Home » Posts tagged 'seattle'

Tag Archives: seattle

Olduvai
Click on image to purchase

Olduvai III: Catacylsm
Click on image to purchase

Post categories

Post Archives by Category

Seattle Company Used Secret Drain to Dump Toxic Waste Directly Into Sewer System

December 31, 2019

Seattle Company Used Secret Drain to Dump Toxic Waste Directly Into Sewer System

The two men responsible allegedly lied to regulators about their operation since 2009. 

Seattle Drain Toxic Waste Sewer

(TMU) — According to a 36-count grand jury indictment, a Seattle company used a hidden drain to dump a highly-corrosive chemical solution directly into the sewer system.

The King County sewer system eventually reaches the Duwamish Waterway and the Puget Sound.

After “a sensitive sewer flow meter tipped them off to something strange,”agents sent a robot into the sewer to investigate, the Seattle Times reports.

Inside the sewer, the robot’s camera recorded a white stain of unknown origin and, according to a federal indictment handed down earlier this month, federal agents executed a search warrant after real-time monitoring equipment they installed indicated an unusual spike in the water’s pH.

During the search, a portable pump covered in a high-pH liquid and a hidden drain that had never been disclosed were both discovered.

It turns out, both the company’s owner and the manager of the plant, who happen to be cousins, have been lying to regulators since at least 2009, according to the indictment. The scheme was discovered in 2018.

The Seattle Barrel and Cooperage Company collects used 55-gallon industrial drums and resells them after undergoing a reconditioning process that involves washing them in a tank full of highly-corrosive chemical solution. The family-owned company is legally obligated to dispose of the caustic solution properly.

Louie Sanft and John Sanft have both charged with criminal conspiracy as well as 29 counts of violating the Clean Water Act—one for each of the 29 times that investigators documented the waste being discharged into the sewer system in 2018 and 2019—and are expected to appear in court next month.

The century-old company is laying the blame on a former employee whose employment was terminated earlier this year, according to Seattle Barrel’s lawyer, Harold Malkin. That employee hasn’t been named or charged.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Seattle to Remove Controversial City Spying Network After Public Backlash

February 13, 2018

Seattle to Remove Controversial City Spying Network After Public Backlash

After rejecting a massive network of surveillance cameras and tracking devices, Seattle residents are now being forced to pay for the removal of the invasive equipment.

Following years of resistance from citizens, the city of Seattle has decided to completely remove controversial surveillance equipment – at a cost of $150,000. In November 2013, Seattle residents pushed back against the installation of several mesh network nodes attached to utility poles around the downtown area. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and privacy advocates were immediately concerned about the ability of the nodes to gather user information via the Wi-Fi connection.

The Seattle Times reports on the latest developments:

Seattle’s wireless mesh network, a node of controversy about police surveillance and the role of federal funding in city policing, is coming down.

Megan Erb, spokeswoman for Seattle Information Technology, said the city has budgeted $150,000 for contractor Prime Electric and city employees to remove dozens of surveillance cameras and 158 “wireless access points” — little, off-white boxes with antennae mounted on utility poles around the city.

The nodes were purchased by the Seattle Police Department via a $3.6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The Seattle Police Department argued the network would be helpful for protecting the port and for first-responder communication during emergencies. As the Times notes, “the mesh network, according to the ACLU, news reports and anti-surveillance activists from Seattle Privacy Coalition, had the potential to track and log every wireless device that moved through its system: people attending protests, people getting cups of coffee, people going to a hotel in the middle of the workday.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Importance Of Knowing

November 28, 2017

The Importance Of Knowing

Without insight, action is useless

At Peak Prosperity, we strive to help people advance in three key areas: Knowing, Doing and Being.

Doing and Being are the resilience-building steps we recommend. Helping folks develop their own personal action plans in these areas is the main focus of the seminars we run.

But Knowing? That’s the essential first part to master. Without sufficient understanding and insight to guide you, any action you take is merely groping in the dark.

That’s why Chris and I spend the majority of our time info-scouting: following the data and analyzing where macro trends are likely to head next given the latest developments.

We dedicate so much time and energy to this because it’s not the domino that’s falling today that matters. What’s much more important is: Which dominoes will fall tomorrow as a result?

And make no mistake, the pace of falling dominoes is accelerating. From the geo-politically destabilizing regime change in Saudi Arabia, to the ending of the central bank liquidity bubble, to the largest species extinction wave in millennia, to the bursting retirement dreams of the Baby Boomer generation, to the fast-worsening net energy predicament — change is afoot. The relative calm of the false ‘recovery’ that the world’s central planners engineered in response to the Great Financial Crisis has reached its terminus.

Now, more than ever in recent years, understanding where events are headed next is critical to preserving your wealth and well-being.

Being keenly aware of this, Chris and I have been working for months on solving the question: How can we better arm people with the insights and answers they need to take informed action in their lives?

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Shell’s Renewed Arctic Drilling Campaign Faces Yet Another Setback As Key Ship Forced Back To Port

July 9, 2015

Shell’s Renewed Arctic Drilling Campaign Faces Yet Another Setback As Key Ship Forced Back To Port

Is Shell finally “Arctic Ready” after its doomed 2012 campaign? The company is set to begin drilling in the Arctic within the week, and it’s already not looking good.

The MSV Fennica, an icebreaker vessel bound for the Chukchi Sea, had barely left its berth in Dutch Harbor, Alaska last Friday when it had to immediately turn around. The crew discovered a 39-inch long, half-inch-wide breach in the Fennica’s hull, FuelFix reports.

There is no word yet from Shell on how long the repairs are expected to take, or how the company intends to proceed in the event that the Fennica is taken out of service for a long period of time. Any significant change to Shell’s Arctic drilling plans could force a new review by the US Department of the Interior.

The Fennica was not only tasked with keeping ice from collecting around the company’s drill site, but also carrying the capping stack to be used in case of a well blowout or other emergency, in addition to the equipment for deploying it.

A Shell spokesperson told FuelFix that the incident does not “characterize the preparations we have made to operate exceptionally well.”

But that’s not going to stop comparisons to the company’s accident-prone and ultimately aborted attempt to drill in the Arctic three years ago.

“Shell’s terrible safety history around the world makes today’s news no surprise, but is nonetheless disturbing,” David Turnbull, campaigns director for Oil Change International, told DeSmog.

“For the sake of the Arctic and for our climate, the President should put a stop to Shell’s dangerous experiment today, before an even greater mishap inevitably comes.”

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fight Over Shell’s Arctic Drilling Escalates As Polar Pioneer Arrives and #ShellNo “Paddle in Seattle” Begins

May 15, 2015

Fight Over Shell’s Arctic Drilling Escalates As Polar Pioneer Arrives and #ShellNo “Paddle in Seattle” Begins

shellno

Check back often as I’ll be updating this post throughout the day with photos and updates.

Here we go. Shell’s Polar Pioneer drilling rig is making its way through Puget Sound and will arrive later this afternoon at Terminal 5 in the Port of Seattle. You can watch the journey in real time if you want to follow along.

I’ll be chasing it from the bluffs and city parks near my house and then eventually plan to hop in my kayak down near T5 to witness the “unwelcome” party hosted by kayaktivists who’ve come from around the region and the world for the “Paddle in Seattle” to challenge Shell’s Arctic drilling plans this week and beyond. Then I plan to head back up to Golden Gardens park this evening for the Celebrating and Protecting the Salish Sea event featuring speakers from the host Lummi Nation and other local tribes.

Please add questions or suggestions in the comments section below and I’ll try to answer asap. Also keep an eye on the DeSmogBlog Twitter and Facebook for updates there, as well as Meerkat which I’ve just installed to tweet live video feed at opportune moments.

Timeline of updates (most recent first):

4:18pm PST Seattle is not cool with this new addition to the skyline.

2:35pm PST Well that was an unexpected and sobering surprise… I arrived at Carkeek Park to film the Polar Pioneer. It’s as massive and jaw-dropping in person as others have told me. Just as I was beginning to film, I noticed a train coming north around the bend and thought to myself ‘wouldn’t it be oddly poetic if that’s an oil train?’ ….. yup, it was.

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Olduvai IV: Courage
Click on image to read excerpts

Olduvai II: Exodus
Click on image to purchase

Click on image to purchase @ FriesenPress