Word: epa
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...attack as shipping, the Administration has consistently backed away from--and sometimes simply blocked--federal regulation. A terrorist attack on a chemical facility could kill thousands of people and endanger up to a million, federal experts say, so in mid-2002, the White House assigned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to secure the nation's chemical plants. The EPA and the fledgling White House Office of Homeland Security spent months developing a legislative package requiring the chemical industry to beef up security. In March 2003 a dozen senior Administration officials met in the Old Executive Office Building next door...
...year-old factory on the city's west side, which is responsible for the (usually) tantalizing aroma of chocolate that wafts over Chicago, is a beloved local institution. So when the EPA responded to an anonymous complaint by telling the factory to eliminate the smell, it provoked a storm of protest from residents of the Windy City. The fact that six coal-fired power plants in the area have racked up more than 7,600 uncited violations since 1999 only further fueled their outrage...
...Even officals at the EPA "let out an audible groan" when the original complaint came across their desks, as Tom Skinner, EPA Regional Administrator, recalls. Skinner says he knew it would be all too easy for the EPA's action to be portrayed as big, bad government agency "goes after warm, cuddly chocolate factory...
...While admitting that he himself appreciates the chocolate smell as he walks to and from the train each day, Skinner says people should appreciate the fact that the EPA was responsive to a local complaint and acted quickly to bring the company's attention to what could be a health risk to children, the elderly and people with heart and lung diseases...
...Lost amidst all the uproar is the fact that the Blommer family, which still owns and operates the factory, agreed with the EPA that its factory "opacity," or the amount of light blocked by emissions, was too high. They turned on a newly installed filter system in January, although they have yet to receive a final OK from the EPA. Rick Blommer has tried to stay out of the fray. "I'm just going to make chocolate," he says. Skinner can only wish that everyone was as even-keeled about the controversy. As he puts it, "we do feel...