Posted on 07/15/2018 8:42:24 AM PDT by gattaca
GARDEN CITY, Ind. (AP) -- Vice President Mike Pence turns nostalgic when he talks about growing up in small-town Columbus, Indiana, where his father helped build an empire of more than 200 gas stations that provided an upbringing on the "front row of the American dream."
The collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co. in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
The main way cleanup costs could pass to the State or some cases to the feds was if the responsible parties could not be identified, no longer existed or if an existing parties were only responsible for a minor fraction of the damage leaving a major part of the costs legally nonrecoverable. Environmental companies and lawyers made $$$ by the truck load for a number of years while the UST boom was peaked.
It is factual that Kiel Bros. Oil went bankrupt and state governments have had to pay for cleanup (mandated by government regulations). However, as other posters have pointed out, there is no mention of how much sales and property tax revenue the company generated over the years that went into state coffers. Furthermore there’s no mention of what role Mike Pence played in the operation of the company, which was founded in 1941. Pence wasn’t even born until 1959.
Articles like these are not designed to illuminate the truth. They are hit pieces designed to smear the target.
So this is Pence’s fault how?
Never mind the fact that the EPA rules were changed in the late 90s forcing many of these gas stations into bankruptcy
Also never mind the fact that the EPA rules REQUIRED the use of MTBE.
MTBE will permeate the systems that met the EPA specs.
So AFTER requiring MTBE, the EPA ‘upgrades’ the specs.
That crap will diffuse through many plastics and fiberglass.
Also DECREASES gas mileage.
Oh the humanity! 0bama is still trying to give America to the muslims.
Didn’t Obama force us taxpayers to fund a multi-million dollars gas station over in the Mid-East somewhere?
By law, in the US gas stations must have underground tanks. This is supposedly for fire prevention, but in Europe tanks are above ground, and we have never noticed a huge number of gas station fires over there, have we?
The real problem is that an underground tank is impossible to either inspect or maintain, while with an above ground tank both precesses are trivial, and leaking tanks are promptly repaired or replaced.
When the government causes a major problem and then pushes the costs off onto a few individuals, it somehow seems fitting that if this bankrupts the individuals the costs should come back to bite the government.
No one will ever accuse Bernie Sanders’ businesses of leaving a mess for the taxpayers to clean up.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/heres-why-the-feds-are-investigating-bernie-sanders-wife-jane
None of the Pences were targeted, prosecuted, or found guilty of anything.
Next!
MTBE also destroyed gasket materials used in refinery pumps. So they had to go to an exotic gasket material that costed 10 times the old type. It increased the cost of maintenance at the refineries who then had to pass the cost on to the pump. So we got to pay for their foul up.
If I remember correctly, several years later the EPA quietly announced that MTBE did nothing to help the environment.
Tweeted a question to all authors where this was posted on Twitter asking if any other gas companies were costing us Indiana taxpayers money. Not expecting replies.
The bureaucrats who make these laws have probably never held a private sector job and have no clue as to the problems that they create.
Collusion between dems and big oil to wipe out the little guy competition.
Not smart or energetic enough. But the Brooklyn, and ny voters are probably too stupid to see that, so he keeps getting elected.
William Blake
“When they go low we’ll go lower”. MO. I think she said higher but we know what she meant.
What toxic chemicals leaked? If the reference is to gasoline tanks, wouldn’t all the gas have been pumped out of the tanks after the stations closed?
His bro is running for a house seat!
Is the information true, or not?
If true, it’s not a smear.
The government changed the rules ex post facto, with the EPA.
Then the left claims the station owners owe the government money.
The EPA actions have always been unconstitutional, IMHO.
They are penalizing owners for what happened decades prior, when the actions were legal; and the penalties are outrageously excessive.
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