EPA won’t face fines for polluting rivers with orange muck

The Washington Times ^ | August 11, 2015 | Valerie Richardson

[jazusamo]

DENVER — Unlike BP, which was fined $5.5 billion for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the EPA will pay nothing in fines for unleashing the Animas River spill.

“Sovereign immunity. The government doesn’t fine itself,” said Thomas L. Sansonetti, former assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s division of environment and natural resource.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and other lawmakers have called on the EPA to hold itself to the same standards as it would a private company in the aftermath of Wednesday’s accident, in which an EPA-led crew uncorked a 3 million-gallon spill of orange wastewater from the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado.

[jazusamo]

A good start would be to fire every EPA bureaucrat connected to this, don't fill their positions and use the money saved for clean up.

[jacknhoo]

Excellent reason to privatize the EPA. Can you imagine, the communist heading it up now, would be fired immediately.

[Sacajaweau]

It’ll never be clean again....heavy metals don’t clean up.

[Old Sarge]

And all that water’s going to be sucked up by (wait for it) CALIFORNIA!

[rktman]

We’re from the govt and we’re here to help you. Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

SHUT DOWN THE EPA.

States are perfectly capable of managing environmental issues. Interstate disputes can be resolve at the federal level.

[Hojczyk]

Get rid of the EPA…every state has there own

[omega4412]

What struck me about the Tuesday AM NPR story about this was the way the EPA statements minimized the potential environmental effects of the spill. Compare to (1) statements about the coal ash spills in the Southeast, (2) what the EPA will say when some private mining company releases massive amounts of muck into some river.

[dfwgator]

Bet this is the guy the EPA sent over there.

[jazusamo]

SHUT DOWN THE EPA.

Couldn't agree more.

[NorthMountain]

Yes, it’s true.

[I want the USA back]

Sovereign immunity. Sorry, but we do not have a sovereign. We have a constitutional republic. That principle is invalid.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Start with not allowing the EPA in your state and shutting down all state offices. Enough states do this and the lawsuit will come by Obama.

Meanwhile you got rid of the EPA.

[jazusamo]

Exactly, these bureaucrats started jumping through hoops at the start trying to minimize the effects of this fiasco.

[Leaning Right]

A good start would be to fire every EPA bureaucrat connected to this

Yep. But it's way more likely no one will be fired. However, for PR purposes annual bonuses might be delayed. Not eliminated, just delayed.

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

[GreyFriar]

firing those responsible should be done, but they’ll probably get job performance bonsuses.

[Lazamataz]

The EPA has done more environmental damage, with this one move, than any number of industries they harass.

The good news is it is in California. With the exception of Fresno, where Jim lives... eff that entire state.

[RightOnTheBorder]

Are there no state laws against polluting rivers with heavy metals? Fine the polluters individually under state regulations and arrest them if they won’t pay. Go after the apparatchiks and jam the gears of the whole organization.

[RckyRaCoCo]

“...diplomatic immunity”(Lethal Weapon 2)