Lance LeFleur job review comments!
There's still time to file at this address. ( https://alabamarivers.
My comments...
There's still time to file at this address. ( https://alabamarivers.
My comments...
Please
accept these comments on the lack of performance and inefficiency by Director
Lance LeFleur.
Since he took over as
director, the enforcement part of ADEMs responsibility has been all but
ignored. Chronic and egregious violations of the CWA receive multiple “letters”,
which ADEM considers enforcement action. The letters seldom have any deterrent
penalties attached and are given an arbitrary compliance timeline which often
exceeds the length of time to actually make repairs. During these arbitrary
grace periods, ADEM doesn’t inspect the sites for compliance, which is a
requirement. The polluters know that ADEM will not likely inspect again until
the arbitrary time frame nears the end, so they make no effort to comply with
either the consent order or the permit requirements. Case in point Advanced Disposal
Landfill in Tuscaloosa Co. Land Permit # 63-16, NPDES ALG160090
This
facility has remained out of compliance since 2013 that I can document. Everything
from off-site tracking to improper BMPs, water quality violations, and failure
to provide compaction and or cover weekly as described in the permit has been
documented on a regular basis for several years. I have personally submitted
hundreds of photos in dozens of complaints since 2012. The files are full. ADEM
accepted the polluter’s misinformed responses despite hard evidence of chronic
violations. In a recent consent order where ADEM water division got involved
there was finally a penalty issues in the amount of $54,900.00. That may sound
like a lot but given it covered several years of non-compliant behavior is
comes to pennies on the dollar what it should be. The fines are mostly less
than cost of business to comply. ADEM has never issued a maximum $250,000 “maximum fine” in the Hurricane Creek
watershed to my knowledge. ADEM can assess much
larger penalty amounts if they file a lawsuit with an aim to truly set
precedent and deter future violations.
Under
LeFleur the inspections have gotten less and facilitated by less qualified inspectors.
Inspectors routinely arrive at the above landfill facility and ride with the
operator for guided tours and not independent inspections. I have read
inspection reports that claim my hard photographic evidence doesn’t exist.
Flagging waste, deep rills, lack of cover, no proper haul road, erosion of all
closed faces, and the smell emanating from the area. In one case, an inspector
took photos of a failing BMP device stating that it was intact and the wood I
had reported floating loosely in the pond was “holding the litter screen in
place”. This is an outright lie. The device had been reported years before as
defective but this inspector fabricated information and falsified an official
report. Either the inspectors are inadequately trained, lack initiative, or are
far too cozy with the polluters on LeFleur’s watch.
Another
failure to protect under the LeFleur administration was Beacon Place ALR 10AU84, which operated
from April 2016 to at least July 2018 in non-compliance. They had large
excavations attached to the permitted site that was NOT under permit for more
than 2 years. I notified ADEM inspectors of this but they decided to take the
word of the polluter over hard evidence again. There were chronic offsite
impact violations during the entire construction project. ADEM was informed
that the permit map had been deviated from and none of the discharge points
were as located properly. Entire drain systems drawn in the plans were
nonexistent and others installed with no engineering modifications to the
permit. Inspectors routinely accepted the false information given by the
polluter rather than hard evidence and performing their own independent,
thorough inspections as they are paid to do. There are many other projects and
issues for which Mr. LeFleur and his “bare bones program” have caused. Lack of
enforcement is the single largest cause of impaired streams in Alabama and
Lance is the head of this impotent agency.
A train carrying
Bakken Crude derailed just outside Aliceville Alabama on Nov. 8, 2013. On
Dec.09, 2013, ADEM issued statements that did not spread because a beaver day
held it back! This statement not only shows a complete ignorance of the
environmental conditions created by beavers but a willful misinformation campaign
to mislead the public. When questioned about it later Lance claimed the ongoing
cleanup was successful in removing most of the oil. This was also completely
fabricated since I had been on the site almost weekly posting the lack of
progress Lance claimed so successful. No maintenance had taken place until
after the first media story broke.
One of the first things I noticed and documented was the
railroad contractor using oil-saturated soil to rebuild the rail bed. Oil was
weeping profusely from the rebuilt bed material. I took photos and video to
ADEM in Montgomery to a meeting where Lance and Steve Jenkins, and several of
my colleagues were both present. Steve was in charge of the so-called cleanup
and response. When I presented the evidence to Lance Stave shouted me down
saying I was overreacting, wrong and making it up. Lance took Steve’s word and
quickly announced the meeting was over before ever seeing all of the evidence.
He did not want to see it because he would then have to admit being wrong. Like
Mr. Trump, Lance has a hard time admitting he is wrong. The site of the train
wreck still today weeps Bakken Crude oil from the sediment when disturbed.
Nothing at the Aliceville wreck site was properly handled by
ADEM. None of the contaminated soil should have been allowed to go back in the
swamp. Lance turned a blind eye to the damages created by the “repairs” to the
railroad while oil flowed freely through the swamp.
This video and subsequent photos were taken and edited
03/02/14, 4 months after the wreck. Nothing here resembles ongoing oil removal
as proclaimed by Lance LeFleur, ADEM Director, Dec.09, 2013… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9mGMH4Rb3M&t=13s
3 days later… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKG1y4MPUY
9 weeks
out… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2EIgVJiWfc
11 weeks
out… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWC5I-D9aSc
News
stories…
The level
of ADEMs involvement in the fiasco in North B’ham was and is disgraceful. Mr.
LeFleur claimed no knowledge of the crimes some were indicted on but it was on
his watch. I will let my colleagues from that area expand on the technical
issues associated with that case.
175,000
dead fish in the Black Warrior River could have and should have been prevented.
The company responsible had other “incidents” where they discharged toxic water
into the river. No meaningful penalties or enforcement was taken under
LeFleur's “bare bones” lack of enforcement. When a company like Tyson or
Advanced Disposal Landfill knows the state isn’t going to take action, they
will continue to pollute with reckless frequency. When asked by Cynthia Gould
about the fish kill, LeFleur blew her off saying he had to be fair with the
polluter. What about being fair with our rivers and streams? How about being
fair with our children’s health around these rivers? How about ADEM doing it’s
job by enforcing the laws?
Mr. LeFleur is incapable of running an environment
protection agency such as ADEM because; he himself seems not care about
enforcement or understands the complexities of Alabama’s environment. He has
stated publicly that “ADEM’s job is not to enforce the Clean Water Act, ADEM’s
job is to issue permits.” I harshly
disagree!
One of the major complaints coming from Lance is how under
funded ADEM is but he has made no real efforts to change that. He was quoted,
as saying that the state told him to run a “bare bones program” The state does
not tell the director what to do. Even if they could, I don’t think “bare
bones” meant stop enforcement and simply issue permits that will not be upheld.
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