PICKING UP CASH FOR THE CHEMICAL SPEW How did Harris County government swing half a million dollars in cash from Shell Chemical? The company is turning over that amount as part of a settlement covering 5 unreported chemical releases between April 2008 and March 2010 at the company’s Deer Park plant on Hwy. 225 just east of Beltway 8. According to Harris County’s lawyer on the case, Shell Chemical also made an “important concession,” which will likely result in more advance warning of similar future windfalls headed our way: Shell says it’ll now alert the county’s local pollution control office, and not just state officials, of “pollution events.†[Pasadena Citizen]
It would be nice if this money made its way back into the environment in the form of park or bike trail expansions. Alas, I suspect this half mill will be untraceable to any worthy cause and will end up funding some miscellaneous politicians pet project.
Or even simply picking up the trash and mowing the weeds!
Most likely this money will end up funding some politician.
Well thank heaven for small favors.