Category Archives: Industrial

If oil companies paid their way…

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I debated whether to post another story about an oil company protest so soon after the one I did a few weeks ago on AB32, but the behavior of oil companies is a hot topic right now and rightfully so. There are many stories coming to light and this one is about more than just the environmental impact, it is about about a devastating financial impact as well. You don’t have to live in California these days to know that the state is in the throes of a $19.1 billion budgetary deficit that has already forced many spending cuts and threatens to implement many more. Jobs are at stake, and social programs and education will also undoubtedly feel the pain.

Rally in front of the Federal Building in Westwood

Now, you reduce deficits by either cutting spending or raising taxes, so what other oil producing states have done is to exact something called an oil severance tax, which is a royalty paid by the oil company for the right to extract the oil from the state’s land and water. The idea is that if you are going to deplete a valuable natural resource from the land, you need to pay for it. Seems fair, and even other oil producing countries have this tax which are usually much higher than the ones imposed in this country.

Family in front of the Federal Building in Westwood

The problem is that the only oil producing state that does not have this severance tax is California. There have been several attempts to rectify this, most recently in 2006 with Proposition 87, which would have implemented a 6% tax on oil extraction. It had widespread support but faced a $95 million campaign funded by oil companies and went down to defeat 54.7% to 45.3%.

Marching on Wilshire Blvd

Lest you think this is a right versus left thing, consider that Gov. Sarah Palin and the Alaska GOP controlled legislature instituted a 25% tax on oil extraction and now have a multibillion-dollar budget surplus. The California 6% tax would have been modest in comparison, and would have raised about $1 billion in annual revenue, but at least it would have been a start. Critics argue that the tax would force prices up, chase oil companies from the state and eliminate jobs, but these are all the red herrings that are always thrown out when oil companies are threatened with a reduction of their massive profits and are debunked quite rightly by those outside the industry.

Protesters wave signs in front of Occidental Petroleum offices

Last Thursday, over a thousand people, made up of union workers from SEIU Local 721, as well as students, childcare workers, school employees, and various community organizations marched from the Federal building in Westwood to the Occidental Petroleum offices a few blocks east on Wilshire and Westwood Blvd. The line of people stretched for blocks as the protesters gathered in front of the offices and emptied small fake bottles of oil at Occidental’s doorsteps.

Dropping fake oil on steps of Occidental Petroleum

When I told people about the rally and march later, several of them asked if something like that actually makes a difference. I responded that the only thing I knew for sure was that if all those folks had stayed home, then absolutely nothing would have been accomplished. At the very least, demonstrations serve to rally the community and to energize those participating, who in turn have a chance to educate others about the situation, just as I am doing here. Not participating is exactly what the oil producers hope for. Maybe with talk once again of instituting an oil severance tax, the time will be right to actually make it happen.

War zone or Louisiana?

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We are all happy that at least for now, the leaking of the well has been stopped, barring other leaks and seepage, that is good news. But the story we have been posting about on this site is the PR war BP has waged on the press. It could be easy for all of us to lose interest in this story now that the drama has apparently passed, but if we do that, the most important part of the story may not be told as it should. What are the effects of the spill and what will the effects continue to be on the wildlife, eco-system, residents and clean-up workers in the immediate and surrounding areas.

If journalists cannot get at all the facts, will we know what the true extent of the spill has been, what the effect of the dispersants has been and how to avoid in the future all the numerous mistakes that have been made by both BP and government officials? And will the oil industry continue to get away with saying that they can deal with these situations when we know that cannot? Photojournalist Julie Dermansky provides a second post here on COTP, and gives us a report from the front lines of BP’s PR war and her efforts to get to the truth – Peter.

American flag stained with oil on Dauphin Island Alabama

The Joint information Center after numerous complaints sent out the following statement: “NEW ORLEANS — National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced new procedures to allow media free travel within the 20-meter boom safety zones if they have followed simple procedures for credentialing, and provided they follow certain rules and guidelines.”

Boom dislodged by Hurricane Alex floats in Barataria Bay

The Coast Guard’s about face comes just after I finished writing my latest blog entry showing the type of images that would not be possible to take with the rule keeping media 65 feet back from boom which already keeps one back at least 65 feet. It is important for everyone to know what the Coast Guard did and why it was wrong. For a while I thought I was living in a police state run by corporate interests, which added to the horror of the BP oil disaster. I embrace the Coast Guard’s reversal.

Oil on the gulf's service by jsdart. Skimmer boats near the source of the uncapped BP well

I went out with wildlife and fishery agents on July 3rd to get around the new restrictions. As of June 30th, you have to keep 65 feet away from booms or cleanup vessels. We inspected two protected rookeries, Cat Island and Queen Bess. Absorbent booms full of oil washed up on the shore of the islands. I saw only one boat with two men working on fixing the boom at Queen Bess Island. Could it has been that BP private contractors wanted the 4th of July off, just like most federal employees? If I were handling BP’s PR, I’d put cleanup crews on overtime and make sure bird rookeries were cleaned up. A more effective way to stop the dissemination of images of dying creatures might be to stop the oil from getting to the birds’ habitat in the first place. And then there would be no need to take away the media’s first amendment rights.

Crawfish covered in oil found in the marsh in Plaquemines Parish

The pictures that most damage BP’s image are those of oil-stained animals. Those pictures cause President Obama problems too. He had to answer to his daughter who is worried about the pelicans, he pointed out while addressing the press on his second visit to Louisiana.

Sign at a private home on grand Isle

The BP oil spill, the largest, most disastrous spill in United States history, affects us all. That, and the First Amendment, is why restrictions on the press should challenged. We as a society should not let corporate polluters, in this case BP, in cooperation with the government control the media. It’s true that the Joint Information Center, run by BP and the Coast Guard have provided many opportunities to the press, but that does not give them the right to make independent reporting difficult via regulations disguised as public safety rules, or by using intimidation tactics, turning away journalists at every pass as documented many times by those covering the story.

Read here about the Coast guard’s media liaison’s connection to BP’s PR agency.
Listen to what Billy Nungesser has to say about the new restrictions here.
Listen to Anderson coopers outrage about the media restriction here.

bp sign on home of resdient on Grand Isle

Restricted zones, joint information centers, decontamination areas, embedded media: Am I in a war zone or Louisiana? New restrictions on the media made it almost impossible to properly tell the story. Even now with the reversal of the rules, BP reps along side the Coast Guard can still force the media out of any area they deem dangerous, at their discretion. BP has chosen to spend $50 million on PR while leaving the birds on major rookeries in danger. Protecting our national resources should not become a political battle. Should we turn to BP’s hired hack reporters to get our news? See BPs blog here. To those who try to defend the new restrictions I say, go outside with a camera, step back 65 feet from your subject ( an estimate of how far the boom keeps you from your subject before the new rules went in effect) then step back another 65 ft and see what kind of picture you get. After you do that, see if you can get Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen to disclose which officials asked him to enact these “safety measures.” (Thad Allan is off the hook with the call for him to reveal that information since he has given he retracted his 65 ft rule).

Oil found on dead fish on a beach in Plaquemines Parish

The well is capped for the moment. Questions are already arising about where the well might be leaking elsewhere. In the best case scenario – BP having the oil gush contained, now it is time to focus only on the clean up.   Will it be at BP’s discretion when to call the clean-up a rap? Are their subcontractors to be trusted blindly? I for one plan to go check the cleanup first hand. This story is far from over.

To see a photo essay I created on the oil disaster on The Atlantic’s site click here. The story led to two TV interviews, CNN and Fox and Friends asked me about intimidation factors I have met while covering the disaster.


AB32

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If there was one thing Governor Schwarzenegger did right during his term, it was to enthusiastically sign AB32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the landmark state law that would reduce carbon emissions and greenhouses gases back to their 1990 levels by the year 2020, a nearly 25% reduction. As you would guess, there are going to be those that are not too happy about such a thing, but who would imagine the absolute chutzpah it would take to launch an initiative to suspend this law under the premise that it would cost us jobs? Why, it’s our old friends the oil companies! You see it is not that they are afraid that their profits would suffer if we started to rely more on alternative fuels or that our air quality improved, but that our jobs would be lost. Yes, I’m sure that really keeps them up at nights, worrying about our jobs. Well, less we doubt them, they have decided to call their November ballot measure the “California Jobs Initiative”, and with a name like that, you know they have to be sincere.

Protester sign at Tesoro rally

If passed by the voters, the “California Jobs Initiative” would suspend AB32 until the unemployment rate in California falls below 5.5% for at least one year. The current unemployment rate is at 12%, so given the speed that things are going, it would be a long, long time before they would have to comply, giving them more months and years to spew out their toxic emissions and greenhouse gases without regulation. It actually gets uglier, because you see the two oil companies who are funding the initiative are not even from California, they are from Texas. Tesoro Corp. and Valero Energy Inc. are two oil giants who have decided they know what is best for us, and what kind of air our children should be breathing.  The two companies have already bankrolled the imitative with over $3 million to help qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Petroleum pipeline running under park in Wilmington where the march started

I joined a group of protesters last weekend who were rallying at the Tesoro refinery in Wilmington, a town near Long Beach and home to several oil refineries. I wrote about the Toxic Tour a few weeks back and you may recall that Wilmington residents are subjected to a constant barrage of toxic emissions from the nearby refineries, and are the people who will be most affected by a repeal of AB32. The crowd consisted of local residents and enthusiastic students from the nearby high schools. They are enthusiastic because they know it is their future air quality and health at stake. They picked “Family Day” to protest,  a day where Tesoro employees could bring their kids to tour the refinery. What a bizarre way to spend an afternoon, but it obviously sounded like a spanking good time to some, because by the time the protesters got there, lines of SUV’s and minivans were bringing loads of happy visitors to the facility, and inside, golf carts were zipping around with Moms, Dads and the little ones, as the refinery belched out fumes, gases and other non-breathables.

Wilmington residents marching to Tesoro refinery

The protesters, organized by CBE – Communities for a Better Environment, and other local groups, peacefully picketed in front of the gates, letting in traffic and causing no disruption to Family Day. After an hour or so, they left, but the point was to let them know that people are watching and paying attention.

Signs in front of Tesoro refinery gates

Contrary to what the oil companies tell us, The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) economic analysis of AB32 forecasts that economic production would actually increase by 27 billion dollars, the gross state product by $4 billion and personal income by $14 billion. Moreover, their preliminary analysis indicates that the total economic value associated with public health benefits is likely to be on the order of $4.3 billion by 2020. Gov. Schwarzenegger has said that “This initiative sponsored by greedy Texas oil companies would cripple California’s fastest-growing economic sector, reverse our renewable energy policy and decimate our environmental progress for the benefit of these oil companies’ profit margins.”

Marching in front of Tesoro refinery in Wilmington on "family day"

If Tesoro and Valero have already poured $3 million dollars just to get it on the ballot, one can only imagine how much they are willing to spend to get it passed, but we all know how deep their pockets are and to what lengths they will go to protect their profits. It is infuriating to me that a ballot measure can be worded so misleadingly, but if people understand what is really at stake, if it is exposed for what it is, it will fail. The public’s opinion of oil companies is at an all time low and that can only help. But it is up to each one of us to talk about this with others, and  for California voters to go to the ballot box in November to cast their vote if we don’t want Texas oil companies deciding what is right for California.

"CA Job Initiative is a lie" sign in front of Tesoro refinery facility

Is this just about California? Keep in mind that if this landmark environmental law is repealed in California, clean air legislation in other states, and potentially on a federal level, will be stifled, and oil companies and other polluters will be empowered to cripple progress elsewhere. I will post more about this situation as it progresses, but this is a battle that can and must be won.

Two Trips to Grand Isle

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The next two weeks will feature posts by two different guest contributors from New Orleans. This week Jerry Moran, a native New Orleanian and someone someone very familiar with Grand Isle, reports about a couple of trips he recently made there and how he discovered what some might call hidden evidence. There is also a video Jerry made from a trip on skimmer boat and the problem the dispersants are causing with the clean-up. One of the big stories of the Gulf disaster is the mostly successful attempt by BP to limit the media and photogrpahers from discovering the full extent of the damage as well as the true amount of oil that has been gushing from the leak. Keep in mind that BP will be fined based on the amount of barrels reported leaked and the damage done, so it is their best financial interest to help low ball both those figures.  -Peter

Made 2 trips down to Grand Isle, the first was on Tuesday 5/25/10.  Spent some time initially on the West End of the island by Caminada Pass……things looked pretty clean at first, Anderson Cooper of CNN was arriving that day so this is no surprise, we started to find oil in very strange places, one being on the dry side of the jetties, which appeared to have been moved out a bit.  I am very familiar with the area having spent a considerable amount of time shrimping and fishing on Elmers Island and Grand Isle, we have a family home down there….I was accompanied by friend and fellow photographer Andy Levin on my trips, when I suggested we stop looking on the sand and go back towards the marsh grass, he seemed a bit puzzled, but knowing the mindset of the locals, and trusting my gut, I felt that if there were shortcuts to be taken, that would be the place to look.

Immediately upon entering the brush, the STRONG stench of death overcame me, and this is where we found at least 13 Bull Redfish, whole bodies, some covered in oil, discarded and rotting.  No one would ever throw away such a catch and it was obvious to me what the cause of death was…additionally, we found the exposed freshly rotting head of what appeared to be a dolphin, at the top of an unnatural sand mound about 20 yards away.

On my return trip, I attempted to dig, but the smell was overwhelming, all kinds of bones were surfacing and it was obvious to me what was under there.  To me that would explain many strange occurrences at the west and east end of the island, namely solid oil being exposed under some places where one would walk, under the sand…….so how does oil get under the sand…….behind the jetties, the scary thing is that these are hearty fish.  Redfish this size would take 20 to 30 minutes to reel in for a fisherman, yet they apparently succumb to oil rather easily, as dolphins apparently do too.  Why hasn’t anyone heard about this, and why is BP  burying  such things without any reporting or warning, things are not as they appear through the media, and I am afraid that it will get a whole lot worse sooner than later….. And btw, on my return trip 5/28 the Dolphin head was nowhere to be found.

Trip 2… On my second trip to the island last week, we were treated to another crafty production by BP and the cleaning army, the only thing is that there was nothing to clean, the island had been sanitized before Anderson Cooper Arrived on Tuesday. Accompanied by friend and fellow photographer Andy Levin, we approached the “cleaners” on many occasions, asking them who they were there for, how much they were paid, etc……mum was the word, no one wanted to talk, one poor guy said, “Please Mr. don’t make me talk to you, they told us not to say anything”…..eventually, found out, BP put up fliers in Laplace and Houma the day before, and were able to corral about 400 people into 8 or 9 public school buses….we actually thought they were with a church or something at first.

Meanwhile while the production was going on pretending to clean on the beach, oil coats all of the rocks across the on the bay behind Grand Isle…..all you had to do is turn the top rocks over to see, and even more disturbing were all of the small hermit crabs, trying to escape the water exposing themselves to terminal heat, (72 degrees is all they can take and it was in the 90’s)….the water had a milky tone to it, kinda reminded me of the Audubon Park Lagoon when it was polluted years back…..So you say what’s the big deal, hermit crabs are dying (btw thousands reported in same shape in Elmer’s Island), I assure you, much, much larger animals have been succumbing to the oil……

June 11. Just wanted to let everyone know we hit the MOTHERLOAD today. This is the most I’ve seen since being out here, even from the first hitch when there was no containment dome. OMG, it’s easily a mile wide and stretches towards the Eastern horizon. The other skimmers are converging on our location. Our tanks are full, full before noon. The fleet racked in 38,000 barrels (4,000 from us) and plenty more to skim up in the morning. We were all wondering how the oil suddenly just showed up after days of dispersants and sheen, especially since BP is claiming success each and every day. Did it get trapped under the thermocline and take longer to reach the surface? Are the other leaks popping up? How long does it take oil to climb the water column from 5,000′ mixed with dispersant’s and pushed around by ever changing currents? I imagined many variables.

Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal

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I am very pleased to have my first guest photographer, Jackie Weisberg, post her beautiful photos and story of the Gowanus Canal – Peter

The Gowanus Canal, and the land surrounding it, is toxic.  It is also very beautiful and, potentially, very valuable. In March of this year Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially made the move to add South Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal to its Superfund list of toxic sites. The EPA manages the cleanup of these sites. In this case, the EPA will continue to investigate the toxicity of the site and the sources of the toxicity, eventually determining what still-existing companies or institutions should be held accountable for the waste and charged for the cleanup. The cleanup is projected to take 10-12 years.

Smith Street Subway Station over the Gowanus Canal

The still waters of the canal relect the surrounding buildings

I have been making photographs of the Canal and the area for many years, but it is only recently that I believe I have learned how to uncover its beauty. Perhaps the Canal has finally given up its secrets to me because its future is now at a crucial crossroads.

Razor wire fence on the Canal

Like the Canal itself, the photographs I’ve been making over the past decade have evolved as my attachment to Gowanus has grown. No, this is not the “Brooklyn’s Venice” as some developers would have it, but one cannot deny the beauty of the light as it sets in the west upon the water, the buildings and the sky in Gowanus is as lovely and compelling as anywhere.

Pile of refuse at a dump along the canal

Completed in 1869, the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn was once a major transportation route and industrial waterway for gas plants, mills, tanneries, and chemical plants operating along the canal. It was described in 1893 as a disease-breeding, foul-smelling open sewer with floating animal carcasses. It continued to receive untreated industrial wastes, raw sewage and runoff for about a century.

Colorful barge reflected in the canal

Brooklyn had been growing quickly and this canal developed into a shipping maritime center that was later industrialized. Since the creek/canal just slowly drains into the harbor, waste built up too quickly to disperse itself naturally. A couple of projects in the 20th century introduced flushing tunnels to promote water flow. The latest project did achieve a significant lessening in the canal’s famous stink and may have contributed to the recent slight signs of returning life to the canal’s waters.

Industrial building on the Gowanus Canal

Today, the canal is punctuated at every bend by some archetypal imagery of urban decay: chain links and barbed wire, graffitied walls lining the banks, riveted metal bridges shaking loudly as trucks pass, metal cranes scooping up garbage strewn in rusted heaps, and floating vacuoles of oily film. For at least 120 years, city officials have been promising to do something about the oily, smelly mess that is the Gowanus Canal.

Union Street Bridge

EPA officials say that the Superfund program has a proven record of results. It dates to 1980 and has cleaned hundreds of polluted sites across the country (though 1,600 have made it on to the Superfund list). The agency also claims that it’s better equipped than the city’s grab bag of initiatives to direct a complex cleanup in the water and on land involving up to 150 property owners.