A state job built to protect the public

Published December 20, 2014

Editorial by Burlington Times-News, December 18, 2014.

Gov. Pat McCrory has a second chance to appoint a top environmental regulator who sees the role less as a friend of business and more as the position was intended: the person charged with enforcing the state’s environmental laws.

With the departure of Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker for the private sector at month’s end, McCrory will move John Skvarla, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, into that position. It is a role for which he may be more suited; he has a background in private enterprise and he already sees his job as serving as a liaison between private business and state government.

Environmentalists were skeptical of Skvarla’s commitment to protecting the state’s natural resources when he was first appointed — despite his experience with private businesses that performed environmental services. In many ways, that skepticism was justified by actions later on.

Skvarla insisted from day one that he intended to make the scaled-down Department of Environment and Natural Resources more “customer-friendly.” And it quickly became clear that his definition of “customer” largely meant the corporate and development interests that apply for environmental permits.

But there is another category of customers: the people of North Carolina. Not only do they pay taxes to support the department, but they count on its regulators to protect the environment and public health. It’s a critical part of the job and one that can never be overlooked.

Two cases in the past year highlight part of the problem with the agency under Skvarla.

One was here in our community. Concerns were raised in February following the Jan. 27-28 spill of 3.5 million gallons of wastewater from the East Burlington Waste Treatment Plant into the Haw River. In that case, state regulators improperly advised the city to break policy and not report the problem to the public within the 48-hour time limit set for such disclosure. Instead, DENR violated its own regulations, telling city officials to wait until the spill was stopped and DENR could look at the site itself. This delayed letting the public know by at least a day. Clearly that’s the wrong course to take with an environmental event of such potential magnitude and impact.

The second case is more widely known. In the aftermath of last February’s massive coal-ash spill on the Dan River near the Virginia-North Carolina line, the Associated Press revealed that DENR had planned to sign off on what was effectively a slap on the wrist for a similar spill at coal-fired power plant near Asheville. Duke Energy, which also was responsible for the Dan River spill, would have paid a fine of a hair under $100,000, with no requirement to clean up the mess.

And three times the state stepped in to halt environmental groups’ lawsuits aimed at forcing Duke Energy to clean out its ash ponds. Under federal law, a lawsuit headed for the courts may be delayed if the state announces its intent to take action. But in North Carolina’s case, that action was much less than the environmentalists were seeking.

Questions about the cozy relationship between DENR staff and the businesses they regulate did not originate with this administration; it has been an ongoing issue. Regulators do not have to be unnecessarily obstructionist. There is a lot to be said for streamlining the permit process, providing clarity on the rules and making sure businesses do not face long delays in obtaining permits, assuming their projects meet state standards.

McCrory says he will cast the net far and wide to find the right person to fill the DENR post, both inside and outside the agency. That person should not only be a strong leader but also understand that the agency’s primary responsibility is to protect the state’s air, water, soil and other natural resources.

And thereby protect the people who need and use those resources as well.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/our-opinion/a-state-job-built-to-protect-the-public-1.415257

December 20, 2014 at 10:08 am
Norm Kelly says:

History is a funny thing. Anyone who doesn't know it doesn't just stand a very good chance of doing it again. Those who don't know history can also be easily mislead. Usually by 'kindly, well-meaning' libs and their allies in the rag press. Was Skvarla too friendly with business? Did his association with private, hated, deadly, non-caring business cause harm to residents of the state? Well, if we compare Skvarla to other DENR heads, perhaps we can get an understanding of just how bad John was for residents of the state. And we can look at how his friendliness toward private business negatively impacted the state. So let's go down history lane, since no news rag is willing to tell us the whole story.

When did the Duke coal ash ponds let go? I don't mean just a small manageable leak, I mean a full fledged destructive outpouring of hazmat. It's when Gov Pat is in office, a rascally, selfish, pro-business, anti-citizen, racist, private business man who worked for the killer power company. Under the control and watchful eye of Gov Pat, he didn't just ALLOW the coal ash to destroy the river; he SET OUT ON PURPOSE to create an environmental disaster, probably with the intent to show how good he was at reacting to disasters. You know, the whole conspiracy theory crap. The rags, anyway, want you/us to believe that Pat was fully, completely, and solely responsible for the coal ash spill. Oh, and for good measure, libs throw in Skvarla and the Republican led legislature. What does history, those darn fact thingys, show us? It shows that IT WAS WELL KNOWN for decades that the coal ash ponds existed. With full acceptance by DEMONCRAT APPOINTED heads of DENR. Supposedly DEMONCRAT DENR heads who despised, hated, private business. And who occupied the govs mansion for the VAST MAJORITY of time that DENR allowed coal ash ponds to leak? Yup, those loving, kindly, 'for the children', private-business hating, libs! So before I finish reading this post from a 'news' rag, I just had to make sure the record was straight. As much as libs hate Skvarla because he wanted to get along with those he was responsible for regulating, the record shows that those who portrayed themselves as opponents of private business, those who wanted to see private business regulated out of business, were the ones responsible for the disaster that struck the Duke coal ash pond! The N&D, that trusted, honest, middle-of-the-road, news paper has told us that the coal ash ponds have existed, and were knowingly leaking for DECADES, so I take them at their word. If the N&D can't be trusted to tell the truth about their allies, who can they be trusted to tell the truth about. We KNOW that the N&D refuses to tell the truth or the whole story about Republicans/conservatives, but we just have to trust that they do tell the truth about their allies.

So, was Skvarla a worse DENR head than what the libs put up? Only according to lib rags.

The job of the head of DENR is to enforce the rules, and protect the environment. But it isn't to be anti-business. Any and all government agencies are responsible to the taxpayers as well as the entities they regulate/control. If government agencies work WITH their regulated entities instead of AGAINST their regulated entities, wouldn't that stand as good a chance of working? Take DMV as a perfect example. Full of employees who think they are better than their customers. Full of people who give the attitude that their customers are interrupting their day; getting in the way; preventing them from enjoying their workday. Full of people who want to make life for their customers as difficult as possible. Need another example? Take a look at who works for socialized medicine and how 'nice' it is to deal with those people. You can't shop on the socialized medicine website. You have to create an account with all your pertinents prior to shopping. You MUST conform to their rules before you can DO anything. Is this 'customer friendly'? So, isn't it possible for DENR heads, and other department heads, to properly regulate AND be customer friendly? When the libs have been in control, the clear answer is NO. DENR heads who were NOT business-friendly AND didn't implement regulations properly. How are we worse off with Skvarla? And exactly who will be acceptable to libs in the state when Gov Pat nominates/appoints a new DENR head? Chances are the REPUBLICAN Gov is going to appoint a CONSERVATIVE to head DENR. Automatically libs and rags (redundancy!) will be opposed. Just watch!