Carol A. Overland, Overland Law Office — Utility Regulatory and Land Use Advocacy
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3M has gotten away with poisoning the water of Minnesota, and the Dept. of Health has taken some protective and/or remedial measures, but it’s not nearly enough. Isn’t it a wake-up call that we need a “Drinking Water Health Advisory” in this Land of 10,000 Lakes? Minnesota’s “Pollution Control Agency” has not been proactive on this, and we’ve known about 3M’s contamination for how long? This is why we need the EPA! The EPA is leading the charge, and Minnesota’s Department of Health (MDH), as above, has “responded” to the EPA Advisories.
80 Washington County homes will get bottled water as state reviews new pollution rules
In part:
The Dept. of Health page:
MDH Response to EPA Health Advisory for PFOS and PFOA
From the EPA’s page:
Basic Information
- Fact Sheet on PFOA and PFOS Drinking Water Health Advisories (May 2016)
- BLOG: Science Guides Public Health Protection for Drinking Water by Joel Beauvais
Technical Information
- FR Notice on the Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS (May 25, 2016)
- 2016 PFOA Health Advisory
- 2016 PFOA Health Effects Support Document
- 2016 PFOS Health Advisory
- 2016 PFOS Health Effects Support Document
- 2016 EPA Response to Peer Review Comments
Provisional Health Advisories and Draft Health Effects Documents
Technical documents
- 2009 Provisional Health Advisory
- 2014 Draft Health Effects Document for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)
- 2014 Draft Health Effects Document for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)
- Peer Reviewer Summary Report: External Peer Review of EPA’s Draft Health Effects Documents for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)
Peer Review
Can’t make this stuff up. I wish they’d read their “pocket Constitution” and amendments. How is NAACP related to their 2nd Amendment rights? Let’s see a 1,000 word essay, due tomorrow!
Yesterday there are armed white folks in Houston, Texas, sporting guns and waving Confederate flags:
Really… It’s a crucial distinction that they’re talking about “2nd Amendment rights” and not “1st Amendment rights” here, that their focus is on guns, and not speech. At what point is inflammatory “speech” of flags and open carry in front of NAACP headquarters criminal incitement or terroristic threats?
Notice the “14 WORDS” sign. Those “14 WORDS” are a fundamental slogan of white supremacists, originally from David Lane, The Order, The Silent Brotherhood, Bruders Schweigen: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children.” He also authored the “88 Precepts” while in jail serving his 190 year sentence. Words like this should not be taken lightly. The actions of Lane’s group included the machine-gun mowing down of Alan Berg, Jewish radio talk show host, armored car robberies and counterfeiting, racketeering, and conspiracy. He died in jail.
Incitement is a difficult concept, much is allowed, and in reviewing Constitutional law on incitement, the key is to be vague, to use inference, to speak of possibilities, and that’s OK. Urges to action NOW is another matter. So thus far, these “protesters” (again, what exactly are they “protesting?”) seem to be within bounds, unlike Drumpf (one protester yesterday was wearing a Trump hat), who has gone over the edge with direct, targeted incitement:
Is Donald Trump inciting violence? He might be. – Slate
Texas Penal Code § 22.07. Terroristic Threat
I’d be afraid to go to work that day if I worked at NAACP HQ, but likely they’re closed on Sunday, so that threat charge is then likely dodged.
Are the many people in the U.S. killed lately by white supremacists being considered, is it being taken into account?
How is the NAACP related to the protesters 2nd Amendment rights? Houston, we have a problem…
In the inbox today from an activist cohort, a poem by Thomas Lux:
Cucumber Fields Crossed by High Tension Wires
The high-tension spires spike the sky
beneath which boys bend
to pick from prickly vines
the deep-sopped fruit, the rind’s green
a green sunk
in green. They part the plants’ leaves,
reach into the nest,
and pull out mother, father, fat Uncle Phil.
The smaller yellow-green children stay,
for now. The fruit goes
in baskets by the side of the row,
every thirty feet or so. By these bushels
the boys get paid, in cash,
at day’s end, this summer
of the last days of the empire
that will become known as
the past, adios, then,
the ragged-edged beautiful blink.
What surprises me is when someone notices transmission, and in this case, Lux is jarred enough to think and write about it. It’s such a common part of our landscape that most people don’t notice it… that is, most people don’t notice it until they’re affected, and suddenly wake up to the reality of transmission, criss-crossing our country with its insidious web, noticing that it’s EVERYWHERE! Once your eyes are opened to transmission, it’s impossible to disregard.
YES!!! On to federal court!!! I love it when this happens! Downwind and Golden Bridge have sued the Department of Energy (DOE) and Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA)! Here’s a copy of the Complaint, give it a read:
Downwind, LLC & GoldenBridge LLC-v-DOE & SWPA – Case 3:16-cv-00207
Here’s the bottom line, what they’re asking for:
It’s focused on the DOE and Clean Line’s most vulnerable issues, those of improper potential use of eminent domain for private purpose and private company, and, as David Ulery says:
“Landowners were never offered an appropriate avenue for due process during the DOE’s review of Clean Line’s application,” he said. “An opportunity to comment is not the same as an opportunity to directly participate in the matter in an official capacity. Review is meaningless if those most affected are not given ample and significant opportunity to engage on a meaningful and substantive level.”
Clean Line and the DOE were asked, demanded, expected, to provide due process, and nope, nada, not the most basic opportunities to participate. Seems they’ve never heard of due process — how dare they! From June, 2015, here are multiple filings demanding due process:
BLOCK Plains & Eastern Clean Line docket filings
Here’s the first of articles to appear about the federal suit:
Opponents sue to block Clean Line project
By John LyonArkansas News Bureaujlyon@arkansasnews.com
Womack’s bill cleared the House Natural Resources Committee in June.
There are too many people who think Sheriff Joe Arpaio walks on water. Horrifying. Thankfully, at long last, Arpaio is in trouble, deep, deep trouble, not just legally, but he’s probably going to loose the his bid for re-election, and may be sent to jail. Can’t happen soon enough.
New poll shows Sheriff Joe Arpaio is in a tight re-election race
Another poll shows Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a tight general election race
New poll has Penzone leading Arpaio in race for sheriff
Could Donald Trump and Sheriff Joe Arpaio Cost John McCain His Senate Seat?
The Department of Justice investigation is moving forward, lawsuits abound, and Arpaio is losing, found in contempt of court for violating the court’s injunction.
Arizona’s Sheriff Joe hit with 1st round of punishments in contempt case
And on a parallel front, the Department of Justice is moving forward to document his many violations of the Constitution and federal law, and to shut him down, hold Maricopa County responsible, and that’s good. About time! Here are their links:
And in federal court:
This guy needs to be OUT of office and thrown in jail. The magnitude of his racist and blatantly unconstitutional policies and actions has been exposed, and must stop — despite the court ordered injunction, he continues… Here’s hoping the judge does push for a criminal contempt case against Arpaio. And once he’s gone, the entire Sheriff’s Office needs to be rebuilt. Whew, that’s a big job.