All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent
Phillips 66, Rodeo CA, Take Action, Tar sands crude

Call to Action: Air District as apologist for Big Oil, Phillips 66

Letter to the editor by Larnie Fox, Benicia
August 15, 2017

Phillips 66 Marine Terminal Permit Revision

Larnie Fox, Benicia CA

Last night I attended a Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) presentation on Phillips 66’s plan to expand their marine terminal. It was sponsored by Solano County Supervisor, Monica Brown, and held in Benicia’s City Hall. Five or six BAAQMD staff members were present, as were many members of the community and members of community organizations. Monica Brown deserves our thanks for bringing this issue to light.

The BAAQMD made a short and somewhat vague presentation. It is now soliciting public input before preparing an environmental impact report. The project would allow Phillips 66 to double the amount of tankers coming through the Bay to their refinery in Rodeo, (4½ miles upwind of us in Benicia), but they couldn’t say what kind of crude the tankers would be carrying.

In the ensuing Q & A, it became clear to everyone present that the company plans to bring in crude from the Canadian tar sands – the BAAQMD staff members did not deny this. It also became apparent that taxpayers would bear much of the cost of any fires or spills.

Not all crude oils are alike. Tar sands crude is dirty, heavy, and corrosive. Because of its density, it will sink to the bottom of the Bay (and kill everything there) if it is spilled, making an effective cleanup nearly impossible. In order to ship it, it needs to be mixed with benzene and other volatile carcinogens prone to explosions and fires. It is dirty – releasing more toxins and carcinogens when processed than ordinary crude. It is considered a “sour” crude, which means it has a high sulfur content. This makes it more likely to corrode tanks, pipes, and oil tankers – leading to leaks and explosions.

I was very disappointed to see that BAAQMD staff were acting as apologists for big oil in our City Hall. Their mission is to protect our air, not to protect the profits of Phillips 66.

Most of the oil refined here will be shipped to Asia. The cost in terms of the environment and our health is not worth it. California now produces one-third of its electric power from wind and solar. Electric cars are becoming affordable; many homes have solar panels on them where they can charge their new electric cars. As we enter the age of clean fuels, we are free to move away from fossil fuels, and their associated environmental catastrophes.

I don’t aspire to be an activist. I am a working artist, and I would much rather be in my studio. Perhaps you don’t aspire to be an activist either, but what Phillips 66 is proposing is an unacceptable threat to all downwind of it and will contribute to climate change and environmental degradation. It requires a concerted effort to stop it, now.

What to do:

Contact the BAAQMD before August 28 with your views on the Phillips 66 project. The email they provided for this purpose is <P66MarineTerminalPermitRevision@baaqmd.gov>.

Contact your elected officials, local, state and national, and urge them to ask the BAAQMD to deny the project.  [Editor: Find Your Elected Officials]

Post information about the project on social media and write letters to editors.

Editor: More info here:
Local vigilance, Resist!

Mayors of Vallejo and Benicia join 150 to say no to hate groups

Vigil announcement

A Unity Vigil drew 150 citizens from Vallejo and Benicia on Sunday evening, August 13.  The crowd expressed solidarity and heartfelt outrage following the violent white supremacist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay rally in Charlottesville, VA last week.

Of particular note was the presence of the Mayors of both cities.  Mayor Elizabeth Patterson represented Benicia, and Mayor Bob Sampayan represented Vallejo.

The Benicia Independent stands firm in opposition to the moral depravity of white nationalism, the KKK and neo Nazi ideologies.

• From the Benicia Herald (appearing in the print edition only):

Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson addresses the crowd at an informal vigil Sunday evening in Vallejo’s Unity Plaza. The event was put on in response to a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend that resulted in – among other things – a car being intentionally driven into a crowd of protesters, injuring 19 people and killing 32-year-old legal assistant Heather Heyer. The event was organized by Vallejo Benicia Indivisible and Benicia Indivisible for Justice and also featured speeches by Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan and Vallejo Poet Laureate Genea Brice. A moment of silence for Heyer was held at 7 p.m. | Photo courtesy of Vallejo Benicia Indivisible

• From the Vallejo Times-Herald:

Vigil Held in Support of Charlottesville – Vallejoans fill Unity Plaza to stand against bigotry, hate

Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan addresses a group of residents during a unity vigil Sunday evening in Vallejo.
Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan addresses a group of residents during a unity vigil Sunday evening in Vallejo. | John Glidden — Times-Herald
By John Glidden, 08/13/17, 10:28 PM PDT 

With the classic “We Shall Overcome” as their rallying cry, Vallejoans took to Unity Plaza Sunday night to take on the hate they had seen on their TV screens over the weekend.

About 150 residents sang the legendary civil rights anthem, denouncing the bigotry ­— and violence ­— that led to tragedy Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

The gathering was in response to the death of Heather Heyer, who was intentionally hit by a car Saturday while she protested a white supremacist rally.

“Was I mad? Hell yes. Did I put blame? Hell yes. Did I point my finger at certain people in our (presidential) administration? Yes, I did,” Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan said, attempting to stifle his tears. “But do I hate? No. Because that, my friends, is what caused Heather’s demise. Hatred.”

Sampayan lauded the ethnic diversity of Sunday’s vigil participants.

“That’s what really makes me proud,” he added.

Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson also spoke, proudly proclaiming that “Benicia and Vallejo stand together.”

Patterson said she has no idea how to stop the type of hate shown in Charlottesville during Saturday’s white nationalist rally which caused bloody clashes with counter protesters.

“I am looking for your help and your ideas because even though it happened across the country, we have to be prepared for what could happen here,” Patterson added. “I’m worried.”

Vallejo activist and Neighborhood Rising founder Hakeem Brown expressed determination that the events in Charlottesville would not come to Vallejo.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure hate doesn’t take root in Vallejo,” he said to applause. Brown said a divided America allowed for the election of President Donald Trump.

“Our division aided his rise,” Brown said.

He urged residents to stand together and vote to overcome the hate he says Trump and his supporters are spreading.

Several in attendance carried signs, calling for unity and/or for love. Those who addressed the audience stood in front of a large American flag.

At exactly 7 p.m., a moment of silence for 32 seconds temporarily stopped the speeches, as those assembled remembered the 32-year-old Heyer.

Genea Brice, the city’s inaugural poet laureate, was incredulous as she spoke about Heyer’s death.

“Somebody died because they were standing for what they believed in,” Brice said. “Somebody used a car as a weapon.”

Brice then read a poem she wrote about unity.

She said the events in Virginia will not happen “because we are standing together.”

Air Monitoring, Air pollution, Air Watch Bay Area, Bay Area Refineries

Now YOU can help monitor the air in Benicia and the Bay Area!

With major input from Benicia and area activists and experts, Air Watch Bay Area is now up and running…

Press Release, Wednesday, August 9, 2017
[Contact listing at end]

Air Watch Bay Area launches new digital platform for reporting and investigating oil refinery pollution

Staying informed about what’s in the air is a priority for Bay Area residents living near the region’s five oil refineries. As we mark the five-year anniversary of the Chevron Richmond refinery fire, a new suite of digital tools designed to reveal and act on air pollution is now live at: http://airwatchbayarea.org/. The Air Watch Bay Area website and reporting app (available for Android or iOS) build on and extend residents’ successful activism for real-time air monitoring for many of the region’s frontline communities (Richmond, Rodeo, Crockett and Benicia). The website and app enable users to:

  1. Report air pollution — rate smells, upload photos, and describe symptoms;
  2. See pollution reports in context, alongside chemical levels, wind direction, and reports from other community members;
  3. View the history of chemical levels measured by fenceline and community monitors;
  4. Contribute to an independent community database of incidents, while also submitting reports to regulatory authorities at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD);
  5. Connect with community organizations and resources to advocate for cleaner air, particularly in frontline communities;
  6. Grow the community of people engaged with Bay Area air quality and environmental justice advocacy.

Frontline community residents, in collaboration with the Fair Tech Collective at Drexel University and the Community Robotics, Education, and Technology Empowerment Lab (CREATE Lab) at Carnegie Mellon University, helped to develop these tools — to build capacity for broadened civic engagement with air quality. “Air Watch Bay Area builds on a community of people who are dedicated to refinery air quality vigilance and for the first time shows the Big Picture of all the refineries in the Bay Area,” according to Constance Beutel of the Benicia Good Neighbor Steering Committee.

Exposing oil refineries to public scrutiny
In a region where many are committed to environmental sustainability and health, local oil refineries too often operate beyond public scrutiny. Air Watch Bay Area helps expose refineries to scrutiny by highlighting air pollution data across frontline communities in Richmond, Crockett, Rodeo, and Benicia. As fenceline monitoring requirements recently adopted by BAAQMD come into force, the site will expand to include data from Martinez, where neither Shell nor Tesoro currently have fenceline monitoring programs, as well as additional data from other communities.

Air Watch Bay Area features residents’ own pollution reports alongside both historical and real-time air quality data, made available through successful environmental justice advocacy. The site is the first to present such archival air quality data, which are necessary to help residents “connect the dots” between chemical levels in ambient air and health issues that may not appear until hours or days after exposure. Residents from all refinery communities can make pollution reports, adding to available air pollution data even where monitoring is not being conducted.

Holding regulators & public officials accountable to public health, environmental justice
Ultimately, Air Watch Bay Area’s digital tools offer Bay Area residents new levers for holding regulators and elected officials accountable to public health, environmental justice, and sustainability. “Often when citizens file air pollution complaints, the information seems to drop into a black hole. The ability for fenceline communities to archive their complaints is key to holding refineries and regulatory agencies accountable,” stated Nancy Rieser of Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Environment (C.R.U.D.E.).

When people report odors or photos to Air Watch Bay Area, they contribute to a publicly visible “paper trail” of incidents. This public paper trail, alongside individuals’ direct reports to BAAQMD, helps Bay Area residents advocate for cleaner air. It helps foster community empowerment and ownership of data, to address persistent air quality problems. “This site will be an important tool for anyone researching and evaluating refinery emissions that endanger health in our community,” said Rieser.

New data stories: Giving monitoring “teeth”
“Air monitoring has become a popular answer to the environmental health concerns of frontline communities. Just look at the state of California’s recent move to increase community air monitoring while undercutting environmental justice groups’ calls for caps on refinery emissions [in AB 617 and 398],” says Dr. Gwen Ottinger, Drexel University professor and principal investigator on the National Science Foundation grant that funded the creation of Air Watch Bay Area. “The problem with that approach is that monitoring in isolation is toothless.”

For monitoring to really have an impact, communities need to be able to leverage air quality data while challenging “upstream” causes of emissions. According to East Bay resident Cheryl Holzmeyer, a research and outreach associate of the Air Watch Bay Area project, “It’s crucial that air monitoring go hand-in-hand with efforts to cap emissions and prevent the refining of tar sands and heavy crude oil at Bay Area refineries. Decision-makers need to embrace new data stories — bridging people’s lived experiences of health and illness, refinery emissions levels, oil feedstock quality, and alternative visions of just transitions away from fossil fuel dependency.” By making historical data accessible and bringing people’s experiences into the picture through online pollution reporting, Air Watch Bay Area’s digital tools offer new ways to contribute to such stories.

Please look for us at these upcoming events:

● August 12th, 12-3pm: Our Power Festival, Nicholl Park, Richmond
● August 24th and 31st, 4-7pm: Benicia Farmers Markets
● September 5th, 7pm: Benicia City Council Meeting
● September 6th, 7pm: Benicia Community Meeting at Ruszel Woodworks
● September 14th, 4-6pm: Benicia Farmers Market
● September 19th, 7pm and 26th, 6pm: Benicia City Council Meetings
● More events on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/AirWatchBayArea/

Contacts:
Constance Beutel (Benicia Good Neighbor Steering Committee) 707-742-4419
Kathy Kerridge (Benicia Good Neighbor Steering Committee) 707-816-2401
Nancy Rieser, Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Environment (C.R.U.D.E.) 510-322-1459
Jay Gunkelman (Vallejo) 707-654-8899
Cheryl Holzmeyer, Fair Tech Collective, Drexel University 510-417-9348
Gwen Ottinger, Fair Tech Collective, Drexel University 610-608-2146

Keeping Watch on Earth News

Environmental Integrity Project: Trump lowers fines on polluters

Repost from the New York Times

Study: Fines for Illegal Pollution Plummet Under Trump

Michael Biesecker, The Associated Press, 

WASHINGTON — Fines for illegal pollution have plummeted under President Donald Trump, according to analysis by an environmental advocacy group.

The Environmental Integrity Project looked at that civil penalties paid by polluters during the first six months under Trump. The group published an analysis Thursday that found penalties were less than half their levels under each of the past three presidents.

The analysis found that Trump’s Justice Department settled 26 civil cases against companies over environmental violations, totaling $12 million in penalties. That’s a 60 percent drop on average from comparable time periods under presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush or Bill Clinton, even before adjustments for inflation.

Besides reaching fewer settlements, the group said, environmental offenders also were required to perform less cleanup under Trump and make smaller reductions to future pollution.

A spokesman for the Justice Department said Thursday it continues to “vigorously enforce” environmental laws.

The report’s authors cautioned that six months represent only an eighth of a presidential term but said the early news is neither encouraging nor surprising. Trump and his Environmental Enforcement Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, have complained that federal regulations are often too onerous and stifle the growth of American businesses.

“President Trump campaigned on a promise of ‘law and order,’ but apparently law enforcement for big polluters is not what he had in mind,” Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, said in a statement. He previously served as director of EPA’s civil enforcement office under both Clinton and Bush.

“If this drop-off in environmental enforcement continues, it will leave more people breathing more air pollution or swimming in waterways with more waste,” Schaeffer said.

Under the first six months under Obama, the Justice Department brought 34 civil cases for violations of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and other federal environmental laws, with polluters agreeing to pay $36 million in penalties. Bush logged 31 cases with $30 million in penalties, while Clinton accounted for 45 cases with $25 million in penalties.

The group did not include settlements for pollution cleanups agreed to as part of the federal Superfund program, cases that can often drag on for decades.

The comparison between presidential administrations is more stark when figures are adjusted for inflation. For example, the $25 million in civil penalties under Clinton in the first half of 1992 would equal more than $43.5 million in today’s dollars.

The Justice Department did not dispute the study’s numbers, but a spokesman said figures for civil penalties do not tell the full story because they do not include fines from criminal prosecutions.

“The department continues to vigorously enforce environmental laws to better protect the American people,” said Mark Abueg, a public affairs specialist at Justice. “For example, in just the last six months, (we) filed major new Clean Air Act litigation and obtained a $40 million criminal penalty in a vessel pollution case that safeguards the environment.”

The $40 million fine Abueg cited was finalized in April as part of the sentencing of Princess Cruise Lines over the illegal dumping and concealment of oil-contaminated waste from its ships. However, the settlement, the largest ever in such a case, was actually negotiated under the Obama administration and announced in December — the month before Trump took office — as part of the company’s guilty plea to felony crimes in federal court.