Posted on March 20 at 4:57 p.m.

The reports in last week’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting about Greka’s “cleanup” efforts were shamefully misleading. So were the reports of the County’s oilfield inspections during the past few weeks.

It is true that Greka had hired a contractor to assist with cleanup of two creeks. As of Monday this week, that contractor was no longer on the job. Anyone who looks at the creek along Palmer Road (go look!!) can see that the cleanup is far from complete. Even if the cleanup of these two creeks were to take place, there are still 400+ spills (a half million reported gallons of pollutants) in the county that have yet to be resolved. County Fire Department records for the past several years (available for public review) show clearly that Greka has not complied with a single cleanup directive from the Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Unit (HMU). Often, the cleanup requirements from federal and state responders are far less rigorous than those from the HMU. So Greka has a general policy of non-compliance with HMU, and still the County continues to blindly issue Greka’s permits to operate.

And speaking of the HMU, guess who has been specifically asked not to participate in the County’s inspections of late? That’s right, the HMU inspectors were involved in the first two inspections, and, perhaps because of the shocking number of violations they documented (?), were subsequently pulled off the project. (….unlabeled “out of service” pipes actively spewing deadly gas!!??…..oozing crude oil drain valves stuffed with old t-shirts!!??….no problem!) Keep this in mind when listening to County staff’s glowing accounts of progress being made.

It is one thing to tip-toe around a big, slovenly company with a well-known track record of absolutely unsafe practices, gross negligence, and open disregard for all things decent and upright just because they have money, influence, and effective attorneys. It is quite another to passively help such a company break the law by ignoring the obvious.

On What to Do About Greka