Chairman Smitherman to President Obama: Suspend EPA Region VI Admin
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Chairman Barry Smitherman of the Texas Railroad Commission (TCCRI Board Member) has asked that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz be suspended and investigated for statements he made in 2010 which have recently come to light. According to Chairman Smitherman’s letter:
At a 2010 public meeting in Dish, Texas, Mr. Armendariz stated his “enforcement priority” was to target oil and gas companies and that his enforcement philosophy “was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years.”
[As of Friday, April 27, the video of Mr. Armendariz no longer appears on YouTube.]
Read the full text of Chairman Smitherman’s letter (PDF). The text of the letter is also copied below:
April 26, 2012
The President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20050
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing today to advise you of the egregious statements made by one of your top EPA officials, Region Six Administrator, Al Armendariz. The statements are just the latest in a series of actions by Mr. Armendariz that demonstrate his predisposition against companies in the energy sector.
At a 2010 public meeting in Dish, Texas, Mr. Armendariz stated his “enforcement priority” was to target oil and gas companies and that his enforcement philosophy “was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years.”
These outrageous, insensitive remarks demonstrate a clear bias against oil and gas producers. Further proof of Mr. Armendariz’ bias is seen in his handling of the Range Resources case. Before Mr. Armendariz issued an emergency order in the Range Resources case, his own investigators informed him that there was naturally occurring methane in the area. Furthermore, they informed him that the wells he was basing his emergency order on had not been connected to houses in months. Even knowing these facts, Mr. Armendariz issued a public statement saying an emergency order was necessary because “houses could explode.”
His knowing, willful misrepresentation of the facts should be sufficient to cast doubt on his actions. Unfortunately, Mr. Armendariz’ bad faith actions do not stop there. Mr. Armendariz knowingly publicized a video of one of the complainants appearing to light on fire the water coming from his garden hose. A judge recently stated the following about that video:
“The court references with concern the actions of Mr. Steven Lipsky, under the advice or direction of Ms. Alisa Rich, to intentionally attach a garden hose to a gas vent – not a water line – and then light and burn the gas from the end nozzle of the hose. This demonstration was not done for scientific study but to provide local and national news media a deceptive video, calculated to alarm the public into believing the water was burning. There is further evidence that Rich knew the regional EPA administration and provided or assisted in providing additional misleading information (including the garden hose video) to alarm the EPA. Moreover, the emails in question which refer to this deceptive garden hose demonstration as a ‘strategy’ appear to support that a ‘meeting of the minds’ took place and that a reasonable trier of fact could believe, together with other evidence, that the elements of a conspiracy to defame Range exist.”
Even more troubling is that it took two years and a court order to get the EPA to admit that Range Resources did not contaminate these water wells. During that time, production was curtailed and the economic benefit derived from those wells ceased to enrich our domestic economy.
If you take into account Mr. Armendariz’ statements about crucifying oil and gas companies, and his actions that were taken contrary to the evidence he received from his staff and others, you must come to the conclusion that this man places little value on sound science, and is indeed acting in a biased manner.
This unquestionable bias clearly taints the enforcement actions that have occurred under his watch. In order to restore confidence that the EPA is not pursuing a purely political agenda, I am calling on you to require your appointee, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, to suspend Mr. Armendariz and to investigate all enforcement actions taken during his tenure as Region Six Administrator.
In order to have an “all of the above” energy strategy, oil and gas companies must be assured of a science-based, unbiased regulator. Actions of people like Mr. Armendariz with a personal vendetta against oil and gas companies serve no purpose other than making energy producers think twice about whether they will be fairly regulated by the EPA.
Furthermore, if you are serious about growing the middle class, look no further than America’s energy companies. Thousands of hardworking, middle-class Americans are securing six-figure jobs in our energy sector. Oil and gas produced at home means we send less money to foreign despots like Hugo Chavez. Royalty checks put more money to work in our economy, and tax revenues shore up the finances of our overextended government.
If you are truly serious about having a science-based EPA, about promoting an “all of the above” energy strategy, and growing the American middle class, I see no alternative to suspending Mr. Armendariz and investigating his actions. If you have questions, or if you would like more examples of Mr. Armendariz bias, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Barry T. Smitherman
Chairman, Texas Railroad Commission
cc: Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
