EPA says Tucson’s drinking water is contaminated but air force claims agency lacks authority to order cleanup

EPA says Tucson’s drinking water is contaminated but air force claims agency lacks authority to order cleanup

The US air force is refusing to comply with an order to clean drinking water it polluted in Tucson, Arizona, claiming federal regulators lack authority after the conservative-dominated US supreme court overturned the “Chevron doctrine”. Air force bases contaminated the water with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” and other dangerous compounds.

Though former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials and legal experts who reviewed the air force’s claim say the Chevron doctrine ruling probably would not apply to the order, the military’s claim that it would represents an early indication of how polluters will wield the controversial court decision to evade responsibility.

It appears the air force is essentially attempting to expand the scope of the court’s ruling to thwart regulatory orders not covered by the decision, said Deborah Ann Sivas, director of the Stanford University Environmental Law Clinic.

“It’s very odd,” she added. “It feels almost like an intimidation tactic, but it will be interesting to see if others take this approach and it bleeds over.”

  • Deconceptualist@lemm.eeEnglish
    41·
    4 months ago

    So “federal regulators lack the authority” to order a cleanup, even though feds made the orders that led to environmental damage in the first place. Riiiiight.

    • xenoclast@lemmy.world
      37·
      4 months ago

      This is nothing. Wait until you see what the corporations will do when they’re told to stop polluting say the water source of a major city and they say fuck you to the EPA

      It’s gonna get so so so much worse

      "Millions leave Chicago because Dow Chemical poisons the water table. When asked for comment a DOW chemical PR representative said: ‘Yeah, suck a dick losers’ "

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
        6·
        4 months ago

        The EPA can still take them to court with a jury over things like this, but they won’t have the resources to take everyone to court.

        So you still gotta be smart about it and not do something like completely wreck the water source for Chicago, because they’ll use their limited resources to go after them.

        But some small town no one cares about? Probably much easier.

        • xenoclast@lemmy.world
          1·
          4 months ago

          You’re talking about the same companies that own entire local governments. That get to choose the rules they play under in normal situations.

          This is like nothing any human currently alive in America has experienced. It’s worse than 1800s robber Baron America. It’s the same attitude and people with (and I means this literally) million of times greater resources than the government.

          The 44 years of dismantling and disrupting any power the government had is starting to pay off in spades.

          The reality is, we’ll look at my original comment and laugh at how naive and quaint it was. Like people saying “Trump will never win” then "How bad could he fuck it up really?.. and then…