All Empires Come to an End

I received the following press release on Friday from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Hopefully, despite our seemingly inexorable march to fiscal idiocy, programs such as the one described below don't go the way of the liberal politician who has some balls (but doesn't show them off on Twitter).

When will we care and understand what is happening to our society? When the water at the White House and Monsanto's corporate headquarters is undrinkable because of contamination? When Senators and billionaires experience serious health concerns related to pesticides and other chemicals? When any thought about the greater good ceases to exist (if it hasn't already)?

(New York, N.Y. – July 29, 2011) Over the past six years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has plugged close to 300 abandoned – and in some cases leaking – oil wells in Western New York in an effort to prevent any remaining oil that may be in the wells from reaching nearby lakes, rivers and streams. The abandoned wells, many of which no longer have owners, have not been maintained for decades, and are gradually deteriorating to the point at which crude oil could leak from broken well casings, pipes and storage tanks. To prevent future leaks, EPA has had the wells filled with concrete and a fine clay substance called bentonite to immobilize any remaining oil. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation referred the abandoned oil wells to EPA for cleanup.

"Oil is one of the worst water pollutants, and the abandoned oil wells like the ones that EPA has cleaned up represent a threat to our most vital natural resource – clean water," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck. "By plugging hundreds of abandoned oil wells, we’re protecting public health and the environment, and fixing a problem that had been decades in the making.”