The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently enacted a rule which loosens the restrictions on big oil and energy industries by allowing discharged stormwater from oil and gas fields to flow without the approval of a permit for the responsible party. The stormwater discharge rule is labeled as a political payoff from Republicans to the major industries, with our clean water as a price.
Ernest Angelo, a Texas oil executive, Bush supporter and long-time Republican wrote a letter which holds great interest in environmentalist groups to White House senior adviser Karl Rove. The letter states that an earlier version of the rule was causing oil industries to “openly express doubt as to the merit of electing Republicans when we wind up with this type of stupidity.”
Ernest Angelo and Karl Rove have been hunting partners for quite some time. The men first met when Angelo was managing Ronald Reagan’s presidental campaign in Texas in 1980. Angelo was also mayor of Texas when Bush was running a Texas-based oil firm…
Could the letter have been a hint to a close friend? Rove’s response remains suspicious, wherein he forwarded the letter along to top White House environmental advisors, sending along a handwritten note to an aide directing him to “get a response ASAP”. Later, Rove wrote Angelo that there was a “keen awareness” concerning not only environmental issues but also “economic, energy, and small business impacts” of the rule. And now we have the resulting rule, dismissing the major oil industries from needing a permit to allow toxic waste to poison the local environment. The big industries are happy with the shortened list of fees, and the Republicans are happy to keep major industries at hand.
If you or someone you know has been injured by a toxic substance or would like to know more information about toxic torts, please feel free to contact a personal injury attorney such as Marc Whitehead and Associates in Houston, Texas.
*Article information taken from LA Times June 13, 2006 release.
