Photo credit: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Ryan Thompson.
The company said it had been operating under exemptions from hazardous waste rules granted by two state agencies. People like Douglas, who didn't respond to a request for comment. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week announced the largest-ever fine brought against a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) for violating the Clean Water Act: $2,790,000 for discharging manure, urine, and untreated wastewater into New Orleans’s local sewer system more than 250 times between 2012 and 2018. From there, it emptied out into Lake Pontchartrain, the salty estuary that’s a key link in the local oyster industry, and where fecal contamination spurs low oxygen zones that kill off shellfish. It's not clear why Jackson would be asking Blount about Valero's 90,000-barrels-a-day facility, but Blount represents a refinery training group of which Valero is a member. And here’s what all that has to do with what we eat: The Gulf supplies 72 percent of America’s shrimp harvest, 66 percent of its oysters, and 16 percent of commercial fish. Then malfeasance found by EPA inspectors is often made public only after deals are reached or the Department of Justice moves to file charges. Photo credit: CBS, "60 Minutes" Correspondent Lesley Stahl introducing a 2010 segment on Bloom Energy. "May I get more information on the Ardmore TRI reporting fine?" Benzene, toluene and xylene are VOCs associated with oil and gas production that are also hazardous air pollutants. The Gulf supplies 72 percent of America’s shrimp harvest, 66 percent of its oysters, and 16 percent of commercial fish. As suggested, the EPA is holding property owners accountable at an unprecedented rate. No one’s entirely sure why.
“Personally, I can’t see anybody who’d want to go fishing in an area where five million pounds of horse waste is flowing in,” said Matt Rota, senior policy director at Healthy Gulf, a New Orleans-based environmental nonprofit. Unlike the wet manure made by hogs and dairy cows, which festers in lagoons, the manure made by horses is comparatively hard, which means it can be stored in piles, and dumpstered away. By using The Counter (“us” and “we”) website or any of its Content (as defined in Section 9 below) and features (collectively, “Services”), you agree to the terms and conditions of use below and such other requirements that we inform you of (collectively, “Terms”). Last month, MGPI settled with the state for $11,250, about a tenth of the penalty the company had suggested to investors it could have faced.
These algal blooms can force beach closures, which impact the state’s summer tourism economy. Nevertheless, the company benefits from some state and federal renewable energy programs. The agency also didn’t say why Fair Grounds is being fined now, after at least six years’ worth of violations, or why race tracks appear to have been fined more frequently than farms, saying in a statement that it enforces regulations against “all manner of CAFO facilities that discharge to waters of the United States.”, Rota thinks the track’s big-city presence does indeed have something to do with the fine.