Speaking to colleagues about methods of EPA enforcement, Al Armendariz is recorded saying, “The Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years.”
Armendariz explains that effective intimidation is what oil and gas companies deserve. As a regional regulator in Texas, Armendariz employed such heavy-handed tactics against Range Resources, but without scientific basis for his claims of water contamination the EPA has had to retreat from Armandariz’s crusade.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is calling for an investigation into Armedariz’s statements, saying the regulator has no business inciting fear in the public and trying to “intimidate” oil and gas companies with threats of fines and penalties these businesses don’t deserve.
“Not long after Administrator Armendariz made these comments in 2010, EPA targeted US natural gas producers in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming.
“In all three of these cases, EPA initially made headline-grabbing statements either insinuating or proclaiming outright that the use of hydraulic fracturing by American energy producers was the cause of water contamination, but in each case their comments were premature at best – and despite their most valiant efforts, they have been unable to find any sound scientific evidence to make this link,” Inhofe’s office said in a statement.
EPA chief Lisa Jackson ought to get ahead of this trainwreck and just get Armandariz out of there.
With President Obama having changed his tune on shale oil and gas development, and running for reelection, he doesn’t need a rogue environmentalist spouting crazy talk about “crucifying” private industry. Especially not the enterprise that can help spawn a million new manufacturing jobs.