Time for an update. It’s been 2 years. A lot of water under the bridge, a lot of treading water, holding our breath, finding new ways to pray and things to be grateful for. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it is getting brighter and the learning curve a little easier. It’s not over yet but new deep found love and support from family and friends gives the next phase of this adventure a – bring it on – I am ready – tone to it. Just sending each and every one of you a heartfelt all-embracing hug for starters.
Let’s open with a Happy Valentine’s Day
(Missed this by a couple of days because of technical difficulties but the sentiment is still alive and well.
Much love Earth family
Will start with the latest doings first. Used $60 from the Hugs and Kisses fund to attend the Mothers for Peace dinner and update by the attorneys on what is happening at Diablo. I wanted to run an idea by them. I needed feedback. They listened with a bit of a curious nod so that was good enough for me.
Backing up now to January sent in 2 complaints to the Grand Jury about our Board of Supervisors and their illegal and unlawful Arroyo Grande Oil Field operation. Illegal is confirmed by the State of California on 2 counts – 44 uncapped abandoned wells and 13 plus unlicensed Underground hazardous waste disposal injection wells in full operation mode. The fact that it is certifiably illegal and unlawful doesn’t seem to have any meaningful consequences that result in righting the wrong.
This needs to change and now. For the past 10 years we have marched, petitioned, protested, attended public meetings and commented for the record at local and state hearings about the fatally flawed disregard for the safety and well-being of communities defenseless against corrupted, abusive local and State officials that have ignored the harboring of criminal activity at the AGOF.
For the past 10 years the Board has in every instance flipped us off, dismissed us, ignored us, refused to recognize us, or acknowledge our concerns and treated us like 3rd class citizens in the most disrespectful and belligerent way.
As a peace-loving, law-abiding community, we have done everything under the sun to get this Board to comply with the rules and regulations that guarantee our safety and well-being. Nothing worked. Well, that is all about to change. Enough is enough,
Being of sound mind and body (I was tested lol) I have taken to heart the classic definition of insanity and upped the ante to the next level. Rather than keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, changing the way we do things by raising the level of awareness changes the level of insanity to the level of genius.
And now for something completely different that will change the way we do business with our elected officials. You might call it evolutionary. Genius.
It is something that has never been done before in this context. Is doing something that has never been done before mean it can’t be done? Of course not. Doing the impossible is in our DNA. It is our job as citizens and residents of this community to be the change we want to see. Right is might. We can make this happen. It is the right thing to do.
We want to see an audit performed on the SLO County Board of Supervisor’s approval of the Conditional Use Permit for the AGOF. An audit is an official act and cannot be ignored and would set precedence for other communities to use when dealing with captured politicians and state agencies.
Just saying folks if we want to change the way we do business with our elected officials we have to change our way of thinking about how to do that. Demanding accountability is different than asking or begging or pleading or mitigating the right, legal, lawful action to ensure peace, harmony and equality for everyone. The power to hold bad actors accountable by enforcing consequences is the power point of the people coming into their own. An audit can do that and expose and shine light on our right to know if our elected officials are doing their job and doing it right.
When real changes happen, and the level of consciousness is raised, no one has to die or get hurt or be a martyr. This new level of consciousness practiced by the collective could be defined as a love in. Just good, clean, honest to goodness accountability with honest to goodness results that have honest to goodness consequences. Right is might. This is the right thing to do for all the right reasons.
In the business world this procedure is a proven way to ensure accountability, safety, strict compliance with criteria, policies, procedures, proper permitting and licensing, records and statements of facts and other information which is relevant and verifiable. A certificate of compliance is issued if everything is in proper order. If not, the consequences are immediate and indisputable. Our air, water, soil, lives and livelihood are at stake here. So we need to know if we are safe and the Board can be trusted to be acting on our behalf. It’s time.
With an audit, we don’t have to prove anything. The proof is in the pudding and based on the facts of the matter. And no one can interfere with the auditors who are a third-party accredited business.
In the case of our Board of Supervisors an audit would be ordered by the Grand Jury on behalf of the people of San Luis Obispo County who have a right to be safe and a right to know if the Board of Supervisors, in the case of the Arroyo Grande Oil Field, is doing their job and doing it right.
The genius of this procedure is the transparency and the ultimate power of the auditors to do their job without any interference from the parties involved. No interference from Sentinel, the Board, elected officials or unelected terrorists lobbying groups, no, ‘he said’, ‘she said’, no name calling, no exceptions to the rules, no immunity, no changing the rules mid stream, no threats or special interest groups taking center stage. NO.
An audit is a clean, fair, absolutely essential, transparent process held to a very specific set of standards and criteria to verify and certify that the health and safety of this entire community is in good hands.
In essence, the auditors are akin to a sequestered judge and jury looking at the facts and evidence before it with one single goal in mind. To get to the truth of the matter. Their report is final and the last word on the subject. There is no negotiating or mitigating the decision.
It’s like taking a driving test, or SAT, or drug test or renewing your drivers license. The results are not negotiable.
Asking the Grand Jury, people’s court, to AUDIT the Board of Supervisor’s approval of the Conditional Use Permit for strict compliance with criteria, policies, procedures, proper permitting and licensing, records and statements of facts and other information which is relevant and verifiable according to the conditions precedent in the CUP, is the first step.
A certificate of compliance would be issued if the Board in fact has met and completed all the conditions according to the CUP. If not, an immediate court ordered cease and desist would be issued to the Board of Supervisors to serve on Sentinel. Sentinel would then have to immediately cease and desist all operation until wells are capped and UIC Class I permits for each waste disposal injection well is approved and certified safe by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act waste disposal codes. The Board would be held in contempt if they refused to act immediately to remedy the violations.
Worth repeating: SLO COUNTY TRAILBLAZERS. THAT’S US.
Complaints to the Grand Jury about the Board have been ongoing. Have joined forces with other communities worldwide fighting for our sovereign rights to clean air, water, soil, peace and freedom from fear, war and terrorism. Changing the world starts in our own backyard first, the rest is history.
So, we have our work cut out for us and love is the secret ingredient that triggers fearlessness. We are all in this together and for the love of this precious little piece of paradise and each other, we are going to prevail.
We cannot rest easy until Diablo and the AGOF are proved safe and harmless for future generations. This audit procedure could be applied to the CPUC and the NRC for all the same reasons.
SomeONE has to lead the way. SomeONE has to take a stand. We are The One. It’s been a roller coaster ride the last couple of years and it looks and feels like some real changes are in the works.
Oil is losing its death grip on communities and communities are tightening their grip on lawmakers. Inch by inch life is a cinch, yard by yard it’s very hard. 🏁 The safety of the people is the supreme law.
Here are 2 local groups calling for action if you are so inclined.
This was a test run for the new format. SLO Clean Water is up and running on high frequency, electromagnetic supercharged, metaphysical and kinetic energy that is powered by the love of, for and by our community and our abundant love and gratitude for each other. Buckle your seatbelts.
Don’t forget to subscribe. I will be putting this up on Substack so you can subscribe. It is free. I am wishing you all so much love and joy.
My question is how do we enforce that law? What good are laws, rules, regulations, codes if there is no enforcement mechanism? Without consequences for non-compliance, laws are ignored.
We don’t need new laws. We need the old ones enforced. If the old ones failed because of non-compliance, what can we expect from the new ones? Same thing.
Enforcing laws shouldn’t take forever or cost a community a small fortune to hire lawyers to sue. It also makes no sense to sue the oil industry for doing what our elected officials gave them permission to do by turning a blind eye to enforcing codes and laws for our protection. The officials that gave them permission need to be held responsible for not doing their job. We trusted and relied on them to ensure our safety and well being.
The AGOF has been operating illegally and unlawfully for over 15 years. The State of California cited the AGOF to be in violation of EPA UIC class I certification for the safe disposal of waste by-products into our backyard and the capping and sealing of 44 abandon wells.
Our Board of Supervisors is permitting Sentinel to dump unlicensed, untested, undisclosed, unidentified foreign man-made chemicals into undisclosed, unidentified, sites in our backyard for years. This practice defies, violates local, state, and Federal codes and regulations that stipulates unequivocally that every injection well’s content must be certified and verified safe before one drop is injected into subterranean soil or fugitive emissions released into the air. No exceptions.
We have come to trust and rely on the practice of licensing for our protection and well-being. Trust is a major component to a quality of life that invites peace and harmony and encourages cooperation and abundance for all.
Enough is enough. New laws are not good enough. Principles, good faith, moral imperatives, ethics and an attitude of peace and harmony is the new paradigm going forward. Make love not war.
CalGEM reneged on its threat to close all un-certified waste disposal wells AND to impose a fine of $25,000 per day, per well penalties on all uncapped wells. Warning issued Feb 15, 2017.
I contacted the Attorney General about CalGEM’s failure to make good on their threats to shut down operators who refused to get UIC certified and was told every time that it is not their job to act on behalf of private citizens.
The Governor had the power to order CalGEM to enforce the shutdown but didn’t. Jerry Brown failed to keep his promise to keep us safe. He had the power and authority to order his regulatory agencies to enforce the UIC and abandon well regulations. He chose, as if it was an option, to ignore the violations. You have the same power Governor Newsom. What are you going to do with it?
CalGEM said they did not have enough money or resources to enforce the law. I filed 3 complaints with our Grand Jury about the non-compliance of local state and Federal laws by the Board of Supervisors in violation of the conditional use permit for Sentinel LLC @ the AGOF. The complaints were routinely dismissed and disregarded, not for lack of sufficient proof and evidence, but rather dismissed because it was inconvenient and a political hot potato that no one wanted to deal with.
Please tell me what a law-abiding, peace loving citizen and resident in love with my community and hell bent on keeping it safe and sound for future generations can do when our elected officials, sworn officers of the state and leaders we trust and rely for our safety and well-being disregard, ignore and dismiss as unimportant our deep seeded safety and health concerns?
Does our Board of Supervisors or the EPA or CalGEM or anyone in our governmental regulatory agencies have a record of what Sentinel is disposing of in our backyard? Underground aquifers and ground water reservoirs are fair game without an official record. Out of sight out of mind. And no, not one of the above has a record because our elected officials refused on at least 5 separate occasions to provide this community with an affirmation and verification per a conditional use permit that Underground Injection Control class I permits were secured by the Board.
We delivered over 80,000 signatures on a petition, had 5 local municipalities petition our B of S to simply enforce the local and state Health and Safety regulations that would affirm and officially certify that the injection wells were safe. That is all we wanted was the affirmation that the disposal and drilling process would not endanger our lives or livelihood. It was not our job, responsibility, or duty to prove Sentinel, PXP, Freeport was dumping toxic waste in our backyard and contaminating our air and water. It was in fact the operator’s responsibility to prove they were acting in good faith and the process was safe by complying with certification mandated by Rules, Regulations and Codes and Safety laws.
We have a right to know what is going on in our backyard. That is why we have the EPA, CalGEM, Water Resource, elected officials, State Agencies to enforce our right to know.
Please Governor Newsom tell me what we can do to ensure the enforcement of these laws. We want to believe you. We want to trust you. Please show us you care by just enforcing the UIC Class I Code of the 12 injection wells and the capping and sealing of the 44 wells at the AGOF. It only takes one successful action to send the message of intent that instills the trust that cements the loyalty and oneness that binds us together for all the right reasons.
Silence is consent. PLEASE Listen. PLEASE Hear Us. We want to see the proof from Sentinel that they have been certified safe according to the UIC class I permit and the 44 abandoned wells officially capped and sealed. And we want our elected officials held responsible for getting the official verification and proof as a matter of the public record, that Sentinel’s waste disposal injection wells have been approved and certified SAFE. We have a right to know the truth and the Burden of Proof is on our Board of Supervisors.
On August 18, 2023, the Department of Conservation’s California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) released the Cost Estimate Regulations for Oil & Gas Operations for official public comment under the Administrative Procedures Act.
The regulations provide requirements and methods for oil and gas operators to submit their cost estimates for plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of facilities, and site remediation on a specified schedule. The release begins a public comment period which ends on October 4, 2023.
There are 44 abandoned wells in our back yard here in SLO and I am pissed. 7 years trying to get them capped and sealed. I encourage everyone to write a comment because we are all within spitting distance of the oil industry’s blatant, deadly health and safety violations. And, Biden signed onto granting operators with abandoned wells financial assistance. That’s not mentioned anywhere in the explanation for this hearing.
My comment:
Oil companies had a total sale of $1 trillion dollars in 2022. And rather than imposing a $25,000 a day fine for failure to plug and seal their abandoned wells per the conditions precedent to issuing a permit to drill we are looking to subsidize and bail out offending and violating oil companies that have, with intention and forethought, refused to plug and seal abandoned wells.
You are asking taxpayers, who are NOT shareholders in these private companies, and who do not receive any dividends from those extraordinary profits, to donate our hard-earned tax dollars towards capping and sealing oil companies’ willful neglect, sickening, careless and deliberate safety code violations.
Those companies are bonded and insured. And you, CalGEM, delivered an order to all drilling operations with abandoned wells, Feb. 15, 2017, to seal them immediately or else. And the or else was a shutdown of the operation and a $25,000 a day, per well penalty until the offending wells were rendered capped, sealed and certified safe.
Your agency reneged on the order and simply walked away and did nothing. No enforcement of the penalties or closure of illegal operations was implemented. Really a colossal breach of trust and duty to uphold and enforce safety and health codes for our safety and well-being.
This form of neglect on your part institutionalized self-regulation for an industry that has a history of violating and ignoring any form of principles, ethics and good business practices. Self-regulation is not conducive to and does not speak for the collective, the human factor of cause and effect on living, breathing beings. This form of governing is void of moral and ethical consequences that most certainly is going to adversely affect the principles of fair, beneficial, and cohesive application inherent upon social living beings.
If you had done your job 7 years ago and applied the principles of moral turpitude to the oil industry, we would not be having this conversation. The oil industry played you and you allowed it and now you are playing us for the fool. Well, we are not buying it. We are not fools and we know what is going on.
I object to one single dollar going to committing grand larceny to hijack taxpayer dollars to enrich professional criminals and rewarding them for screwing us over.
The deal was for the operators to cap, seal, and secure decommissioned wells immediately and restore the area to its original condition.
So, to fix this miscarriage of justice and gross infringement on our sense of safety and well-being here’s the deal. Enforce the original agreement with the operators obliged to cap and seal the abandoned wells at their expense with the stipulation and understanding that a fine of $25,000 per day per well will be imposed until and when the condition is signed off as completed and certified safe.
That’s the deal. That’s what was originally agreed upon and that is what we expect to happen going forward.
We, the taxpaying public, are not obliged to remedy and rectify bad business practices with our tax dollars. We are NOT a party to this agreement with the oil industry and therefore do not agree to any taxpayer monies going to enhance trillionaires’ bottom line at our expense.
This hearing is a frivolous display of action and waste of our precious time and resources. The issue at stake here is not about getting cost estimates but rather about the execution of satisfying the plugging and sealing of decommissioned wells by the responsible party upon order to do so.
It is useless to prove that which, when proved, is not relevant. The cost of plugging and sealing is not relevant to the actual previously mandated plugging and sealing.
May I remind you that the effect of law consists in the execution. The issue here is not asking a question about cost but rather giving the order to plug the dangerous abandoned wells now. Do your job, give the order to plug and seal those wells now. He who gives the order is taken himself to be the doer. Someone has to do it. And that someone is you, CalGEM. DO IT.
Monies collected in fines goes into enforcement, manpower, equipment, whatever is needed to ensure compliance with health and safety rules and regulations for our greater good and well-being. There are over 150,000 uncapped, illegal wells. You do the math. Millions coming in from fines makes a hell of a lot more sense than giving it away to trillionaires.
Our Board of Supervisors has for the past 10 years refused to comply with enforcing health and safety codes at the Arroyo Grande Oil Field. They are defying local, State and Federal Codes that mandate an approved Underground Injection Control Class I certification of toxic waste disposal wells before they start extracting and disposing of toxic waste into underground aquifers, streams and subterranean soil.
The Board didn’t seem overly concerned about the community’s water supply that until this year was on emergency drought restrictions. Miraculously AGOF escaped the restrictions and was free to use 1.5 million gallons of fresh water a day to concoct a toxic soup for extraction of asphalt grade crude.
This is a public comment I made to the Board of Supervisors about this issue.
This is the shirt I wore. You state your name before you begin. Public speaking is not always fun. This time it was.
Who am I? I am woman. Jean’ne Blackwell, Hear me roar! (That got a laugh. They thought I was kidding.)
“To summarize the complaint, FOR THE RECORD, THAT I sent to you on Sept 23, 2021, giving you one last chance to do the right thing and order a cease and desist on the unlicensed, illegal AGOF (Arroyo Grande Oil Field) operation or I was going to file a formal complaint with the Department of justice.
YOU FAILED TO RESPOND. SO LET ME just ASK YOU for the record.
What the heck are you doing? You exempted Sentinel from The California Environmental Quality Act? An act that ensures no harm will come to the environment in the pursuit of profits. Are you confident that Sentinel is clean as a whistle and could pass the test? Or are you sure they couldn’t and ARE saving them the expense of making an application you know they are going to fail?
That is like a hospital saying we are not going to bother with sterilizing our equipment because it is not cost effective.
And what is up with no public hearings on the Conditional Use Permit? And don’t give me Covid as an excuse to forge ahead without a public hearing. You allowed the AGOF to operate without licenses and permits for years, all in violations of the conditions precedent to operation before Covid was even an issue.
Is the reason you didn’t hold any hearings was because you knew that without the proper permits and licenses Sentinel could never legally get permission to dump poly, moly. ethyl, methyl, bad shift into our backyard?
And don’t give me the lame excuse that an aquifer exemption is a permit exemption. One does not preclude the other. Title 40 Section 144.11 of THE Code of Federal Regulations unequivocally states that “Any underground injection, WITHOUT A PERMIT is prohibited…. The construction of any well required to have a permit is prohibited until the permit has been issued. NO PERMITS HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO THE ARROYO GRANDE OIL FIELD.
The Arroyo Grande Oil field is required to have a Class I UIC permit IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT. PERIOD. STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVE all officially CITED THE AGOF AS NON-COMPLIANT.
There is a flair tower in that Conditional Use Permit. Do you think for one minute that would pass air quality control codes? You knew it wouldn’t and you didn’t care.
You think you have a right to treat us like second-class citizens? Listen up! Your willful intent to allow illegal and unlawful activity at the Arroyo Grande Oil Field most assuredly jeopardized, vandalized and terrorized every aspect of our right to the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of our environment. You are going to make it right.
WE ARE OPERATING UNDER 2 different SET OF RULES. Rules that you opt to enforce and rules that you opt out of enforcing. Opting out is not an option.
If a citizen tried to build a granny unit over their garage without proper permits, you are on them like a swarm of hornets.
Yet the AGOF can build a flair tower that is going to emit toxic, climate alternating chemicals into the air without so much as a mother may I.
A citizen dumps a can of used oil down a storm drain and there are codes that could put them behind bars but an oil company that has greased the right palms get special preferential treatment akin to royalty.
If a citizen forgets to register their vehicle in a timely manner there is a no mercy policy and one is penalized, criminalized and car impounded in short order no questions asked.
But a monster behemoth oil company can escape any and all registering and licensing fees and permits with the help and assistance of official governing bodies that have befriended and anointed them with special dispensations.
Who speaks for the kids, elderly, students, business, trees, water, animals, who are all totally reliant and dependent on elected officials doing their job and doing it right enforcing water and air, health and safety codes?
EVERY PERSON WHO CARES ABOUT EVERY LIVING BEING and who BELIEVES WE ALL HAVE A RIGHT TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT, AS PERSONS WITH INHERENT, INTRINSIC, VALUE AND WORTH ENTITLED TO EQUAL PROTECTION AND CLEAN AIR, WATER AND SOIL IN PERPETUITY.
You are letting Sentinel get away with murder.
This complaint was sent to the Department of Justice AS PROMISED citing you, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisor, with criminal trespass on our CONSTITUTIONAL rights to be safe and secure in our environment. We are asking for your resignation pending criminal charges forthcoming” (This got a laugh. They thought I was kidding)
note: I felt we had a right to demand their resignation for failing to do their job and keep us safe. If not us, then who?
I did some grammar and spell changes to the original speech before I posted this.
I wrote to all the agencies and person’s that claimed to have jurisdiction over the enforcement of Health and Safety Codes, even the ones that cited the AGOF for non-compliance, CalGEM aka DOGGER, CAL EPA.
Facts and evidence were provided. One Department responded to our petition signed by hundreds of local residents to shut down the illegal hazardous waste disposal dumping by Sentinel in San Luis Obispo County. “It’s not our job to enforce violations of State Laws and Codes.” California State Attorney General. Really? Whose job, is it?
I filed 3 official Grand Jury complaints citing proof and evidence that BofS failed to enforce local health and safety codes at the AGOF. No action was taken. District attorney can refuse to indict even if the Grand Jury finds cause. Hummmmm
This was not a one woman show. This was a community voicing their concerns and demands. I had letters from 4 local municipalities and a petition with 80,000 signatures, calling for a cease and desist at the AGOF until it was proven a safe and harmless operation. Remember it is not our job to prove it is harmful. The burden of proof is entirely on the applicant to prove it is certifiably safe and meets all safety and health standards and codes. That never happened at the AGOF. Why?
In closing I would just like to say there are far less devastating, deadly, irreversible and irreparable disasters when safety and health codes are followed and enforced. That’s why we have them and why it is so important to enforce them. They should be called Prevention Codes.
New SLO Board of Supervisors on the job as of Jan. 2023. About to witness what a difference one honest to goodness person can make.
We are sitting amid 2 disasters waiting to happen. The Arroyo Grande Oil Fields and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. They are an Ohio train wreck in the making.
Elected officials doing their job keeping us safe is the single most obvious guarantee and way of preventing disasters. Safe means protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed. Clean air, water and soil is the recipe for a safe, happy, healthy living environment.
You can’t un-poison a well or bring someone back to life. No water for livestock, crops, drinking, no clean air to breathe no land to grow food, walk or play on is a death sentence. One toxic train wreck can compromise an entire community’s well being poisoning the water, air and soil. A death sentence.
Back in the day poisoning a water source was treated as a murderous act and a hanging offense. Water is life. No ifs, ands or buts. Anyone trying to ensure their own success by poisoning the water source was guaranteed to pay the ultimate price, which was supposed to be a deterrent, the death penalty. That was the Code of the West. Everyone knew the Code and the consequences for breaking the Code.
That didn’t prevent it entirely, but it did give the victims of an irreversible and irreparable act of violence some satisfaction and solace to know the murderers were going to pay for their crime and never be able to do harm again. The code has changed and so has the unprecedented rise in deadly acts of terrorism and violence. Today’s corporate entities like PG&E can be convicted of killing 84 people in a wildfire they caused, and the company will be fined millions of dollars, but no one will go to jail.
Today’s murderers are not only protected from consequences for poisoning air, water and soil, they are given priority favorite ‘nation’ status, guaranteeing they will survive and thrive unencumbered and in perpetuity at the expense of nature’s divine, innate, inherent right to be free from the ‘rights’ of mass murderers to indiscriminately kill at will. We are one with nature. What happens to nature happens to us.
The Ohio train wreck is just one of countless intentional money saving policies condoned by elected officials that prioritize profit over public safety. A fatal flaw in this “new’ code of conduct, is that when people’s lives and our quintessential lifelines, air, water, soil, are disrupted and destroyed it is of no consequence.
Industry is immune from criminal charges that would impose a life sentence of incarceration on a convicted felon to prevent a repeat of the crimes. But because industry is a fictitious person that cannot be apprehended or confined the only cure for acts of death and destruction inflicted by a for-profit business is, monetary. Criminal.
How much is a life worth? It is priceless. And our politicians know this and that should trigger abundant caution and microscopic surveillance of industrial operations to ensure the prevention of catastrophic accidents. This train wreck was totally preventable. Public safety and health Codes were indisputably abandoned by local, State and Federal officials to simply accommodate industries’ profit margin. Plain and simple. Criminal.
Who oversees enforcement of Health and Safety codes? The industry that is subject to it. It’s called self-regulation and it is a full-on certifiable disaster. As it now stands our elected officials opted to put the industry in charge of themselves. That was never a lawful option. Empowering self-regulation to known convicted criminals with a history of ‘accidents’, errors and intentional wrongdoing resulting in death is a criminal act of aiding and abetting. This Ohio train wreck is just the tip of the iceberg on how efficient and effective self-regulated policy works. It doesn’t. In every case where safety rules and regulations have been ignored, irreversible and irreparable harm has resulted.
Truth be told, regulated industry cannot be held responsible for doing what their supervisors (our elected officials) give them permission to do. It’s called a loophole and loopholes are flaws that need to be fixed before they are enforced. No motive or incentive to fix this crime. The ones benefiting are the ones in charge of fixing it.
Our elected officials are the key component that has enabled this travesty to become the debtonator of our existence. Out of total disregard for our well-being and in the interest of preserving and encouraging profits for their vested interest, safety issues for the common good are conveniently ignored out of existence. Vested interests are perpetrated under the color of office and implemented by abuse of power shrouded in a betrayal of a sacred trust. A betrayal of trust is the worst offense an elected official can commit and warrants the maximum punishment. Life in prison.
Filing criminal charges against elected officials for felony trespass on our right to unencumbered representation and felony manslaughter for willful and intentional neglect of their duties and responsibilities that resulted in death and irreversible harm, is our job and priority as law abiding citizens. There is no excuse for this wanton miscarriage of justice by our lawmakers. They know what they are doing. It is their job to know. And it is criminal behavior at its best.
I think a few court cases convicting elected officials on these grounds will soon clear up and cure the crime and corruption that has infiltrated our core values and principles. When there are obvious, imminent and swift consequences for wrongdoing guaranteeing they will pay for their crimes, things will change real fast.
We can change the world by changing how we do business with our elected officials in our own back yard.
The Arroyo Grande Oil Field is operating without local, State and Federal health and safety code permits in violation of the Underground Injection Control Class I permit to safely dump toxic forever chemicals into our backyard. Sentinel Peak Resources, LLC is dumping toxic, known to cause cancer chemicals, at will into our local underground aquifers, creeks and subterranean soil. We have no idea of what is being dumped or where because our elected officials, SLO County Board of Supervisors, have intentionally allowed the disposal of toxic waste into our underground aquifers without so much as a mother may I for the past 20 years.
A UIC permit is certification by a 3rd party that an operation is in compliance with the very strict and uncompromising standards of the safety and health code.
This certificate is our ONE and ONLY official trustworthy guarantee of our safety and well-being. Without it we are at the mercy of a corrupt, bought and paid for criminal syndicate. Is this an Ohio train Wreck mentality? Oh Yes.
What is the harm in requiring the operators to provide the mandatory UIC Class I waste disposal Permit? The harm is if Sentinel failed to pass the UIC test it would expose and prove beyond a reasonable doubt an organized, criminal partnership between the lead agency officials, BoS, and Sentinel with the intent to trick and deceive the public about the true condition of the toxic waste. That deceit puts every man, woman and child’s life in SLO county and beyond in danger.
And Diablo Canyon is the same issue, and the results will be the same. Give them an inch and they will take a foot. It is simple. The Deal was by 2024/2025 shut down – no ifs, ands or buts. PG&E has known since 2009 that this day was coming. No excuses. They cannot be trusted. They are convicted criminals. PG&E pleaded guilty to the deaths of 84 people in a wildfire they caused.
There is a good faith condition in every contract. PG&E has proven they cannot be trusted and has violated the good faith doctrine by asking for an extension because they had no intention of honoring the contract.
We are living on borrowed time as it is. Diablo sits within striking distance of the most active earthquake fault in the world. And all the experts have said shut it down as fast as you can without delay because there is no recovery protocol that will restore the environment back to a safe, harmless and livable site in our lifetime. Criminal.
The total and absolute careless, reckless disregard for our safety and well-being by entertaining an extension proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that elected officials duty bound to use abundant caution and care for our safety, consider and regard all human life as collateral damage in the ultimate pursuit and quest for profit for a chosen few at the expense of an entire community. Criminal.
Money cannot fix this. In every case money has not stopped the train wrecks and oil spills, air pollution, fires, that threaten all life on earth. It is time that we do something different to have a different result that will ensure it never happens again.
We have the legal, lawful right to make a criminal case against captured politicians that love themselves and their power and influence more than the community that elected them.
It’s about holding our elected officials first and foremost accountable for their actions and setting an example of the consequences for breach of trust and abuse of power. A Code of ethics that transcends man-made laws. Holding our elected officials accountable is our sworn sacred duty as human beings and now is the time. It is a Do or Die call to action.
Saving grace here in San Luis Obispo County is we have a changing of the guard with a newly elected Board of Supervisors. In the coming weeks I will be contacting the Board and requesting on behalf of all the citizens and residents of San Luis Obispo County that the Board immediately rescind the illegal and unlawful conditional use permit until and when the conditions precedent to approving the CUP are met. Until and when the UIC class 1 permit is signed, sealed and delivered to the Board the Board is criminally liable for allowing the illegal disposal of uncertified toxic chemicals into the unincorporated areas of San Luis Obispo County. Criminal.
If anyone would like to join me I will be glad to make the complaint available for you to sign and provide the contact info for your supervisor.
Together, as one, we will change how we do business with our elected officials and that changes everything for the better.
globalfrackdownallies] Chile: “announced a proposed new constitution written by a democratically elected convention, and it is likely the most legitimate constitution in the world, as it is written boldly in the context of the climate crisis. …. A stunning achievement.”
We are not the leader anymore. We have been coup-ed. Corporate owns America lock, stock and barrel and all the branches of our government, executive, legislative and judicial. It was a brilliant, clever, ingenious, insidious, devious coup. There were plenty of warnings of the impending coup that we systematically ignored and dismissed. Par for the course.
Since we allowed our precious freedom and rights to be abducted by a heartless, amoral, entity e.g. Exxon et al, Monsanto, Big Ag, Big Pharma, Industrial Complex, Gun lobby, Big media, Big god it now has everything it needs and wants to rule with absolute power and control. It is both fictitious which means you can’t file criminal charges against it for poisoning Mother Earth and killing every living thing in its wake because it is not a physical being even though it can live forever, in perpetuity.
And it is a real person with Constitutional rights to earn more money than god, money talks, for raping and pillaging our water, oceans, air, soil, trees, mountains, raw earth minerals because that would infringe on its right to earn a living. Legalize murder. It is both dead and alive and immortal all at the same time. Supercon-atural What a feat. What a coup. So we are now the United States of America, INC.
Chile, Iceland, Costa Rica, New Zealand, India, even China is kicking our butts. Corporate Oil, Pharma, Ag, military industrial complex, Gun lobby, Media don’t have an honest bone in its body, oh right, it doesn’t have a body so honesty is not an issue. We could be world leaders in making this a safer, healthier, cleaner world if we just teamed up with the right partner. Nature is the answer to all our problems and INC can’t kill Her fast enough.
Our leaders are making all the wrong choices for all the wrong reasons and that is going to get us deader, faster. We, USA,INC., are using and promoting killer chemicals and industries that at least 10 other countries have officially banned because of their known, proven deadly toxicity to all living things. WE, USA,INC., are expert at killing things and have not figured out a single way to bring something back to life. Hoisted by our own petard and the coup d’etat of the great transfer of power. Ironic isn’t it? ‘ A democratically elected convention’ formed by real people in Chile, is going to lead the way by teaming up with the most powerful force on earth that has nothing but unconditional love for Peace and Harmony as Her top Priority. Nature will have the last say. [globalfrackdownallies] Chile: “announced a proposed new constitution written by a democratically elected convention, and it is likely the most legitimate constitution in the world, as it is written boldly in the context of the climate crisis. …. A stunning achievement.”
This week, Chile announced a proposed new constitution written by a
democratically elected convention, and it is likely the most legitimate
constitution in the world, as it is written boldly in the context of the
climate crisis. A [thread] on its inspiring climate provisions.
Please note, this thread is among the most complete translations of the
climate provisions into English yet, so* please share widely so people
know how serious this really is.*
Right wing forces are trying to undermine and delegitimize an admirable,
equitable democratic process, implying their preference for a dictator's
decree over the will of Chilean people. On Sep 4th, Chile will vote on this
Constitutional proposal, with fierce right wing opposition.
Intl solidarity is urgently needed to fend off these attacks on Chile’s
popular sovereignty.
Early sections of the constitution inscribe environmental protection,
environmental education, and the right to clean air and a healthy
environment as basic human rights. Nature is given an inherent right to
exist and other rights cannot impede that. ...
Chapter 3 covers nature and environment. It’s tremendous. It outlines
state responsibility to protect nature’s rights and guiding principles inc.
environmental justice and international solidarity. The state is mandated
to work to prevent, mitigate, & adapt to the climate crisis!
Ch. 3 has four sections. The first covers broadly defined natural commons,
which are guaranteed for present and future generations and include water,
air, the atmosphere, and underground. Ecosystem integrity is protected,
including watersheds, glaciers, permafrost, oceans, etc.
The second covers water. Chile is the only country on earth with a fully
privatized water market and it has Latin America's highest water prices.
The constitution would make water a human right equitably distributed by a
Nat'l Water Agency and a participatory governance system.
Sec. 3 establishes “absolute and exclusive domain” over all minerals &
fossil fuels. Any mining is made to consider their finite non-renewable
nature and enviro/social concerns. Glaciers, parklands, & big water bodies
are excluded from mining. Companies are made liable for harms.
The last section of Chapter 3 is especially creative. It establishes and
outlines an autonomous body to protect the legal rights of nature, building
on an Indigenous-led tradition that has been tested at smaller scales in
the US, Ecuador, and India.
The proposed Chilean constitution enshrines Indigenous sovereignty
(Article 5), official Indigenous languages (12), self-determination (34),
and representation (162). These are central pillars of its environmental
legitimacy. ...
In other sections, financial activities are made to consider the
environment. The Central Bank, state financial activities, and any creation
or change of territories to consider environmental protection as a core
part of the process. ...
The Chilean people have risen up and rejected a constitution written by
fascist generals and US ideologues. They've proposed an alternative (linked
in Spanish) that could well be the most reasonable constitution in the
world. A stunning achievement.
Tell Congress: Pass the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax
In 2021 alone, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, and Chevron made a combined $75 billion in profits and they’re currently raking in billions more. New analysis reveals that high oil prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will net the U.S. upstream oil and gas industry a windfall of $37 to $126 billion (USD) in 2022 alone.
The Big Oil Windfall Profit Tax would implement a tax on all barrels of oil sold above the average Brent crude price between 2015-2019, roughly $66 a barrel. It’s estimated this could raise around $35-40 billion a year. Checks would be distributed via the same mechanism as the American Recovery Plan. A windfall profits tax on Big Oil would mean that fifty percent of those undeserved profits would be taxed at a higher rate, discouraging artificial price inflations.
Join us and urge your elected members in Congress to co-sponsor and support the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax.
This is my letter to . Salud Carbajal and Diane Feinstein,
There is a moral imperative here. You know what it is. You know the difference between fair and unfair. Right and wrong. Big oil doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Where do you stand? A no vote on the windfall tax is a morally corrupt vote against the principles that define a society’s value and worth. Who are you really?
This is a link to the form. Write your letter. Let them know what you feel and think. It’s easy and it gives you a voice. Use it. Tell Congress: Pass the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax https://act.priceofoil.org/sign/big-oil-windfall-profits-tax?akid=s121311..QO16-c&fbclid=IwAR3cwfz8SE_NmHU4VTWIsz7KIKmXhJAusdQQbVwbhojo5G4uu_0HCXKoh9k
I will post how Congress voted on this so you can see first hand who cares about doing the right thing for all the right reasons. And those that could care less.
Here are some sobering facts about our water. And just knowing this I wonder how in the name of God we can allow injection of toxic, radioactive, forever chemicals to be disposed of in our groundwater,which is exactly what is occurring at the Arroyo Grande Oil Field by Sentinel LLC and 100’s of thousands of other injection wells across this country.
Is it allowed by exemption or exceptions to the rules? How can you make an exception or exemption to a rule that guarantees safety, health and well being? Morally, ethically you can’t. Poisoning the water supply is still poisoning no matter who does it. An exception or exemption just gives the offending party immunity from prosecution. So wtf?
If I poured arsenic down my neighbors well and all the animals and anyone that drank it died, am I liable? Or is that o.k. because I was granted special dispensation by the persons in charge of making and enforcing the law? Well, here’s another interesting fact. People are not held to the same standards and rules and regulations as corporations.
Corporations can be exempted and granted immunity from prosecution for first degree murder, manslaughter, in essence poisoning of vital resources, air, water and soil to be specific. Whereas, in the case of real persons they are held to a different much stricter and more stringent standards under criminal codes for the same offense.
A pardon from the President of the United States is the only thing that will save a sentenced person and it is based on proving they were unjustly convicted of the crime. And even then in many cases like, Leonard Peltier, even when proven innocent there is no pardon. Now that is criminal in the first degree.
Corporations on the other hand are granted an automatic pardon and afforded the privilege of just saying, aka, lying that their discharge and industrial by product is harmless and that is good enough to allow them to dump the poison until people and things start to die. That could pose a momentary set back for the producers but systematically doable. You can’t bring the animals and people back to life but all the offending party has to do to avoid prosecution is to say; “sorry my bad. I didn’t know what I was doing. It was an accident”
Our 2 tier justice system that handles real persons committing crimes against humanity and the social order one way under criminal law while at the same time handles fictitious persons differently under the quasi Administrative Rules and Regulations civil process that have automatically granted them immunity from prosecution for ‘crimes’ against humanity and the social order.
It is in fact impossible to prosecute a Corporation under Criminal law because they can not be captured and prosecuted as a person and sentenced to death or life in prison like a real person for capital crimes or any crimes for that matter. The worst that can happen to a fictitious entity that practices unsafe, unhealthy, deadly operations is a monetary settlement, you could call this capitol punishment, which really doesn’t do justice to or cure or remedy the death and destruction of lives and livelihoods that was inflicted. In civil settlements of this nature they are allowed to continue doing what they are doing which guarantees more deaths, suffering, irreparable and irreversible harm wherever they are present. Whereas real persons are removed from society, incarcerated, which removes the threat to the public and prevents them from repeating their offense. Not so with corporations who are operating under a different set of rules.
Yes, a real clear and present division and divide of how the law recognizes and values lives v capitol. 2 sets of rules with 2 different standards of moral and ethical codes of conduct. Corporations are amoral and real persons are moral centric. Which is to say morals don’t apply to the amoral class of ‘persons.’
So the law that is based on morals and principles and treats everyone the same doesn’t apply to a class of ‘persons’ that are fictitious and privileged in nature. Interesting. Questions really are; Is this system of justice sustainable and doable? Is it fair? It is right? Are these even valid questions in an amoral society? So who are we?
First, let me dedicate this newsletter in loving memory to Fred Collins who devoted his life to righting wrongs and giving a voice to the voiceless. We are carrying on Fred’s legacy and can feel his energy and divine intervention. Thank you for blazing this trail for us Fred. In celebration of a life devoted to caring with all his heart
Sincerely, SLO CLEAN WATER COMMUNITY.
Now, going to bookend the beginning and the end of this newsletter with something that hopefully will bring a smile to your lips and glide you along in anxious anticipation of the end.
Hitting the pavement running.
2nd BOS has been very busy ignoring our right to a healthy and safe environment and putting this entire community at risk with toxic contaminated air and water.
After 6 years and a lot of underhanded shenanigans the BOS is responding to the Center for Biological Diversity’s appeal. All this comes to a head on Tues, Oct. 19 BOS, in person, wear masks, meeting, 9 am in chambers @ 1055 Monterey, SLO. I will attach CBD’s talking points below to keep this as short and sweet as possible. This is a recent victory for CBD and is a BIG Deal. THIS IS GREAT MOMENTUM GOING FORWARD. We can do Great. https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/california-oil-industry-lobby-group-files-for-bankruptcy-2021-09-08/
If anyone has 3 minutes they could donate to my 3 minutes I could enter into the record a compliant that I filed with the Department of Justice calling out our Board for civil right violations. Just another level of criminal activity by our BOS. If I talk real fast and don’t breathe it is 5:42. Just fill out a speaker sheet on Tuesday and give it to the Clerk and before Tuesday email me you are donating your 3 minutes to me so I can reference it when I am called or if you are called first can pass it onto me when I am called. Thank you. Just need one. I can do a cliff note version no worries. Between CBD and citizen action we got this Board between a rock and a hard place.
4th Statewide ballot proposition for November 2022. Please pass this on to any other groups or organizations you know so they can pass it onto their members.
This is a first for me. Never put out a DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION ALERT. So here it is. It is the ultimate WATER grab that puts a national organization in charge of our water and can override our local and state agencies. I don’t think so. This is toxic legislation. Don’t sign. If they don’t get enough signatures it will not be on the ballot. The Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022
It is a proposition for the Nov 2022 ballot and from the same people who brought us the recent recall + Poseidon and the Resnicks, who murdered hundreds of native Paso oaks (Fiji Water, Pom, etc) without so much as a mother may I. Resnicks very cozy with the PAC. Guilt by association. Oh yea.
Petitioners are well funded so the signature gatherers will be paid per signature.
The name of the proposition: The Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022 DO NOT SIGN.
And finally, I was driving to Trader Joes in SLO yesterday and Bob Banner popped into my head as I passed by Creekside mobile home park. And it just so happens 9 years ago today Oct 12, 2012 we held a Democracy School at the Creekside Club House courtesy of Bob Banner who donated the space. Bob was a very integral part of this community. I miss his presence. The park must have some of his residual energy. He is living in Oregon. Making a difference in his new community I am sure. Join me in sending him best wishes and an avalanche of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ideas. and finally, Join me in sending Love and healing Light to Jules London.
As promised a happy ending. Keep smiling. Have fun.
SLO Clean Water 