Clinton takes a big stinkin' dump on Ohio _diary DKOS will shock you!

[caligirl]

by Zwoof
Sun Feb 24, 2008 at 04:01:50 AM PST

Actually, a big stinkin' toxic waste incinerator...

I've written on this before but I feel that it needs more attention that it received because of the upcoming Ohio Primary.
Short and sweet this time:
WTI wanted to build America's largest toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. The incinerator is located 1,100 feet from an elementary school.
WTI was owned by Jackson Stephens, who donated $200,000 to Bush #1 to help this project along.
There were problems and the project was not going to be approved during the Bush #1 administration.
When Bush's ratings tanked during his bid for re-election, Stephens donated $100,000 to Clinton #1 as well as extending a 2 million line of credit to the DLC when they were tapped out.
Bill Clinton won and with some serious monkey business (a Hillary crony) at the EPA, the permit was approved.
more down below....

* Zwoof's diary :: ::

President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited East Liverpool while campaigning for election in 1992; at that time, Mr. Clinton said that, if he were elected, WTI would never be allowed to operate. But the huge incinerator began burning hazardous waste in 1993.


Mr. Clinton has not returned to East Liverpool since he became President in 1992.

WTI failed part of its test burn in 1993, releasing four times more mercury than allowed. Children at the elementary school were tested for mercury in their urine prior to WTI operation and again six months after the facility started burning as part of a state health study. In the first test, 69 percent of the children tested negative; the follow-up test found that nearly the same number tested positive.

U.S. EPA's own risk assessment of the facility found at least 27 possible accident scenarios that could threaten the lives of the children in the nearby elementary school.

Despite these and other problems, the U.S. EPA issued WTI a full commercial operating license in 1997. The agency has also allowed the facility to nearly double the types of wastes it can burn.


When Clinton became president, he appointed Carol Browner head of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Ms. Browner then sent a small cadre of scientists to court in Cleveland, Ohio, to serve as expert witnesses on behalf of Waste Technologies, Inc. (WTI).

Because a memo to Ms. Browner from one of her staff was leaked to Greenpeace (a plaintiff in the lawsuit trying to shut down WTI), Ms. Browner's staff were forced to admit under oath that after Ms. Browner took office on January 20th, EPA conducted a secret risk assessment on the WTI incinerator.


EPA's secret risk assessment revealed that the incinerator would be 1000 times more dangerous than EPA had estimated in the risk assessment they released to the public.

New EPA appointee Browner recused herself from the issue
She left the matter in the hands of Robert Sussman, Deputy EPA Administrator.

The EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Sussman that eventually approved WTI's application was a law school classmate of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Sussman had previously acted as legal counsel to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, at a time when two of its biggest clients, Du Pont and BASF, were negotiating contracts to supply two-thirds of the waste to WTI." The Nation Magazine

The plant opponents cited Sussman's appointment to the EPA through the influence of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose former law firm represented the original founder of Waste Technologies, Jackson Stephans.
Source Archives Cleveland Plain Dealer

The gift to Ohio that keeps on giving..

Recently a new ruling from the Ohio EPA allowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration

I don't think Hillary will stop by East Liverpool asking for votes. They are familiar with Clinton campaign promises.


Previous Diary with pictures and more...
(Ask Hillary About This Tonight. I Dare You. Hotlist
by Zwoof
Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 03:40:46 AM PST

Several days ago I posted a diary about the WTI and Von Roll Toxic Waste Incinerator. Because I posted it the same day as the South Carolina Primary, several Kossacks have asked me to repost.

Instead of duplicating the diary, I have added some new developments, and data.

While I was writing the original piece on the history of this foul project, a new ruling from the Ohio EPA allowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration)http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/31/21045/9822/688/446786

Just a few problems at this incinerator you might want to know about...
(http://www.ohiocitizen.org/campaigns/wti/wti.html)

Explosion under investigation, Operations suspended at Von Roll WTI

EAST LIVERPOOL -- "An explosion at the Von Roll WTI plant...... One employee was taken by ambulance to East Liverpool City Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Wayne did not release the name of the employee but stated, The Review.

Dec 6, 2006: U.S. EPA fines WTI

EAST LIVERPOOL -- "WTI/Von Roll officials call it a 'legacy issue' going back to 1999, and said they agreed to a $750,000 fine from the U.S. EPA and U.S. Justice Department so they could put the matter behind them. Fred Miller, East Liverpool
Review.

Blast Injures Worker at WTI Plant

PITTSBURGH -- "An explosion at the Waste Technologies Industries (WTI) plant in East Liverpool, Ohio this afternoon has sent a worker to a hospital ....The blast actually blew siding, insulation and other debris outside the plant, injuring injured a worker who was outside at the time" KDKA TV.

Mar 29: WTI fireball rattles windows

EAST LIVERPOOL -- ...At first you could see some flames, then there was a huge loud explosion and a giant ball of fire shot up in the air. It was huge. I've never seen anything like it before,' said Estell. 'There was smoke everywhere. The plant was kind of lost in the smoke for awhile,' she said. 'My windows rattled. It was huge. The noise was huge. . . I screamed for my kids to get back into the house,'" Fred Miller, East Liverpool Review.

Oct 5, 2004: EPA cites Von Roll for clean-air violations

CHICAGO -- "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has filed an administrative complaint. EPA alleges Von Roll discharged more lead and cadmium from its incinerator than is allowed by the Clean Air Act during tests in December 2003 and in March 2004. Excessive exposure to lead may cause anemia, kidney disease, reproductive disorders, and neurological impairments such as seizures, mental retardation and behavioral disorders. Children and the unborn are especially susceptible to low doses of lead. Exposure to cadmium may cause damage to the lungs, kidneys, liver, immune and nervous systems and the blood. Long-term inhalation of cadmium can increase the risk of lung cancer," press release, US EPA .
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/24/7150/36489

[papau]

1. I realize slime defines the Obama campaign-but beyond getting a 90/10 AA split, do you think it will

be an effective route to winning in November

[babylonsister]

3. Why don't you provide a link to prove the assertions are false? nt

[beachmom]

Yeah really. I guess if it makes Clinton look bad, it MUST be a smear.

Hey people, do research and debunk it, instead of denigrating the diarist at Kos who clearly feels passionate about this.

[anamandujano]

15. Kind of like the smear on Obama for screwing his people over the

nuclear waste leaks.

To be fair, he was on the take from Exelon, which helped him get as far as he has, so you can't really blame him.

Same with Tony Rezko, who he championed to build the senior citizen complex (unreliable for basic heat and hot water). Got him a nice house so, no harm, no foul, right?

[caligirl]

16. Lets be accurate in our statements,what appear to be facts are deviations from facts with

significance. I would gladly take you seriously if you would provide links verifying any of this.

[anamandujano]

23. See post #13 for the first link and I'll be right back with the second.

[anamandujano]

25. Obama helped Rezko get this contract

http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/06/nobodys-hands-are-perfectly-clean-in-politics/

Obama was an attorney with a small Chicago law firm -- Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland -- that helped Rezmar get more than $43 million in government funding to rehab 15 of their 30 apartment buildings for the poor.

Resko got millions of dollars to build and rehab low income housing and according to the government, embezzled the money. The people in those houses had no heat, no water. They lived in squalor--many in Obama's State senate district. You could assume constituent complaints would have come in and Obama's law firm did the legal work for those government contracts and grants. Yet he denies knowing about it.

During this period, Rezko was mentoring him and raising money for him and hosting parties to introduce Obama to influential people.

When Obama ran for the U.S. Senate, Rezko held a June 27, 2003, cocktail party in Rezko’s Wilmette mansion, picking up the tab for the lavish event. Obama’s campaign staff has said it has no records to show who attended that party, or how much it cost.

As an aside, Obama told the press that the total amount raised by Rezko for him over his career was only about $60,000, when the amount given by Rezko has been reported at $162,000 and change, and if you count the money Rezko bundled for him it goes even higher.

[caligirl]

28. Fire dog lake has left out some important details that do matter here, see #2and 3

Having a hard time keeping track of the facts? Here are eight things to know:

1. They met in 1990. Obama was a student at Harvard Law School and got an unsolicited job offer from Rezko, then a low-income housing developer in Chicago. Obama turned it down.

2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.

3. One of the firm's not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama's then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator's time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko. Rezko's company, Rezmar Corp., also partnered with the firm's clients in four later deals -- none of which involved Obama, according to the firm. In each deal, Rezmar "made the decisions for the joint venture," says William Miceli, an attorney with the firm.

4. In 1995, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Among his earliest supporters: Rezko. Two Rezko companies donated a total of $2,000. Obama was elected in 1996 -- representing a district that included 11 of Rezko's 30 low-income housing projects.

5. Rezko's low-income housing empire began crumbling in 2001, when his company stopped making mortgage payments on the old nursing home that had been converted into apartments. The state foreclosed on the building -- which was in Obama's Illinois Senate district.

6. In 2003, Obama announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, and Rezko -- a member of his campaign finance committee -- held a lavish fund-raiser June 27, 2003, at his Wilmette mansion.

7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.

8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama's run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity.

Tim Novak
http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/757340,CST-NWS-watchdog24.article

[caligirl]

30. No, Obama took a job with a law firm representing WPI and it was that firm who had a

partner namely,Rezko. Obama's firm helped their client(
WPI) in low income housing projects. The company was a client of the law firm before Obama was hired, and it was the company wanting this. Obama didn't help Rezko, he helped the client WPI.

2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.

3. One of the firm's not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama's then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator's time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko.

[blm]

36. If this Rezko thing makes you distrust Obama how does Jackson Stephens' role in Clintons'

entire political careers make you feel - especially since the 5 1/2 year investigation into BCCI and all its outstanding matters were deep-sixed throughout the 90s?

If your level of outrage over Rezko is sincere, then your outrage over Stephens and BCCI and WTI must be through the roof, eh? Rezko's shady realty dealings didn't lead to 9-11. Clinton siding with secrecy and privilege of Bush and Stephens on BCCI matters DID lead to 9-11.

[caligirl]

8. Kids are being contaminated with Mercury, lead and other toxins

a serious health threat and your response? Predictable but sad and ignores real harm to developing children. Would you ignore it if it were in your kids backyard? Blind allegiance is dangerous and a hallmark of Bush mantra.

[blm]

2. Jackson Stephens also brought BCCI into this country and was protected along with GHWBush

when Bill deep-sixed all the outstanding matters in BCCI throughout the 90s.

Jackson Stephens was Rose Law Firm's biggest client and BushInc NEEDED to get into Rose to scrub all Stephens' files clean, especially as related to his many BCCI dealings with GHWBush and his WalMart-China dealings.

Whitewater was a dog and pony show for the media and the bases of both parties being distracted from the serious, serious agenda of the BFEE and their powerful cronies.

Bill Clinton was groomed for years by Jackson Stephens who bankrolled his political career and underwrote Bill's primary campaign for president. Would Bill take some heat for his benefactors?

[creeksneakers2]

34. Jackson Stephens bankrollled every opponent Bill Clinton ever

had in Arkansas, save one, Sheffield Nelson, who burned the Stephans family for big money while working for them.

Gene Lyons Fools for Scandal page 51

[blm]

35. Stephens owned alot of politicians and underwrote Bill's primary campaign.

Stephens had a good thing going financing BOTH sides to assure his goals were safe.

[bigbrother05]

4. Oh, what a tangled Web politicians weave

interesting

[caligirl]

14. Point is a good one, politicians all do something sometime to get ahead. Its never perfect.

This is egregious though.

[blm]

27. Worse, this matter is what likely cost Gore Ohio in 2000, and why Greens turned nationally, though

it was actually Clinton's actions that protected Jackson Stephens it was Gore who ended up with the blame.

How did that end up working out for this entire nation and the world?

[caligirl]

33. astonishing, I sent the diary to KO, he is known to blog at DKOS so he may be aware of it now.

[godai]

5. Shocking indeed...just another reason to support Obama

There are many stories such as this in the Clintons' past. I wonder if this might come up in the debate?
I'd like to hear from Clinton supporters if they can refute any of this information.

[rodeodance]

6. Nothing surprizes me about dKos anymore--they hit the gutter politics long time ago.

[caligirl]

9. Since when is harm to children gutter politics? are you that unfeeling toward dangerous chemicals

and developing children?

[sloppyjoe25s]

7. Excellent Detailed Post... haven't you

haven't you posted pro hillary posts previously? Or do i have you confused with someone else?

[caligirl]

12. I have been at DU since 04 and have from time to time posted many pro Hillary

pro Clinton posts. I have publicly said Hillary would get my vote if Obama isn't the nom. Edwards was my first choice. I took my oldest son to see Bill Clinton front and center in Oakland. The only reason he didn't shake Bills hand were his history teachers from his high school crowded him out of the front row. I was not on board with Obama until much later, but because of Hillary's pro outsourcing and the damage it did to our community I cannot make her my first choice. But she is a valid choice over a repub. everytime. I had no idea about WTI until this morning. When I read this I was shocked. I really had no idea this had been done. I believe in telling both good and bad sides of any candidate, you have to be informed about who your voting into office like it or not.

( I voted for Bill the second time, Ross Perot the first. My husband is very supportive of Bill Clinton and I do miss the years we did well economically. He deserves credit for that. But even the nicest and greatest have flaws we should not be blind about)

[anamandujano]

10. Looks like the Ohio EPA needs to take some blame here.

Recently a new ruling from the Ohio EPA allowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit

[Tatiana]

11. This is awful. And with an elementary school nearby, shameful.

The quid pro quo needs to end. I am sick of these corporations owning our politicians and consequently, our government.

The plant should be shut down, or at the very least, made to revert to the limits and types of waste specified in the original agreement.

This literally makes me sick. I am going to write the EPA. If you live in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota or Wisconsin (EPA Region 5), email them too:

[e-mail]

[OzarkDem]

13. Obama Protects Nuclear Power Plant

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/us/politics/03exelon.html

[VenusRising]

17. Deleted.

In respect of the OPs wishes to keep this on topic.

[caligirl]

18. Please start anothr thread for a new topic. I realize you feel threatened by this diary but

this thread concerns Hillary and Bill and WTI.

[apocalypsehow]

31. You're wasting your time: the HRC supporters here don't think DU's rules apply to them. n/t

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4687099#4692520

[anamandujano]

22. Some quotes

"When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state’s freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause.

snip

The history of the bill shows Mr. Obama navigating a home-state controversy that pitted two important constituencies against each other and tested his skills as a legislative infighter. On one side were neighbors of several nuclear plants upset that low-level radioactive leaks had gone unreported for years; on the other was Exelon, the country’s largest nuclear plant operator and one of Mr. Obama’s largest sources of campaign money.

At least as disturbing for local residents was the revelation that Exelon believed the tritium came from millions of gallons of water that had leaked from the plant years earlier but went unreported at the time. Under nuclear commission rules, plants are required to tell state and local authorities only about radioactive discharges that rise to the level of an emergency.

The rewritten bill also contained the new wording sought by Exelon making it clear that state and local authorities would have no regulatory oversight of nuclear power plants.

[caligirl]

26. Your last quote leaves out republican involvement. The republicans went after this and this is

a result of it. Dems were not in charge, repugs were. Makes a huge difference in what dems can do and what happens to a bill. Pesky detail.

[hfojvt]

19. what sorta shocked me

was that seemed to be the DUer Zombywoof posting at Kos. However, it turns out it is not. Rather Zomby Woof seems to be a Frank Zappa song, and hence a somewhat common esoteric Username. Who knew? Clearly, not me. :blush:

[caligirl]

20. anyone have KO's email addy? We should send this to him before the debate.

[VenusRising]

21. Here you go.

[e-mail]

Thanks for posting about this caligirl.

[caligirl]

24. I just posted this at the Akron paper, they endorsed Hill.thanks I'm sending this is.

[VenusRising]

29. I hope the paper picks it up.

It's not the only bad Clinton policy to effect Ohio.

Good job, caligirl!

[grantcart]

32. k an r