"Capitol City Plume"--Fifty City Block Toxic Underground Plume in Montgomery, Alabama

This story has a compelling similarity to the Walter Coke contamination in north Birmingham--state and federal environmental officials have known about the contamination for decades and have been slow to act in cleaning up the area, while development has proceeded at a fast clip. A statewide pattern seems to be finally making its way onto the public radar revealing Alabama to be systemically and dangerously contaminated.

There's a tradeoff cost in human health and life that doesn't seem to figure into our governmental and business leader's plans. We cannot seem to count on EPA Region 4 for help either--they too seem to be carrying the water for the developers and getting into the *PR business outside of their environmental and public safety watchdog purview.

*(linked further on down in article on the phrase "revitalization of downtown Montgomery")

How many other areas in Alabama is the deadly deception going on unbeknownst to the potentially-vulnerable-to-exposure general public? And why?  Here's a list for Alabama from the Center For Public Integrity National Priority sites. Five Alabama sites are on the "Most Dangerous Superfunds Sites" list. The Capital City Plume, according to the census figures from 2000, was affecting a population of 209,615.

News story July 26, 2011 Associated Press via Al.com state wire:

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified the Montgomery Advertiser as one of the entities that may have caused the plume when operating at its former location.

County Commission Chairman Elton Dean said he remains confident that the county did due diligence before purchasing the old newspaper building and turning it into the county's main building after renovations.

News story by Ben Flanagan Al.com September 28, 2010: "Montgomery Commission tests air quality of county building":

"During a search for the source of the problem, a black, sooty substance was discovered in several isolated areas on the original concrete structure, according to a press release. A sample of that substance was collected on Sept. 3 and sent to Sutherland Environmental Company, Inc., where it was analyzed for 58 volatile organic compounds. Fifty-five of the compounds were not detected but small concentrations of *three compounds were detected." *note that the substances are not identified.

Region 4 Superfund

The Capitol City Plume site is located in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. The contaminated ground water plume is believed to exist throughout the downtown area. In September 1993, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) began investigating a report of Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) soil contamination at the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) Energy Plant site at the corner of Monroe Street and McDonough Street.

After 17 months of investigative work, ADEM came to the conclusion that there are a minimum of 6 ground water plumes contaminated with PCE and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX). The site covers an area from Alabama Street (south) to Pollard Street (north) and Court Street (west) to Union Street (east). 

In 1993, soil containing PCE was excavated during construction of the RSA Tower. The soil was removed and disposed of properly. The discovery of the PCE in the soil prompted ADEM to conduct a preliminary assessment of the area near the RSA Tower. The preliminary assessment performed by ADEM concluded that ground water was contaminated with PCE and BTEX.

Field work for the RI/FS began in March 2000 and was completed in 2003. Soil samples and ground water samples have been collected to delineate the areal extent of the contamination plumes. Analytical results from the ground water indicate that the shallow aquifer in the Montgomery downtown area is contaminated with PCE, BTEX, TCE (Trichloroethylene), and metals. 

Installation of 16 new monitoring wells and 16 temporary wells has been completed. The City has removed and plugged two shallow drinking water wells at the Court Street Pump Station but continues to pump drinking water from deep wells.
The City of Montgomery has implemented a moratorium on well drilling in the vicinity of the site (downtown area). Beginning in May 2006, the City began monitoring the ground water contamination through monitoring wells. Monitoring will continue for five years. The City will be sending the ground water monitoring data to ADEM and EPA Region 4.
The City of Montgomery has also been working with EPA in implementing a voluntary phytoremediation effort in the ground water plume to reduce risk to human health and the environment.

A supplemental remedial investigation took place in stages from August 2008 to the present. *Sample results have identified sources of contamination and the time at which the contamination was discharged to the environment.

*Please note the above sentence which states that there are "identified sources of contamination" while this linked narrative from May 11, 2000 cites only "potential sources" generally identified without a specific business name as "a chemical wholesaler, airport maintenance shops, airport fueling areas, an auto repair shop and a dry cleaner."

Site investigation activities are being led primarily by EPA and the United States Geological Survey.

From August 2-5, 2011, EPA and USGS representatives will conduct field sampling activities to further delineate the groundwater contamination as well as to assess if vapor intrusion is taking place in an existing Montgomery County building.

Who's making the decision to "move forward with privately-funded activities" instead of applying for Superfund monies to clean up this massive twenty year old contamination?

On August 1, 2011, EPA will meet with representatives of two potentially-responsible parties identified in a Site remedial investigation, Alabama Department of Environmental Management, City of Montgomery, USGS, and Montgomery Water Works representatives to discuss moving forward with privately-funded activities related to Site characterization and remediation. 

Alabama could have applied for the $600,000,000 made available for Superfund cleanup from the 2009 Stimulus Funds but they did not make any applications for a percent of the available money in this area: (but they did in many other areas for federal handouts)

Hazardous Substances Superfund - (Alabama will not be receiving stimulus funds for this program)

(National Appropriation: $600,000,000)

Description: This program provides additional funding to the Environmental Protection Agency for the Superfund Remedial Program. This program allows states to enter in competitive agreements with the EPA to conduct certain remedial actions at Superfund sites and receive a credit from the government for 90 percent of eligible expenses.

John Archibald, of the Birmingham News, in one of his recent columns offered this statement about Alabama's rampant pollution and economic development mindset: "That's traditional Alabama values again: better dead than unprofitable." EPA Region 4 seems to go along with that idea, especially since they knew about the CC Plume, in the following statements on the *revitalization of downtown Montgomery and the importance of 'sticking to the plan':

Capitol City Ground Water PlumeGround water in western portions of downtown Montgomery, Alabama, is contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), chemicals commonly used in dry cleaning and cleaning of machine parts. Work to assess the ground water contamination and develop the site’s cleanup plan is currently ongoing. The City of Montgomery is working closely with EPA to facilitate the site’s cleanup. Downtown Montgomery remains open for business during the site’s ground water cleanup. Land uses include retail districts, neighborhoods, parks, offices and industrial areas. The revitalization of Montgomery’s downtown is a major community priority. The area is recognized as the “heart of the city.” Recent redevelopment projects include the Montgomery Biscuits minor league baseball stadium, retail centers, downtown apartments and restaurants.

Have our business leaders, politicians, economic developers and state agencies simply lost their minds from the effects of all the pollution or are they just out to eliminate the undesirable elements of Alabama's communities? The location of the Capital City Plume seems to negate the latter, because a large portion of the businesses and developments in the affected area are housing some of our state elites, primarily in the RSA Tower Complex of Montgomery, located in the toxic zone.

So what other possibility does that leave us as to why Alabama continues to labor under the delusion of their favorite hackney-eyed, overused phrase of describing economic development as "world class?" There's nothing blue ribbon or superior about any development that comes with a staggering cost of health to a large segment of people.

Unless Archibald's right--"better dead than unprofitable."

Or maybe it's something else entirely consisting of the usual BARD suspects and their webs of deceit.

Maybe it's a combination of the two strengthened by the political pay to play system our legislators have grown ridiculously accustomed to.

Whatever the reasons, the citizens of this state deserve truth, accountability and transparency with information that directly affects the quality of their lives and not the same old deadly deceptions of business as usual.

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"Arsenic and Old Waste"--ADEM & AEMC Give Two Toxic State Reps a Top Billing

There’s a wonderful old movie by Frank Capra, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” in which two dotty old sisters poison elderly bachelors by spiking elderberry wine with arsenic. True to screwball comedy style, they were charming and blameless murderers. Unlike Cary Grant, who discovered the plot, the unknowing citizens of Alabama are being fed a similarly poisonous blend by the equally potentially dangerous actions of state representatives Canfield and Marsh-- the lead players in Alabama’s coal ash bill that could be more appropriately titled “Arsenic and Old Waste.”

In the movie, the deceased bachelors are buried in the basement by a crazy brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt digging the Panama Canal. The citizens of Alabama don’t have a script to follow and aren’t privy to the eventual epilogue of how this recent legislation will really play out, but we’ve had a preview of it in Perry County, Alabama, and the reviews have not been good.

Representative Canfield (1:14 mark in video on regulation of CA), Senator Marsh and our state regulatory agencies supported this legislation as “protective of Alabama’s environment and people” and believing that coal ash has beneficial uses so it can’t be that toxic. We say their claims are about as harmless as the elderberry wine served to unsuspecting gentleman callers in the movie.

For a parallel view, brought into sharp focus by Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey in the video below, you would have to go back to the turn of the century, when arsenic and mercury were considered beneficial ingredients in tooth compounds and beauty products by the general public who didn’t know any better. There were many deaths that resulted from people using them to improve their complexions and relieve pain, and it became obvious, a century ago, what the perils of arsenic and mercury exposure were.

Representative McKinley-WV offers the counterpoint to Rep. Markey and claims that any criticism of the "jobs bill" is "fallacious and found in tabloids, not in science." Who's paying him to be so disingenuous? To suggest the undoing of historical lessons learned and pass weak prohibitions on arsenic and mercury exposure from coal ash is like mandating cocaine to be put back into Coca-Cola for general consumption. We know better.

When it comes to properly classifying coal ash, we’re stuck in a semi-permanent intermission to strictly regulate it as a hazardous toxic waste, because the utility giants and coal lobby refuse to leave the Washington concession counter and let the story play out to its honest conclusion.

Since the legislation passed in the Alabama State House, the two main players in this story have been *awarded accolades by ADEM for their outstanding roles in coal ash legislation. We'll see a replay of the tragedy of Perry County as ADEM proclaims the bill puts "Alabama on the national radar for any company interested in" dumping their coal ash in in this state. Again.
*AEMC meeting 7/23/2011 pg.1 (pgs.1-4) pg. 2 (pgs.5-8)

ADEM CanField/Marsh Recognition

We suspect there were a few behind the scenes directors hired by Alabama Power to urge ADEM to give these two representatives their public ‘award.’ Representative Canfield went on to an even bigger stage as the new head of the Alabama Development Office, and a much cushier salary than the one he enjoyed as a state representative. Canfield benefits nicely from the quasi-governmental alliance created by the merging of the EDPA and the ADO, which Alabama Power plays a starring role in. Senator Marsh may go on to replace the embattled and disgraced Senator Scott Beason as the new senatorial lion in charge of all future Alabama legislation.

Collusion has its rewards and we submit that the entire coal ash scheme was the end result of a collaborative effort between ADEM, Alabama Power and these two representatives to advance all of their interests, profits and own careers over the rights of Alabamians expectations to live free from toxic exposure.

Some of the heavy metals contained in coal ash are known carcinogens (and can actually increase the risk of cancer by 2,000 percent) and some can cause learning disabilities, birth defects or respiratory trouble. Problem is, the most deadly types of health-related issues caused by these substances don't develop overnight, says Dr. Avner Vengosh, a Duke University scientist who studied the impact of the coal ash spill in Tennessee. "I'm not expecting to see an immediate impact on people's health," he says, adding it could take years for certain cancers to metastasize.

To put it all in focus and project the truth on the screen of the public view, run this previous article of ours through your mental projector, and view the behind-the-scenes cut that the cast of characters involved in this horror flick didn’t want you to see.

So Say We The Opinion Board Of The Vincent Alabama Confidential

*Photo credit: Classicfilmsrevisted

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The Truth in Black & White About Stephen E. Bradley of Bradley & Associates

Birmingham's alternative "city paper" Black & White exposes the complicated and sinister web of one of Alabama's most infamous "public relations hustlers" and the ubiquitous damage that one man can accomplish when he practices to deceive.

Not at all content to remain confined in one state, Bradley's expanded his web of duplicity.

In 2008, Mr. Bradley created a multi-state network consortium of like-minded public relations, advertising and governmental affairs agencies to spin out beyond Alabama's borders through the Issues Management Network.

Coming soon to an area near you is trouble like you cannot begin to imagine. 

Mr. David Pelfry explains why in the following issue of Black & White with his featured story: "Spinning a Web."

*Story begins on page 6 in this PDF option

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Alabama: State of the Air 2011 - American Lung Association

Alabama: State of the Air 2011 - American Lung Association

INC indicates incomplete monitoring for all three years. DNC indicates there is no monitor collecting data in the county.

The EPA defines particle pollution as "a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets ... made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles." Year-round air pollution is an average of the daily levels of particle pollution on all 365 days. Short-term particle pollution measures the number of times in a year when levels spike above healthy standards for several days to several weeks. Ozone pollution has adverse effects on health as well, but is not as dangerous in the short-term.
"All three can kill people, and all three can cause asthma attacks," asserts Nolen. "But short-term and year-round particle pollution are more deadly than ozone."
Closer to the east coast, Pittsburgh, Pa., has long been associated with coal, and it shows in the numbers. The Steel City ranks seventh on the list of most polluted, followed by another metro chock-full of coal-fired power plants: Birmingham, Alabama.

And how does Alabama respond to its perpetually dirty and dangerous air quality? By using the state agency of environmental 'quality', ADEM, and suing the EPA on behalf of the utility giants and other heavy polluters, not for the benefit of her citizens, but for the benefit of big business and its big political money.

It's a sad commentary when the state of Alabama seems to put more importance on industry than it does the well-being of her people. And most importantly her youngest citizens, children and infants, who the most adversely affected by this toxic air. Our oldest residents are a close second.

Someone once said that a good measure of humanity is how the oldest and youngest among us are treated. If that's true, then Alabama gets another big fat "F" and puts itself firmly in the I really don't give a damn about anything but money category.

What makes this even more tragic is our Governor, a medical doctor, seems to be more of a hypocrite than a follower of the Hippocratic Oath and its prevalent theme of "to do good or to do no harm..." that he swore to abide by.

"We're going to go through DTs, but you know what? You have got a doctor in charge of Alabama now!"--Dr. Dr. Robert Bentley

Alabama is in need of a doctor alright, but not one who takes his direction from BARD and their scurrilous lawyers, because following their one-sided bad advice is tantamount to political malpractice.

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The Cost of Energy, The Price of Power--Part II

Investigators were just beginning to sift through the wreckage when the anonymous telephone calls rang into the air traffic control tower at Pensacola Regional Airport and the switchboard at the Escambia County Sheriff's Department about 4:10 p.m. A gravelly voiced male caller said, "Yeah, you can stop investigating Gulf Power now. We took care of that for them today." (From "Abuse of Power" by Elizabeth Wilson Jan. 1990)

The Southern Company vigorously defended itself against the investigations into the company's 'practices' and claimed that the actions of Jake Horton were primarily the only reason they were under investigation. Something had to be done, and done quickly. They were facing some very serious allegations, offices had been raided, records confiscated and the entire company was under intense scrutiny.

And now another top executive was dead under mysterious circumstances.

The media was merciless and it became a PR nightmare:

Southern has been haunted since the 1989 death of Mr. Horton, which came shortly after he learned that he would be fired by the company for his involvement in making illegal campaign contributions.

In a written statement, the president of the Southern Company, Edward L. Addison, and the president of Gulf Power, Douglas L. McCrary, said, “We acknowledge with deep regret that Federal statues were violated." In their statement, Mr. Addison and Mr. McCrary placed the root of the problems squarely on one executive, Jacob F. Horton.

Southern Company's PR man, Mr. Gale Klappa said Mr. Horton "had broken company rules and engaged in financial irregularities that could not be tolerated."

After the accident, Frances Horton filed a lawsuit against the company for negligence by the maintenance personnel and the plane's crew, in addition to filing for Horton's death benefits consisting of a life insurance policy and a company death benefit.

Adding insult to injury for Horton's widow, the company came up with a sensational claim that became the basis for an intense legal battle to deny any payment to Mrs. Horton that wound itself all the way to the the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals:

Although authorities say they are still investigating the possibility that Mr. Horton was murdered, Southern Co. officials claim that he committed suicide.
Mr. Klappa said the company executive carried an incendiary device onto the plane. A fire started in the cockpit shortly after takeoff and the plane crashed, killing Mr. Horton and two crew members.

If that were true, it would have meant that Horton did this with forethought and knew two other innocent people, the pilots, would have perished with him. The logical implication of that claim, though never spoken, was he was a murderer too.

Things got as mean as it comes during the trial and bombshell number two came out as the pressure to settle with Frances Horton intensified:

In a statement, Southern Company Services said it "did not encourage this settlement, and we remained firmly convinced that the facts in the case support our position that Jake Horton was primarily or solely responsible for the crash."
On Monday, Mr. Daniel told jurors that experts had filtered out extraneous noise on the cockpit recorder and deciphered voices saying, "You're wasting your time," and, "You're under arrest, Jake."
He said the recorder also indicated that there had been a struggle on the plane.
"However, we also recognize that the post-crash fire destroyed virtually all the evidence that could have definitely proven the cause of the crash," the company statement added. "In that light, we understand why [U.S. Aviation Insurance Group] chose to negotiate an out-of-court settlement."

There were three people on that plane, Horton and two pilots. Who was on the plane that would have said "You're wasting your time, you're under arrest Jake?" Were the pilots doing double duty as officers of the law? Or was this just the courtroom trickery of savvy lawyers trying to plant doubt in the mind of the court?

Southern was admonished by the judge for making "sensationalist claims" in an effort to have Horton's death ruled a suicide by the 11th Circuit, nonetheless they held onto it with the tenacity of a pit bull's bite--It was their version of the facts and nothing was going to move them from it no matter how incredible it appeared to many observers. Even after the trial was over, and for all intents and purposes, they had won. Big.

The trial judge-the fact-finder in this case-was not persuaded by defendants' evidence: "All of the speculation about the arson/suicide theory is just that, speculation. Much of the evidence supporting this theory is incredible. All of it, credible or not, yields no conclusive answer." Therefore, the district court's finding of ultimate fact that Mr. Horton's death was accidental must be affirmed.

But were indicators present before the feds swooped in that Horton may have been a problem?

Company officials claim there were, but no investigations were ever ordered. Others surrounding Horton also paid a price, and the firing of one of them, Kyle Croft, seemed to have set this whole crazy train in motion that ended in Horton's death. (More on Croft later.) Those post mortem revelations of 'suspicions' about Horton were arguably a bit too convenient, particularly since it was impossible for Horton refute the allegations.

Did Horton really act completely on his own, without the knowledge of three other vice presidents for Gulf Power and the CEOs of Gulf and Southern for almost a decade before the house of cards came tumbling down and the feds swooped in? Southern Co. convinced the Florida Supreme Court that indeed he did:

In The Supreme Court of Florida Case # 77,153
Answer Brief of the Florida Public Service Commission
The Grand Jury investigation had revealed that Mr. Horton and his subordinates were extensively involved in a scheme to make illegal political contributions and other improper payments through outside vendors. (TR 245-246; 2991; Ex. 413, pp. 13 & sea).  

At the hearing on Gulf's proposed rate increase, Mr. McCrary conceded that these illegal activities would likely have consumed a good deal of the Vice President's time. (TR 246)(pg -4- paragraph 3)  

The illegal activities addressed in the plea agreement occurred over the period 1981 to 1988. No specific investigation of Jake Horton was ever undertaken by Gulf. (TR 234). However, an investigation was conducted by the audit committee of Gulf's board of directors which looked into Horton's activities. (TR 234). Mr. Horton was killed on April 10, 1989, in a plane crash before any further action was taken by the company. (pg. -5- paragraph 1)

At the rate hearing, PSC witness Roberta Bass concluded that Gulf had been ineffective in dealing with its internal problems.
She stated:
Although collusion and management override can circumvent and render ineffective even the strictest internal controls, the criminal activity documented as having occurred at Gulf Power extended over a period of approximately eight years. The inability of Gulf management to discover and correct these overt illegal actions leads me to believe that the corporate culture was such that employees believed these types of illegal actions were, at least, condoned by top management.(ppgs. 5-6) 

“The Commission had before it abundant evidence of Gulf's
mismanagement, both in the conduct of the president, and in the specific unethical and illegal behavior of Vice President Horton and his associates.”
(pg. -9- paragraph 2)

The records indicate that Southern Company was very successful in their defense. It was all Horton's fault, most of it anyway. All that remained to tar the company were the findings of guilt on the illegal campaign contributions. By far, the lesser of all the possible evils.

Questions were raised in the media about the claim by those close to Horton, including Florida Senate President, W.D. Chilers-D, and Horton's neighbor, Frank Patti, who was one of the last people to see Horton alive that Monday:

"I had one friend at Gulf Power Co.," Childers says, "and that was Jake Horton." 'It doesn't seem fair to blame him after he's dead."

"Jake didn't seem upset at all," Patti said of their last meeting. "He damn sure didn't commit suicide. I think Jake's death is directly related to what's been happening at Gulf Power," Patti says. "If it wasn't suicide, who in the hell killed him?" 

There were some events that occurred in the last three days before Jake Horton's untimely death that bear mentioning.

According to interviews with Jack Graff, a former law partner of Horton's attorney, Fred Levin, Horton had asked Graff to "call Ed" meaning Edward L. Addison, Horton's old boss, over the weekend before the Monday flight to see what he knew about Gulf Power's next move on him. Graff finally reached Addison on Monday morning:

"I guess you've heard," Addison said. "No, I haven't," Graff replied. "I've just gotten a call," Addison said. "The audit committee has recommended firing Jake.... I'm sick about it. I just got off the phone, and I'm sick about it."

In addition to speaking with Addison, Graff learned that Gulf Power CEO, Douglas McCrary supported the decision but "wanted to meet with Horton that morning to discuss alternate ways to sever his relationship."

Graff decided it was time for a three-way conference call between Levin, Horton and himself to share the information he'd learned.

Levin and Graff told Horton to "stall for time" with McCrary and Bell in hopes that Horton's flight to Atlanta and meeting with Addison would get him some kind of leverage in an already bad situation that was quickly getting out of his control.

Horton had past bad blood with McCrary, neither man trusted the other and some of that was Edward Addison's doing when, in 1983, he reached up into Alabama Power's ranks and chose "Hatchett Man" Douglas McCrary as his successor at Gulf Power and passed over Jake Horton. Some speculate that forever changed Gulf Power and Jake Horton for the worst.

In Horton's mind, he wasn't going to get any satisfactory resolution with McCrary over this whole affair. He had to go see Addison.

When Horton called the company hangar to arrange for a flight that morning, he was told that Gulf Power's company jet "was not available" but there was the Southern Company jet, a Beechcraft King Air 200, that parked in Biloxi, Mississippi at another company hangar, that could be brought over to Pensacola.

The rest of that part of the story, as they say, is history. Along with Mr. Horton and what he knew.

On the same day as the crash, shortly after the anonymous calls, dead yellow-bellied parakeets with broken necks began showing up on some doorsteps:

Levin, a former attorney for Gulf Power and Horton, found a dead bird outside each of his two homes. He called the birds canaries and interpreted them as warnings "not to sing" about his last conversation with Horton. A third carcass appeared outside his law offices in downtown Pensacola. Another was dropped at the back door of Horton's next door neighbor's home. When Levin flew to Atlanta a month latter to testify before a grand jury about that last meeting with Horton, Levin received a death threat. A few days earlier, an informant had told the FBI that Levin was on a hit list.

("Abuse of Power" Elizabeth Wilson Jan 1990)

The authorities sensing there was more to this than meets the eye reopened their investigation into the untimely death of a former Gulf Power BOD member and his wife, who were murdered execution style in their Florida mansion in January of 1989. The case remains unsolved twenty-two years forward.

Another man, involved with this macabre tale, left Florida and showed up in a Missouri lawyer's office unannounced and signed away his interest to the house he shared with his wife in Pensacola.

After doing so, he left the lawyers office and was never seen again.

(to be continued....)

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The Cost of Energy, The Price of Power--Part I

One hundred and five years ago, Theodore Roosevelt declared in his State of the Union speech, "All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law; directors should not be permitted to use stockholders' money for such purposes." 

That was then, this is now.

One look at a utility bill will tell you that power costs money. 

It costs the consumer who uses it, and it costs the utility company to produce it. If the utility company is the Southern Company (US utility subsidiaries: Alabama Power, Gulf Power, Georgia Power,and Mississippi Power), there’s another hidden cost of business:  the millions upon millions of dollars the company’s pay to lobbyists, influence peddlers, politicians, and others in the “power” game. 

As John Archibald pointed out in the Birmingham News last Sunday:

“Alabama Power spends almost $20 million a year to sway public or political opinion, federal documents show… $138 million in the seven-year period between 2003 and 2009 -- the most recent year available.”

A company that spends that much money to “sway public or political opinion” must have high-stake reasons. And they usually have a corporate philosophy that is ingrained and unchanging--sort of a 'business as usual' model that stands still while the rest of the world moves forward and evolves.

In a NYT article from November of 1989 by Jeffery Schmalz entitled: "Utility in Florida Pleads Guilty in Political Contributions" we read that what Mr. Archibald's article revealed is not a new concept by the Southern Company and its subsidiaries:

The Gulf Power Company, the major supplier of electricity in northwestern Florida, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to make secret illegal campaign contributions to political candidates.
The plea, in Federal District Court in Atlanta, is the latest twist in a long and complicated investigation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions involving not only Gulf Power but also its parent company, the Atlanta-based Southern Company.
The case has drawn nationwide attention because at least three figures in or closely associated with Gulf Power's hierarchy have suffered violent deaths since the investigations began, prompting officials to initiate inquiries into the deaths. No charges have been filed, but the cases are still open.
Gulf Power, a Pensacola-based utility that accounts for 7 percent of Southern's $7.2 billion in annual income, paid a $500,000 fine, which it agreed not to pass on to its customers, after pleading guilty to two felony counts.

In a similar case, Georgia Power pleaded "no contest" to misdemeanor charges a year before that were based on accusations of "high ranking utility officials violating state law by asking employees to contribute to the campaign of Bobby Rowan, a successful candidate for the the Public Service Commission."

U.S. Attorney Robert L. Barr was quoted in a news conference announcing Gulf Power's plea agreement saying that there were "obvious similarities" in the two cases. The investigation of Georgia Power's creative accounting was detailed in the Georgia Press:

In an affidavit unsealed today in Federal District Court here, a special agent of the Internal Revenue Service maintained that high-ranking executives of the Georgia Power Company and its parent, the Southern Company, had engaged in a complex six-year plan to evade millions of dollars in corporate taxes.
No party has been charged with wrongdoing. At a news conference, Robert L. Barr Jr., the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said the affidavit was filed to help obtain warrants to search Georgia Power headquarters and the home of Timothy L. Fallaw, Southern's director of taxes and a former IRS agent.
Mr. Barr also said the investigation was but one part of a "complex and very lengthy investigation" involving several electric utilities and Arthur Andersen & Company, the accounting firm. $61 million in spare parts.
In the 33-page affidavit, the IRS special agent, Arthur D. McGovern Jr., contends that the tax evasion occurred from 1982 through 1987. He said Georgia Power improperly accounted for $61 million in spare parts held in inventory.
According to the affidavit, executives of Arthur Andersen, Southern's auditors, participated in meetings at which the tax matters were discussed. The affidavit quotes one Arthur Andersen employee as having told Georgia Power executives: "This seems awfully sneaky at best - I mean, at worst it seems real sneaky."

Corporations pay accountants and book cookers handsome sums to make sure the company uses every available loophole to enhance their bottom lines. Sometimes it's legal and ethical, other times maybe not so much. But it's the responsibility of the company and the government (IRS) to make certain tax and acceptable accounting rules are followed, and sure they will allow for some bending here and there, but not a complete twisting beyond any semblance of what was once a fairly straight line.

All of this happened before the Citizens United ruling, before the Supreme Court undid Teddy Roosevelt's 1935 law and handed corporations the reins of unchecked power through unlimited political donations. It was a dark day in America that has led to the best power that money can buy in our political process. Southern Company now takes full advantage of that ruling--all corporations do, but what's the real price of power and who will keep it in check? The shareholders maybe?

Two northern former Southern Company shareholders tried once, but they were unsuccessful and the SEC ended their probe with no findings of wrongdoing by the company:

The suit alleges the officers, including President Edward L. Addison, acted to fraudulently account for power plant spare parts, make illegal political contributions, submit filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission that misrepresented the company's true financial condition, and conceal prior
mismanagement and illegal acts.
The lawsuit - by stockholders Barnett Stepak of New Jersey and Roger Mondschein of New York - also alleges that 13 current and former directors breached their fiduciary duties.
The existence of the lawsuit was disclosed in a footnote to the company's first-quarter earnings report, which was released Wednesday. (“Southern Co. stockholders sue officers" by Robert Luke The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, April 25, 1991)

An earlier IRS and a DOJ investigation of Edward Addison *ended in a similar manner:

In 1990 James Fagan, assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, was preparing to indict Southern Company Services--a company run by major Bush campaign donor Edward Addison--for criminal tax evasion. Before the indictments could be handed down, the criminal investigation was halted by the head of the DOJs tax division, Shirley Peterson, who was later promoted to the Commissioner of the IRS.

*(Mother Jones Investigations Jan-Feb 1993 Column 2, paragraph 2)

November 1, 1989 Edition: The Atlanta Constitution
Barr: Gulf, Ga. Power Cases Similar
Florida Subsidiary Pleads Guilty in Illicit Funds Scheme

In a penitential statement accompanying Gulf Power's guilty pleas, Gulf's President Douglas L. McCrary and Southern Co. President Edward L. Addison announced a number of steps designed "to see - as far as humanly possible - that nothing like this will ever happen again." Welcome as it is, this declaration of reform would be more convincing had a different future been carved out for Elmer B. Harris, the senior executive vice president of Georgia Power at the time of its campaign-contribution violations.

There seems to be a familiar chord being struck repeatedly--it's always somebody else's fault, if it weren't for this person, or if it weren't for that one...

Anyone who’s done a little digging into the history of the Southern Company and its subsidiary, Gulf Power, will realize that there are skeletons in the closet, and that’s not just a figure of speech--it’s a grim fact that mysterious unsolved murders, disappearances of former employees and unusual deaths are a part of the Southern Company’s corporate history.  And so are allegations of cover-ups, mismanagement and misdirection, all explained by pious claims to the contrary. 

Or as you will soon learn the other excuse was it was all "that Horton guys fault."

Who is was Jacob "Jake" Horton?

Mr. Horton was from Pensacola, Florida and had given thirty-three years of his life to the Southern Company, through Gulf Power, ending up as a vice president, one of four that reported to Gulf Power CEO Douglas McCrary, father of present Alabama Power CEO, Charles Douglas McCrary.

Thirty three years is a long time at one company. And many people would view that as a corporate loyalist, someone who could be trusted, the quintessential company man who would always advance the agenda and philosophy of the company first and foremost.

*"For many years, Jake Horton was a trusted employee of Gulf, and as a result was given a great deal of latitude in carrying out his duties," said Mr. Klappa. "If someone who has earned trust fails that trust, then all the systems in the world won't help."*(Same AJC article as above. Gale Klappa was the Southern Company's PR man)

And by all accounts he did his job well, if you were to ask his wife, his brother John and those that knew him outside of his corporate life. Even many that knew him in his corporate world marvelled at his dedication to his work.  But if you were to ask Mr. McCrary and the upper levels of Southern Company men, the federal government, the Florida PSC Commission and some news writers, Mr. Horton was capable of unspeakable acts of disloyalty that included murder and suicide. 

Those sources claim resorted to two of the three one fateful day in April of 1989. 

That was the day Jake Horton boarded a Southern Company plane with two pilots, and four minutes into the flight, a fire broke out in the cabin and all three men fell from the sky in a fireball.

People who saw Jake that day heard him say he was on his way to Atlanta to meet with Edward L. Addison and Douglas McCrary (who knew he was coming because he asked permission to use the company jet) for one of two things in an attempt to save his job--clear his name of the serious allegations of misconduct leveled at him from the company in the wake of the investigations, or he was on his way to the FBI to tell them what he knew:

With a briefcase full of papers, Jacob F. Horton, the senior vice president of the Gulf Power Company, took off for Atlanta in a corporate jet here in April to talk with corporate officials about possible theft, payoffs and cover-ups that are under investigation by a Federal grand jury.

He never made it to either.

to be continued.....

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SELC Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper Against Northern Beltline

Groups Sue ALDOT for Flawed Environmental Study on Northern Beltline

Press Release April 11, 2011

Gil Rogers, Senior Attorney, 404-521-9900
Cat McCue, Senior Communications Manager, 434-977-4090
Representing: Black Warrior Riverkeeper - Nelson Brooke, 205-458-0095

Montgomery, AL--In violation of federal law, the state Department of Transportation failed to fully account for the environmental impacts of the massive, high-priced Northern Beltline, conservation groups said in a lawsuit filed today in federal district court in Montgomery.

Click here to read the complaint (pdf)
Click here to read SELC's factsheet on the Northern Beltline (pdf)

The 52-mile beltline was recently pegged at $4.7 billion, a 38% increase from just a few months ago.  Much of that would come from federal coffers, but state taxpayers would be responsible for nearly $1 billion in matching funds. At about $90 million per mile, the beltline would be one of the most expensive interstate beltways in U.S. history.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper is suing the agency for violating the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires a thorough evaluation of environmental impacts and alternatives in order to identify the most cost-effective and least damaging alternatives for projects funded with federal money.

"We have been waiting for years for ALDOT to do its homework before proceeding as required by federal law.  Unfortunately, this expensive and outdated highway project continues to move forward without a study of the most cost-effective way to bring economic growth to this part of the state," said Gil Rogers, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the river group in the lawsuit.

The state's $1 billion share of the beltline exceeds ALDOT's annual construction budget for the entire state, and would be almost five times as much as ALDOT's annual budget for road and bridge maintenance statewide.  The high price of the state's match means that many other necessary projects-such as safety improvements, bridge repair and road maintenance in Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, and elsewhere, including Birmingham-would go unfunded to accommodate the beltline.

ALDOT has failed to undertake any comparison of the true economic development impacts of this project with other transportation improvement alternatives, nor does the $4.7 billion price tag take into account the additional cost to local governments of providing services like secondary roads and utilities to accommodate new growth in the region.   Further, the beltline would likely trigger a shift of economic activity away from existing Birmingham neighborhoods.

"ALDOT's inadequate study of this roadway's cumulative economic and environmental impacts led to decisions being made in a vacuum without proper planning or public input," said Nelson Brooke, spokesman for Black Warrior Riverkeeper. "Sprawling development along this highway will lead to increased pollution in local streams and rivers to the detriment of all who live downstream."

The Northern Beltline was first proposed a half century ago, when engineers routinely designed bypasses around metro areas to relieve traffic. Today's transportation experts increasingly recognize the built-in liabilities of bypasses-declining downtowns, sprawl, loss of open space, impaired water quality, and increased traffic and smog.

ALDOT completed an environmental study on the project in 1997 and chose the route for the Northern Beltline that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited as the most environmentally destructive. Because no work on the project occurred over the next three years, the analysis expired. ALDOT was legally required to re-evaluate its study and factor in changed conditions and correct deficiencies.

Instead, in 2006, ALDOT released an extremely limited study covering only 3.4 miles, which according to the lawsuit amounts to an illegal segmentation of the project under the National Environmental Policy Act.  Moreover, ALDOT has continued to ignore the environmental impacts of development spurred by the 3.4-mile segment and the beltline as a whole.

The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional conservation organization using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC's team of 40 legal experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a citizen-based nonprofit environmental advocacy organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. A member of Waterkeeper Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper was the Alabama Environmental Council's 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year and the American Canoe Association's 2008 Green Paddle Award winner. Nelson Brooke, Riverkeeper, won the Alabama Rivers Alliance's 2010 River Hero Award.
Click here for more information about the Northern Beltline.

WGBH's Rick Karr interviews Phillip Weidmeyer on the Northern Beltline
PBS article on Phillip Weidmeyer and BARD's influence on the Northern Beltline
PBS interview Nelson Brooke

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"Millions For Defense, Not a Penny For Tribute"--Alabama Would Rather Fight the CAA Than Comply

History buffs know what the phrase by Robert Goodloe Hart meant back in the 1800s which was, in essence, we would rather fight than pay bribes to the French. In modern times, the phrase is flipped on its head by the utility giants who spend millions to thwart the CAA rules. Their dangerous 'mule-ish mindset' is one of resistance and obstinacy--they are willing to pay more for the fight than it would cost them to modernize and comply with federal regulations.

Political donors hold our governmental system captive with their undue influence. Buy a politician here, buy fifty over there, and pretty soon the entire system works for special interests and their agenda over the good of many. In Alabama that has been the way of doing business for decades.

Rules are re-written and adopted for the corporate benefit by spineless legislators and state agency yes men who live in fear of the corporate cash being cut off more so than they fear the ire of their constituents.

Alabama has a long history of bowing to the Big Mules, *Alabama Power in particular, and nothing on the modern day horizon suggests there will be change of this corporate stranglehold any time soon, if ever.
(paragraph #8) 

ADEM has announced it will bring suit against the EPA on behalf of the big polluters.
(story to follow in next posting)

Just one question if we may? Where does the state intend to get the money from?

This recent ruling by the EPA against ADEM illustrates how far the state is willing to go for their corporate masters. Alabama is broke, we have no money, our budgets are in such a state of disarray that it will take years to put them back in order, if ever. Deep cuts are occurring across the board to most state agencies, essential services, education funds and thousands of state workers are receiving pink slips.

We're in deep trouble from years of mismanagement that has been the SOP of not only most state budgetary affairs but the state environmental agency, ADEM, as well.

Filing a lawsuit against the EPA on behalf a corporate giant with profits in the billions is not only wrongheaded, it is something Alabama simply cannot afford to do, especially since the lead agency in this action, ADEM, is also experiencing cuts in operating revenue. Broke means broke and we think the state of Alabama is acting very irresponsibly to even entertain this idea.

President Bush, who never met a big polluter he wasn't sympathetic to, relaxed the Opacity Rule in his last days of office in corporate Alabama's favor. ADEM wants to continue to follow that bad decision even though they know, despite Mr. Glenn's claims below, that the end result was not at all protective of Alabama's air quality.

In a 2008 correspondence from the Alabama Environmental Council reference to an article from Ben Raines writing for the Mobile Press-Register reveals the impetus of the years of back and forth between ADEM and the federal government over SIP:

In a recent newspaper story in the Mobile Register regarding this (SIP) proposal, ADEM’s Ron Gore, Chief of the Air Division, is quoted as saying that this proposal “came about because the state's biggest power providers - including Alabama Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority - and other industrial polluters asked for it.”

Former ADEM director Trey Glenn in a 2009 letter to Governor Bob Riley makes a staggering claim on SIP considering his history of markedly decreased enforcement at ADEM:

In addition to the above issue, I would also like to clarify my view of the Administrator's comments regarding his effort to "determine if the entire package of proposed revisions is approvable and protective of air quality in Alabama." First, this statement suggests that ADEM proposed a rule that may not be protective of air quality in Alabama. I would never propose a rule that would not be protective of air quality in Alabama and certainly have not done so in this case.

Mr. Glenn may have well thought what he was saying was accurate, but he simply had no credibility to stand on based on examination of his record as the director of ADEM. A record that ended in a legal petition to have ADEM's water permitting authority removed and taken over by the EPA that has yet to be decided.

In short, ADEM has failed to serve as an environmental management agency since its inception. What it does serve is the ideal of a collection agency for corporate Alabama to ensure that the huge percentage of money that rolls in from these special interests permits and emissions helps to keep the agency, and Alabama's air, in the black.

When Alabama Power and TVA say attack, they demonstrate through their political clout in the form of "millions for defense" that the preferred course of action is to bray loudly and wield a mighty kick. The thrill of the fight is worth more to the Big Mule mentality than the sensible approach of using their corporate cash in the most responsible way by putting an end to this infighting that's causing Alabamians to suffer needlessly from increased toxic air emissions.

This ruling by the EPA is a victory for Alabama and her citizens. It should be heralded as a step in the right direction for sufferers of asthma, COPD and heart conditions among others. The medical community has firmly linked increased fine particulate emissions (PM3) to scores of health problems, genetic defects and premature deaths. But corporate Alabama doesn't seem to care about that as much as they care about their profits and being forced to dip into their enormous deep pockets and follow the federal rules.

Forcing the state to spend money we don't have for their sole financial benefit is greed with unmitigated gall.

The old adage of stubborn as a mule dovetails with Robert Goodloe Hart's words and ensures that when it comes to putting Alabamians quality of life and health above corporate power, ADEM prefers to stay firmly entrenched in the past and obey the Big Mule mantra of 'us first' and peoples rights a very distant second.
EPARegion4DenialofAlabamaSIP

Accompanying fact sheet on Alabama SIP

*Update Weds. PM--Four dirty air bills go down in defeat in US Senate to stop the EPA:
“Today we saw four separate amendments that were written for big polluters go down in the Senate. The failure of these attempts to boost the profits of the biggest corporate polluters at the expense of the American people is a victory for our country, our future, and for anyone who wants to breathe clean air, especially children, elderly, and the sick."

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Southern Environmental Law Center Pushes Back Against BARD on SWMP

Clean Water Groups Defend State Effort to Reduce Polluted Runoff

Press Release
March 24, 2011


Gil Rogers, Senior Attorney, 404-521-9900 (email)
Cat McCue, Senior Communications Manager, 434-977-4090 (email)
Representing:
Cahaba River Society - Beth Stewart, 205-322-5326 x411 (email)

Montgomery, AL –The Alabama Rivers Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Cahaba River Society have filed a motion to intervene in a permit appeal by a business organization filed against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to help defend the agency's stormwater program for small cities.

Represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, the groups say the lawsuit by the Business Alliance for Responsible Development (BARD) is a delaying tactic aimed at keeping local and state stormwater controls weak and ineffective.  Without adequate programs to control polluted runoff from development and urban uses, downstream communities and businesses will continue to shoulder the high costs to clean drinking water and repair flood damages.

"Rivers, streams, coastal waters and lakes are critical to Alabamians for drinking water, recreation, wildlife and the economy.  Polluted runoff is harming those uses.  Every delay in halting polluted runoff means more degradation of our water and higher long-term clean-up costs for the public," said Gil Rogers, head of the Clean Water Program for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed the motion earlier this week in with the Alabama Environmental Management Commission. (Click here for a PDF of the motion to intervene.)

Under the federal Clean Water Act, ADEM is required to set up a permitting program for small cities to control their polluted stormwater runoff. In August 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency rejected ADEM's first version because it did not meet basic requirements of the law.  It was the first time the EPA had ever taken such a step with any state. ADEM subsequently made some modest improvements and issued a final permit on February 1.

Stormwater runoff is widely acknowledged as one of the most serious causes of water pollution in Alabama.

 "Many responsible developers in Alabama are already achieving the standards called for in ADEM's permit. Better stormwater practices that safeguard drinking water and help prevent flooding are proven to save money and make money for developers and communities," said Beth Stewart, Executive Director of the Cahaba River Society. "In these tough economic times, green projects with lower stormwater costs give developers and communities a competitive advantage, but lax stormwater controls undercut innovative developers and transfer costs to local governments and downstream neighbors."  

BARD's challenge of ADEM's stormwater permit represents one more salvo in its continued resistance to improving development practices that protect water quality.  For years, BARD has incited local governments to fight against standards that better manage development.  

BARD's misguided advice that local governments are doing too much to stop stormwater pollution has already made some cities and counties vulnerable to EPA audits and enforcement oversight. In 2009 and 2010 the EPA found that the stormwater programs of cities and counties in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area were not meeting basic requirements of the Clean Water Act.

"Traditionally, our organization has been on the opposite side of ADEM, as we consistently challenge them to do a better job of protecting Alabama's waters," said Eva Dillard, Staff Attorney for Black Warrior Riverkeeper. "We're taking ADEM's side in this appeal because we don't want to see the permit weakened even further, which is BARD's main objective."  

"Enforceable permits are absolutely essential to stopping the devastating impacts of uncontrolled stormwater across Alabama," said Mitch Reid, Program Director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance. "Protecting our rivers is a shared responsibility of government at every level and this permit provides a level playing field so that no community is disadvantaged for doing the right thing for our environment."

The proposed permit will govern the local stormwater programs of about 60 smaller cities and counties for the next five to seven years.  Just as important, ADEM has indicated that this permit will be the basis for other stormwater permits that will be written for larger cities and counties, as well as for the Alabama Department of Transportation.

The Southern Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to protect the environment of the Southeast.  The Alabama Rivers Alliance is devoted to healthy rivers, healthy people, and a healthy system of government for the state of Alabama. Black Warrior Riverkeeper protects and restores the Black Warrior River and its tributaries.  The Cahaba River Society's mission is to restore and protect the Cahaba River watershed and its rich diversity of life.

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