Bp’s Green Image Tarnished

One of the world’s largest oil companies
was hit with criminal indictments and hundreds of
millions of dollars in fines. Mark Brush has more on
the cases against British Petroleum:

Transcript

One of the world’s largest oil companies
was hit with criminal indictments and hundreds of
millions of dollars in fines. Mark Brush has more on
the cases against British Petroleum:


BP settled three different criminal cases brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency
and the Department of Justice.


The government found that the company ignored warning signs of a Texas refinery explosion
that killed 15 people. It was found negligent in a pipeline oil spill in Alaska. And BP
settled charges of a propane price fixing scheme. All told, the company with pay 373 million dollars in fines and restitution.


Eric Schaeffer is a former enforcement officer with the EPA. He says there’s a
philosophical divide between the company’s headquarters and it’s managers on the
ground:


“And that split in the company in their personality – that kind of schizophrenia – I hope is
going to go away after this settlement.”


BP apologized for breaking the law and say they will fix the problems.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Pushing Chemical Plants to Cut Mercury

Environmental groups say it would make financial sense for chemical
plants that emit a lot of mercury pollution to go mercury-free. Chuck Quirmbach
reports:

Transcript

Environmental groups say it would make financial sense for chemical
plants that emit a lot of mercury pollution to go mercury-free. Chuck Quirmbach
reports:


Environmentalists have been zeroing in on businesses that use mercury to make
chlorine for industrial processes. In many cases, the mercury escapes into the
atmosphere and eventually gets into the food chain. Some chlorine producers
have switched to mercury-free technology, but a report by the group Oceana
zeroes in on five US plants that haven’t made the change.


Oceana spokesperson Eric Uram admits going mercury-free can cost tens of
millions of dollars. But he says the firms can often save money on energy:


“Which they can either pass on to their shareholders or they can increase their
profitability.”


But the manager of one chlorine plant says the amount of money needed to
make the change has her corporate headquarters proceeding cautiously.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Polluters Pay Less Under Bush

  • A new report concludes that under the Bush Administration, polluters are less likely to be taken to court. (Photo by Shealah Craighead, courtesy of the White House)

The Bush Administration is not punishing polluters as much. That’s according to a new
report issued by a group of former Environmental Protection Agency attorneys. Mark
Brush reports:

Transcript

The Bush Administration is not punishing polluters as much. That’s according to a new
report issued by a group of former Environmental Protection Agency attorneys. Mark
Brush reports:


The report concludes that under the Bush Administration, polluters are less likely to be
taken to court. They’re less likely to be investigated. And they’re less likely to pay civil
or criminal penalties when compared to the Clinton Administration. Eric Schaeffer is the
director of the Environmental Integrity Project, the group that released the report. As an
example of lax enforcement, he says the EPA often takes no action when power
companies pollute:


“I think power plants routinely violate particulate matter standards. They exceed opacity
requirements. They are even in some cases blowing stack tests, which are really hard to
fail, and you just don’t see much response.”


An EPA spokesman says they’re committed to holding polluters accountable. As proof,
he says they’ve reached a record number of settlements in the last three years that force
companies to clean up.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Where’s the Ice?

The United States Coast Guard is trying to find something missing on the Great Lakes this winter. They’re looking for ice. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports:

Transcript

The United States Coast Guard is trying to find something missing on the Great Lakes this
winter. They’re looking for ice. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports:


There’s no significant ice on the Great Lakes. Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Damren at
Sault Saint Marie, Michigan says the little ice that’s out there is thin.


“But other than that, sir, It’s been really, really warm here this winter. The whole place should be
covered in ice right now, but there’s hardly any out here at all.”


Perhaps even more unusual is that fishing boats have been operating on Lake Superior’s south
shore. Eric Johnson has been fishing for 50 years, but he says casting out nets in mid-January
doesn’t happen very often.


“Well, just occasionally. I think we fished up to about this time in about ’83. Normally we quit about
the middle of December.”


The weather is turning a little colder. The Coast Guard is concerned about people going out on
thin ice. An old Coast Guard saying is that ‘the only safe ice is in a glass of scotch.’


For the GLRC, I’m Mike Simonson.

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Midwest Explorers Attempt to Cross Arctic

  • Eric Larsen and Lonnie Dupre tried to be the first to cross the Arctic Ocean during the summer. (Photo by Michael Slonecker)

Two Midwestern explorers are back in the U.S. after an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Arctic Ocean. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Christina Shockley reports:

Transcript

Two Midwestern explorers are back in the states after an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Arctic Ocean. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Christina Shockley reports:


Eric Larsen and Lonnie Dupre used skis, snowshoes, and modified canoes to attempt the first-ever summer crossing of the Arctic Ocean. Larsen says they dealt with polar bears, dangerous ice, and white out conditions.


“I suppose it was a bit like, you know, if you fill you bathtub up with ice water and then stare at a blank sheet of paper for three weeks.”


Larsen says they were hoping to raise awareness of global climate change, and they felt an arctic expedition was a perfect way to do that. They wanted to travel from Siberia to Canada, but the arctic ice broke up earlier than they expected.


“One of the reasons that we weren’t able to make it this year was because the arctic sea ice actually has broken up nearly a month earlier, and that’s most likely because of global warming.”


The two explorers are considering a trip from the North Pole to Greenland next year.


For the GLRC, I’m Christina Shockley.

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