More on Dioxin Pipeline Secret Deal

[hope@igc.apc.org (Joy Towles)]

>Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 16:06:56 -0600
>To:listproc@RTK.NET
>From:hope@igc.apc.org (Joy Towles)
>Subject:More on Dioxin Pipeline Secret Deal
>
>>
>>11/19/98 -- 11:12 PM
>>
>>               Pipeline foes say DEP tried to cut secret deal
>>                 By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH of The Tampa Tribune
>>                          -------------------------
>>
>>     Opponents of a pipeline to the Gulf go to court to bar DEP from
>>     signing a pulp mill agreement they say was struck behind closed
>>     doors.
>>
>>     Florida's top environmental cops have been accused of trying to
>>     cut a secret deal with a Perry pulp mill that wants to pipe its
>>     waste to the mouth of the Fenholloway River.
>>
>>     The American Canoe Association - one of several groups opposed to
>>     the pipeline - asked a Leon County court on Wednesday to issue a
>>     restraining order barring the Florida Department of Environmental
>>     Protection from signing a pending agreement with Buckeye Florida.
>>
>>     The agreement was intended to outline improvements the company
>>     must make over the next 18 months. The U.S. Environmental
>>     Protection Agency believes the measures could clean up the mill's
>>     waste enough to meet state and federal water quality standards.
>>
>>     Pipeline critics are concerned the agreement, as drafted, is
>>     missing crucial process changes recommended by EPA pulp mill
>>     experts.
>>
>>     ``My big fear is that we'll get two years down the road and
>>     Buckeye will say, `Oops, we tried, but it didn't work. We still
>>     need a pipeline.' ''
>>
>>     The court petition charges former DEP Secretary Virginia Wetherell
>>     with attempting to complete the agreement ``without any
>>     opportunity for public notice or comment and without any
>>     opportunity for appeal of its terms.''
>>
>>     The document also alleges the agency intentionally tried to evade
>>     the state's public records laws by sending DEP personnel to
>>     Atlanta to draft the proposal ``in order that there be no copies
>>     of the relevant documents in Florida.''
>>
>>     Those charges are echoed in a criminal complaint filed earlier
>>     this month with the Leon County State Attorney's Office by
>>     pipeline opponent Linda Young.
>>
>>     ``The purpose of this subterfuge was to keep the contents of the
>>     agreement secret until after it was finalized ... and deny
>>     participation or input to citizens,'' according to Young's
>>     complaint.
>>
>>     The initial agreement between DEP, Buckeye and EPA was drafted in
>>     July, but only the federal agency and pulp mill officials were
>>     given copies.
>>
>>     ``There was discussion that if we sit down and start drafting
>>     this, it would be a public record,'' said Jennifer Fitzwater,
>>     assistant general counsel for DEP, who was present at the Atlanta
>>     negotiations.
>>
>>     Fitzwater said EPA and Buckeye were concerned about negotiations
>>     being made public before the parties came closer to a meeting of
>>     the minds.
>>
>>     ``When it got a little bit closer [to consensus], it was decided
>>     to get input from outside interests,'' said Fitzwater.
>>
>>     But documents suggest DEP never intended for the terms of the
>>     agreement to be made public until the deal was consummated.
>>
>>     A June 19 letter from DEP's Wetherell to John Hankinson chastised
>>     the EPA's regional administrator for meeting with pipeline
>>     opponents to discuss the proposal.
>>
>>     ``All of us expressly agreed that we would not put it out for
>>     public comment until the parties ... signed such an agreement,''
>>     wrote Wetherell, who resigned earlier this month.
>>
>>     EPA has since provided pipeline opponents with recent drafts of
>>     the agreement and incorporated some of their comments into a
>>     version released earlier this week.
>>
>>     ``John [Hankinson] made this commitment early on and we have done
>>     that. If they have problems with the new one, they will have input
>>     on that as well,'' said Allison Wise, chief of staff for EPA's
>>     Atlanta region.
>>
>>     Wise said the agency also will release all drafts today -
>>     including the initial version that has never been made public.
>>
>>     Jan Hollingsworth reports on environmental issues. She can be
>>     reached at (813) 259-7607.
>>
>>Please note:  as of November 25, 1998, the "public", i.e. the locally
>>affected, still have not received any issue of any draft of the documents
>>concerning this secret deal.
>>
>>From:
>>Joy Towles, President
>>HOPE (Help Our Polluted Environment) In Taylor County, Florida
>>P. O. Box 327
>>Salem, Florida   32356
>>850 584-7087 phone & fax
>>email:  hope@igc.apc.org
>>******************************
>>
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