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WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Inhofe (R – Oklahoma) is seeking documentation for how many companies have been put out of business by the Environmental Protection Agency. Inhofe says heavy-handed EPA intimidation tactics are indeed what one EPA regional director described as “crucifixion.”
Though YouTube has removed the video, it didn’t do so before people across the country got to see first-hand what the prevailing attitude of the EPA is. Regarding the “crucify them” philosophy espoused on camera by Environment Protection Agency Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz, the senator said that this type of EPA mentality and actions has been intimidating and threatening businesses for years.
“Way back in 1994,” said the Senator, “the president of a lumber company in Tulsa called me up and said, ‘I’m really sorry to tell you, but the EPA has just put me out of business.’ And I said what’d you do wrong? He said, ‘Well, I don’t think we did anything wrong. We’ve been selling our used crank case oil to the same contractors as licensed by the city and the state and the federal government for years and years.’ But, they traced some of that to a site that was a (Superfund) site. And so they are now going to put it – they’ve said we’re going to fine you $5,000 a day.’”
The expense of the fine would have put that company out of business had the owner not contacted Inhofe. “And, the guy, the president of the company, said ‘I can only last thirty days.’ If he hadn’t called me, he’d be out of business today.”
Though such threats have been around for a good while, the senator has seen a noticeable escalation over the last three years. He believes they’ve become so severe and frequent today that they’re destroying America’s employment base. Inhofe said; “So, this is something that has happened in the past. However, now it’s happening at a level that is just unbearable and unforgivable in terms of destroying our base – our employment base in this country.”
By documenting these examples of federal abuse, Inhofe hopes to stem the tide. “We can prevent this from happening again. We can also, perhaps, find out how many other companies went through the same thing and just threw in the towel. I would like to quantify the amount of production, exploration and development that we would have had if they had not been overbearing and perhaps they were just run out of business.”
Senator Inhofe believes public awareness of his efforts to document examples of EPA mistreatment of American businesses will lead Americans to come forward to tell their stories, Sen. Inhofe says: “Well, I don’t think it’d be very difficult for you to get examples. I think when people read about this and know that we want this information, I think people will come forward.”
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