Line settlement became the benchmark, within the Bush Department of Justice, for environmental crime.

......................

SCOTT WEST: Now, now we’re seeing the same sort of thing in the Gulf, in this catastrophe. And information is coming to light that corners were cut and that employees’ concerns were being ignored. It’s the exact same pattern that we saw with BP in Alaska and with BP in Texas City. And I understand a couple of—

................

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think if BP executives were brought up on charges that we would see what we’re seeing in the Gulf of Mexico today?

SCOTT WEST: Well, I doubt we would be having this discussion and we’d be dealing with a catastrophe like this in the Gulf. What the government has done over the past several years is taught BP that it can do whatever it wants and will not be held accountable. So, decisions have been made, very poor decisions have been made, to increase profits and put workers at risk and been allowed and endorsed by the federal government. So, there’s been no—

Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/20/fmr_epa_investigator_scott_west_us

[LakeSamish706]

1. That will really give them the incentive to stop the flow! How much will they make them pay

this time, a measly $75 million?

[The Wielding Truth]

27. US..... GWB's adminstration...... Of Course! They sold out everything they could!

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lorien]

71. And hey, bonus if they kill everything in the Gulf. No more environmental impact

studies if everything is already dead. Limitless drilling! Woohoo!

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

Edit for P.S.

What a shame to lose the satellite audio during this exchange, I would like to have heard the finish.

SCOTT WEST: Well, I doubt we would be having this discussion and we’d be dealing with a catastrophe like this in the Gulf. What the government has done over the past several years is taught BP that it can do whatever it wants and will not be held accountable. So, decisions have been made, very poor decisions have been made, to increase profits and put workers at risk and been allowed and endorsed by the federal government. So, there’s been no—


AMY GOODMAN: Lost him. Sorry, that was the satellite connection to Seattle, which is what we were afraid of. But that was Scott West, former special agent in charge of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental Protection Agency. He now works with the group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Again, was the one who attempted to bring BP executives up on charges, criminal charges, which is extremely rare in these corporate cases, from BP to Massey Energy in West Virginia. And this is an issue we will continue to investigate.

[kpete]

ugly times...

Uncle Joe - thanks for the smile, kp

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Wonder if anyone is keeping track of

the increasingly frequent satellite feed interruptions during news like this?
Last night Redford's comments were cut off, a few times Rachel's guests have been cut off
( but not the right winger guests)
and now Amy's guest.

[skyounkin]

7. It's not a coincidence.

[nykym]

15. The Feds used to do it

all the time back in the 60's & early 70's with WBAI.

[texastoast]

3. Kick n/t

[CoffeeCat]

4. These BP clowns must have another planet...

...to which they can fly at any moment--and colonize.

They act like they don't need to live here with the rest of us.

Sure, they'll probably get away with the damage--because they bought
our politicians and paid for deregulation and the freedom to destroy
whatever they want--with no consequences.

However, they still have live here, drink the water and eat the
food supply.

What a bunch of myopic, bratty, spoiled, stupid morons these BP
ingrates are.

[Michigan-Arizona]

37. Amazing isn't it CoffeeCat

Them, their children, grand kids & great grand kid's still have to live in this world, that's where their way of thinking has always puzzled me. However, they still have live here, drink the water and eat the
food supply, all the money in the world won't help them when they ruin this planet. What you said is all so very true!

[liberation]

39. Capitalism by definition is both myopic and sociopathic...

... we should not be surprised when some of the bigger players in this silly system behave as such.

I assume these clowns think in their back of their minds, their offspring will be shielded from mother nature due to the magical properties of corporate profits or something. They truly think the laws of nature can be bought out...

[meowomon]

49. Capitalism...

is one big huge pyramid scheme. It is unsustainable and destroying the earth.

[Time for change]

50. That's not exactly true

When vast portions of the planet's life-giving capacities are destroyed they're counting on their wealth to escape to the remaining parts of the world that still support life. When public drinking water is universally contaminated they will still be able to buy relatively pure water. When food is scarce enough that billions are starving to death, they'll still be able to afford to buy it.

True, it is likely that things will eventually get bad enough that everyone will suffer. But they'll probably be dead by then. And I doubt that they care much about the kind of world they leave to their children and grandchildren.

They're counting on their wealth to protect them until they die -- and it probably will. That's why they don't care.

[rhett o rick]

65. Bingo

[Obamaknowzz]

51. Hitler continued the same behavior until he blew his brains out

in the bunker--he would have destroyed the world in order to conquer it. Socio/pschopaths cannot really stop their behavior. It is now becoming obvious that BP is not plugging the gusher because they want to keep this pipeline open for whatever oil they can get from it. They really don't give a shit about the environment. If they did they would long ago have started to shift their efforts to developing alternatives instead of, as they did with ethanol, bought into the industry then the industry started having all kinds of financial problems. Ethanol bankruptcy proceedings skyrocketed.

[highplainsdem]

5. K&R

[Mr. Sparkle]

8. Seriously, how the fuck does this happen under a democratic administration? n/t

[JDPriestly]

17. It has not yet happened. This was under the Bush administration.

[harkadog]

47. That is not what the OP says.

"It is happening now..."

[rhett o rick]

66. You're kidding arent you. This spill happened on Obama's watch just as much as 9/11 happened on

Bush's watch. Obama didnt take action to prevent this. And still hasnt taken action to prevent future disasters of this type.

[Xicano]

22. "democratic administration" ?

Sorry Mr. Sparkly I don't mean to sound sarcastic or anything, but, I don't see any Democratic administration in the White House. All I see is yet another Corporate administration. Opposite side of the coin from a repub administration perhaps, but, still only the opposite side of the same corporate coin.

[Iowa]

38. +1

[defendandprotect]

56. Sadly agree --

[Dr.Phool]

9. K&R, but one small quibble.

West says the government has TAUGHT BP that it can do whatever it wants.

Slightly different from being TOLD in the headline. Different method, same result.

[mvd]

10. This disaster absolutely makes me sick

it is part of my thoughts every day. If there are no changes made or if there are no efforts to hold BP accountable, that might be the thing that drives me to apathy politically.

[calimary]

14. No kidding. I find myself asking God to forgive us humans for fouling His nest.

What we have done!!!!

:cry:

[defendandprotect]

57. Native American were as shocked as most of us are now . . .

Problem is, when there is a buck to be made, there is little listening going on --

Bus-i-ness itself should be outlawed . . .

It's cost us the planet so that idiots among us could collect dollar bills which are

meaningless vs Nature . . . but which made them big guys -- powerful!!

The "discoverers"/destroyers who came to this continent came for wealth and power alone.

:)

[calimary]

67. Hey, I felt that from the moment I first heard about this.

I've wanted to cry just about every time I see footage of ANYTHING involving that story. I can't believe what we're doing to the ecosystem, and why this isn't being treated as a Manhattan Project-type national EMERGENCY!!!

I was having this argument with another mother - who actually agreed with me wholeheartedly - regarding a small scandal that's erupted at my son's school. Pretty typical, unfortunately. The LA Times just had a story about it, maybe a week or so ago. Teachers' salaries are being frozen, and several of the best teachers who've been there awhile and whom the students all love, AND one really popular woman recently honored as "Teacher of the Year" have all been fired, some of them abruptly and with only weasel words and lies for "explanation". The school's pleading poverty of course. HOWEVER... they STILL somehow are managing to put together enough money for a Jumbotron for the fucking football team!!!! And the fucking football coach makes twice and even three times what the Math and Science and English teachers do!!!! The Teacher of the Year who got fired was the head of the whole fucking language department!!!! But they're three-quarters of the way toward being able to buy that fucking Jumbotron for the fucking football team - with its price tag of 200-THOUSAND dollars. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

And I said to my friend, this other mother, WHY is it that we simply MUST train more people to chase after other people and knock them down? We have more than enough of that already without feeling compelled to throw in some 200-thousand-dollar fucking Jumbotron. You can find scores of people down ANY back alley in ANY bad neighborhood in ANY city who are skilled and practiced at chasing somebody and knocking them down!!! We already have more of that kind of expert than we EVER needed, and we DO NOT need to "train" ANY MORE!!!!! What we need are BRAINS!!! To hell with the ability to run and catch up with somebody and knock them down!!! We should be developing INTELLECTS who can think us OUT OF THIS DAMN OIL SPILL AND BRING IT TO AN END!!!!! We need to be building the BRAIN POWER of people who can think of ways to solve this planetary environmental crisis and stop the gusher and clean up the damned OIL!!!!!!


God DAMN but the priorities in this country are fucked up. I'm SO glad my son is not a jock. Doesn't have the sports gene. Don't know how he could - it isn't in my husband or me. We don't have anything to pass down to him in that regard. It's musicians and artists and writers in our house. Not sports jocks.

[defendandprotect]

69. We've been on quite a capitalistic ride . . . Toyota, Mine Deaths, BP . . .

that's just to name a few -- and if you can catch anything of the hearings on C-span

usually you'll pick up some valuable info and clues -- I usually have it on, but can't

always listen as intently as I'd like to. Markey the other day forced BP to provide a

live feed of the "leak" -- I missed that but very happy to hear!



I've wanted to cry just about every time I see footage of ANYTHING involving that story. I can't believe what we're doing to the ecosystem, and why this isn't being treated as a Manhattan Project-type national EMERGENCY!!!

Many here feel the same way -- IMO, don't know how anyone could not feel that way!

Something wrong with them, I think!

But I remember watching C-span the morning after ExxonValdez -- the VP who came in for Exxon

was obviously saying to them all . . "I represent organized crime/Mafia and we'll be telling

you what to do." IMO, oil industry and Mafia are the same thing. If you see Blanenkship/Massey

Mines, I think you'll feel the same way/???

News re your schools is terrible . . . bad enough Obama/Arne Duncan are supporting Charter

schools -- and all the damage that Bush's LNCB has caused! Here in NJ we're under a GOP

-- Gov. Christie's guns -- and he's cutting everything that matters . . . schools, libraries!

My husband put my kids on the sports road, but they quickly learned that some of the foulest

people and practices are in sports -- even highschool sports!

We also paid for a new astroturf soccer field here -- $1 million!!




LOVE THIS . . .

And I said to my friend, this other mother, WHY is it that we simply MUST train more people to chase after other people and knock them down? We have more than enough of that already without feeling compelled to throw in some 200-thousand-dollar fucking Jumbotron. You can find scores of people down ANY back alley in ANY bad neighborhood in ANY city who are skilled and practiced at chasing somebody and knocking them down!!! We already have more of that kind of expert than we EVER needed, and we DO NOT need to "train" ANY MORE!!!!! What we need are BRAINS!!! To hell with the ability to run and catch up with somebody and knock them down!!! We should be developing INTELLECTS who can think us OUT OF THIS DAMN OIL SPILL AND BRING IT TO AN END!!!!! We need to be building the BRAIN POWER of people who can think of ways to solve this planetary environmental crisis and stop the gusher and clean up the damned OIL!!!!!!

and this too . . .


God DAMN but the priorities in this country are fucked up. I'm SO glad my son is not a jock. Doesn't have the sports gene. Don't know how he could - it isn't in my husband or me. We don't have anything to pass down to him in that regard. It's musicians and artists and writers in our house. Not sports jocks.


If you've ever read anything of mine before you've probably seen this --

Patriarchy is the "bird with one wing."

And this --

A comment by a woman from the Bikini Island after we had nuked her homeland

- purposefully -- to test atomic weapons!

"Americans are really smart about really stupid things."



:)

[Jefferson23]

11. How ugly can one system of government get. n/t

[elleng]

12. Misleading headline.

Told BP 'IN THE PAST,' more like it.

[truthrocks]

13. Patently Untrue Shameless Sensationalism

"US Has Told BP"It Can Do Whatever It Wants-Won’t Be Held Accountable"

Please watch the hearings. Educate yourself.

[paparush]

20. Maybe we'll all get framed copies of the strongly worded letters that we can

hang over our mantles.

[atreides1]

24. Hearings?

You mean the "Dog & Pony" show put on for the benefit of the unwashed masses? Those hearings?

[Bluebear]

34. +

[liberation]

41. What you want actual concrete action from our government to defend our citizens interests?

Even if they come at the expense of corporate interests?

You must be one of them "unrealistic leftie demagogues" or something. Why do you hate America?

[Shining Jack]

43. +1

I prefer to call them circus sideshows. :grr:

[JDPriestly]

16. The meaning of "settlement" is that the plaintiff either takes what

the defendant is willing to pay or goes through more litigation. Litigation involves a lot of risks including getting a large damages verdict that is severely cut by an appellate court.

The plaintiff can argue that the defendant should pay more, but in the end the defendant will only pay what it is willing to pay.

Usually, in deciding how much it is willing to pay, the defendant will consider things like how much further litigation would cost it, how much damage will be done to its reputation and standing in the community of the litigation continues.

I'm oversimplifying. But, without having yet had a chance to listen to the discussion on Democracy Now, I just want to say that a plaintiff who decides to settle a claim may get less than the plaintiff would get in a court. Could get more, but there is no guarantee one way or the other.

[berni_mccoy]

18. Misleading Headline. Implies that is what the Gov't has told BP NOW, not in the PAST

"SCOTT WEST: Well, I doubt we would be having this discussion and we’d be dealing with a catastrophe like this in the Gulf. What the government has done over the past several years is taught BP that it can do whatever it wants and will not be held accountable. So, decisions have been made, very poor decisions have been made, to increase profits and put workers at risk and been allowed and endorsed by the federal government. So, there’s been no..."

that is, Bush gave them permission to do whatever they wanted.

[rudy23]

19. And what has Obama done to reverse the free-reign? Salazar? MMS?

It's another classic example of a Bush/Cheney policy that Obama had neither the guts nor the will to change. Because he's "looking forward."

[berni_mccoy]

21. Oh, I see, because what he's doing isn't being REPORTED means he's doing nothing...

Except that would be a very bad assumption to make.

In fact, there are things happening that we don't know about. For example: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/berni_mccoy/990

[readmoreoften]

29. Right. Stopping BP is going to happen by cutting backroom deals. I call bullshit.

I could put my trust for Obama in a thimble and there's still be room.

[rudy23]

36. Oooh, now I feel better! BP's finally letting US see the leak! Way to "stand up" Obama!

As for the rest, I guess I'll just put my blind faith that magical Obama is doing things behind the scenes that we mortals can't see.

[liberation]

42. Maybe then we should send Buckaroo Banzai to report on Obama's actions

Apparently, we are not able to register them here, in the first 3 dimensions, they must be happening across the 8th dimension, right?

n-dimensional chess is way too complex for us common folk...

[Iowa]

40. +1

[MissDeeds]

53. Sickening isn't it?

And increasingly difficult to deny. The new boss is remarkably same as the old boss. :puke:

[rudy23]

72. I am sickened. This week, it's as if Obama's taken off his mask, and W's face is underneath.

I am absolutely disgusted with his presidency.

[thereismore]

25. AGREED. Misleading headline. I thought that's what this gov't told them after the gusher.

Tsk tsk.

[avaistheone1]

28. Obama admin allowed it: U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits

WASHINGTON — The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf.

Those approvals, federal records show, include one for the well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and resulting in thousands of barrels of oil spilling into the gulf each day.

The Minerals Management Service, or M.M.S., also routinely overruled its staff biologists and engineers who raised concerns about the safety and the environmental impact of certain drilling proposals in the gulf and in Alaska, according to a half-dozen current and former agency scientists.

Those scientists said they were also regularly pressured by agency officials to change the findings of their internal studies if they predicted that an accident was likely to occur or if wildlife might be harmed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14agency.html




Disaster is what you get when you continue the policies of the Bush admin. Is anyone really surprised?

[SleeplessinSoCal]

23. BP gas station Arco has lowest prices in SoCal. And today they're lower than yesterday.

[truedelphi]

26. Obama Administrtion score card

On ecology - F

Even Bush the Second didn't stand by while an entire ocean system was brought to its death.

[sulphurdunn]

31. Up until now

it seems that every failed fix has been part of an attempt to recover the oil and not just plug the gusher.

[LiberalAndProud]

32. Bush Department of Justice

:rofl: oxymoron if I ever heard one.

[amborin]

33. K&R

[Bluebear]

35. Yay for New Democrats!

[Shining Jack]

44. I approve of this sarcasm.

Love your sigline BTW.:)

[Bluebear]

46. :)

Belated welcome to DU!

[Shining Jack]

68. Thanks Bluebear : )

[bertman]

45. K & R. Jail time for the honchos and the regulators who deliberately allowed this to

happen is one sure-fire deterrent. The other is massive--multi-BILLION dollar fines.

Problem is, those massive, multi-BILLION DOLLAR fines will start to cut off the other pipeline that BP and other energy companies have to maintain in order to make their obscene profits--the pipeline that goes from their coffers into the pockets of our elected representatives and appointed regulators. Until that one is shut down we aren't going to see much in the way of reform or preventive action.

[EJSTES2005]

48. Shocker

Profits before people?....No Fn way. I don't believe it for one second............

[DeSwiss]

52. K&R

:puke:

[MissDeeds]

54. K&R

:kick:

[defendandprotect]

55. Only one I've seen get tough with them was Markey the other day -- they now have to provide a live

feed on the leak --

Some are saying this thing is 19X what it was originally stated to be . . .

eh, actually, original and for a week or more BP was saying "NO LEAK"!!!

EPA to BP: Dispersant We OK'd
Actually Too Toxic

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/20-9

[Obamaknowzz]

58. What amazes me is how so many people could delude..

themselves into believing that electing someone who, at all times has shown he is pro-corporate without one progressive in his cabinet, was going to change things.
FDR defined fascism as a situation where corporate/private power grows to such an extent that it threatens the government itself. We are now past that point and West's account is one among many glaring illustrations of that fact. The Gulf catastrophe is the result of this long process toward the fascist police state we are now experiencing. BP is so confident in its power that it doesn't even change its plans to stop production at the well.

Woodrow Wilson warned after WWI about the corporate powers which threatened democracy. He said that if they are not reigned in that another war like WWI will happen for certain and that corporate monopoly power is incapable of restraining itself.
"Is there any man, is there any woman, indeed is their any child that does not understand that war in the modern era is the result of industrial rivalry"

This rivalry was/is a 20th century version of feudalism--the rivals are corporations instead of fiefdoms.
The corporadoes then supported Hitler and Mussolini with full knowledge of how they acquired and maintained their power. They profited from the war buildup watched Germany and Italy destroyed and then kept on pursuing the fascist ideal after WWII. Near the end of the war an ardent pro-nazi- Allen Dulles-- sabotaged FDR's information sharing agreement with the Soviet Union, thereby starting the Cold War, which then gave a big boost to his dream of the CIA. Reagan, and his CIA chief William Casey were intimately involved in the 1950's in organizations that helped Nazi escapees settle in S. America and, little known by most of us, in the Middle-East, where they engaged in terror campaigns for their new corporate masters. These German Nazis were very skilled in the art of terror and trained a new generation of terrorists of all cultures.

The Reagan Era gave fascism its rebirth, while the Bush's consolidated its grip.

The failure to even acknowledge this history by our political leaders, much less have a truth and reconciliation period to get it out in the open is the saddest, sickest part of this story. Obama may have said that there will be no more pursuit of the Bush Era crimes, but in so doing he has shut the door on the truth and holding the fascists accountable. Somebody suggested it is OK for Obama to now move to the Left. Yea, I gotta see that.

[No Elephants]

59. Will this country ever stop suffering from Bush v. Gore? Ever?

[Billmelater]

60. Dear America

After further review, we have decided that the Gulf oil volcano will be impossible to stop, so we are packing up and going home. Please find enclosed a check for $75,000,000.

Don't forget to stop in and fill up at your local BP dealer, where we are now including a free "butterball" seabird with every fill up.

Have a nice day and happy motoring.

your friends at BP

[sce56]

61. BP is firmly in charge! They told CBS News to not look at the oil covered beach under cover of CG

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4387741

Heavy Sludge Oozes into Marshes of Louisiana

Source: CBS

(CBS/AP) It may be the most disturbing site yet: the first heavy sludge now oozing into the marshes of Louisiana as the slick continues to grow in size out in the gulf.

CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports it's an ominous sight. The oil is thick and black and stretches about a quarter mile down a beach. It goes beyond the booms into the sensitive marsh lands which are home to migratory birds.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal flew over it Tuesday.

"This wasn't just sheen, we were seeing heavy oil out there," Jindal said. "This wasn't just tar balls. It shows you how quick the oil showed up."

When CBS News tried to reach the beach, covered in oil, a boat of BP contractors with two Coast Guard officers on board told us to turn around under threat of arrest. Coast Guard officials said they are looking into the incident.


Sure looks like BP is telling the Government what to do and they are using the Coast Guard to enforce their orders

[Prof Lester]

62. My Wife Says..

this is the price we pay for having the British along with us in our rape run through the middle east. We get them to send a few young psychos from the slums of Manchester over to Iraq'n'AfPak etc. and they get a free pass to rape our beautiful Gulf. When, oh when, are we going to grow up and drop the brainless fantasy that "businessmen" are smart. History says, very clearly, they are nothing but a bunch of twitching morons.. or "morans" if you like. Idiots. Fools. Greedy maniacs. Dummies. Boneheads.. Immoral scum. And most of all: sinners. Bad, bad sinners. To destroy the Earth, the blessed gift of God.. wo, wo, wo.. the worst! The lowest! The vilest of vile!

So I says to her "Hmm.. are you bein' a little harsh on them boys, dear?" And she says "Shut up, fool."

So I will.

[donco6]

63. LOL!

She's right.

[defendandprotect]

70. +1000%

[alp227]

64. The perils of limited government.

Corporations get away with screwing everyone over.

And look! "Limited government" Bush and his fellows have still yet to be prosecuted for Iraq War crimes.