DL Open Thread: Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Kevin Caneco Goes After Do-Nothing DNREC.  Good.  From his press release:

Wilmington, DE – Despite recent statements made by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) understating the May 31, 2025 Delaware City Refinery emission incident, prolonged exposure to persistent levels of sulfur dioxide emissions has the potential for devastating long-term health concerns, particularly on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Since the morning of May 25, The Delaware City Refinery has released several toxic chemicals into the air including over 1,450 pounds of sulfur dioxide per hour, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia due to reported boiler failure. According to DNREC’s May 26th Environmental Release #17504:

“Persons with asthma, subnormal pulmonary function, or cardiovascular disease are at greater risk. Signs and symptoms of acute exposure to sulfur dioxide may be severe and includecoughing, choking, dyspnea, sneezing, wheezing, and chest discomfort. Upper airway edema or obstruction, bronchoconstriction, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, and respiratory paralysis may occur. Fatigue may be noted. Gastrointestinal effects may include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.”

New Castle County Councilman Kevin Caneco, representing the 12th District including Delaware City stated,

“The recent emissions of Sulfur Dioxide is a violation of DNREC permitting standards and a betrayal of trust to the thousands of residents that live near the refinery. I’m asking DNREC to continue to scrutinize the safety measures taken by the refinery as this is not an isolated incident. The refinery needs to correct their ongoing issues or lose the trust of local officials and residents.”

DNREC has stated the emissions, while fineable, are within “acceptable levels”.

Councilman Caneco disagrees with this statement, “DNREC can say its within acceptable standards if they want, but its not acceptable to the residents I represent. This coupled with the EPA’s announcement earlier this year to cancel a $500,000 grant for The Clean Air Council to track air quality around the refinery, has sparked legal and ethical challenges, directly undermining environmental justice efforts and disportionately affecting surrounding communities.’

Is it acceptable to the Speaker of the House, who ‘represents’ Delaware City?

Dog Bites Man.  Israel Mows Down More Gazans.  Is ‘genocide-washing’ a thing yet?

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Hurricane Season:

Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

The remark was made during a briefing by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context.

The spokesperson said under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson “FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”

Richardson’s comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top FEMA officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal.

Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said during Monday’s briefing, a daily all-hands meeting held by phone and videoconference, that he will not be issuing a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the FEMA Review Council, the sources said.

We won’t have long to wait to see what could possibly go wrong.  Because this is not a joke:

More than a dozen National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices along the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico coast are understaffed as the US plunges into an expected active season for ruinous storms, data seen by the Guardian shows.

There is a lack of meteorologists in 15 of the regional weather service offices along the coastline from Texas to Florida, as well as in Puerto Rico – an area that takes the brunt of almost all hurricanes that hit the US. Several offices, including in Miami, Jacksonville, Puerto Rico and Houston, lack at least a third of all the meteorologists required to be fully staffed.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the Miami-based nerve center for tracking hurricanes, is short five specialists, the Guardian has learned, despite assurances from the Trump administration that it is fully staffed ahead of what’s anticipated to be a busy hurricane season that officially started on Sunday.

When You’ve Lost The Sheriffs…:

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it didn’t take too kindly to the immigration policies of hundreds of municipalities across the country. It posted a list of “sanctuary cities,” jurisdictions that allegedly limit information-sharing and other forms of cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Unfortunately for the administration, the list, off the bat, sparked more confusion than fear. Several locations were in deeply Republican areas; some local officials disputed that they could meet any reasonable definition of “sanctuary city.”

But the death blow to the list came over the weekend, when the National Sheriffs’ Association put out a jeremiad demanding that the list be removed and that Secretary Kristi Noem issue “an apology to the Sheriffs and the American people.”

The sheriffs knew how to ensure that the issue hit close to home for for the DHS secretary. Sure, the list “violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement.” But let’s be serious about what really matters: “DHS has done a terrible disservice to President Trump and the Sheriffs of this country,” the statement reads.

In other words, they still love Trump, but Kristi Noem may be put on a short leash, perhaps something that Trump has fantasized about.

Has This Happened To Any Of You?  So.  I send out a routine e-mail inviting someone, a candidate for a position on the Democratic State Party, to speak at our next district committee meeting.  I receive the following from Xfinity:

Your message was believed to contain questionable content, and therefore was not delivered to the intended recipients.  The information above will help Xfinity with any questions you may have.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the issue, please reach out to our Customer Security Assurance Team at (xxx-xxx-xxxx).

Which I did.  Got someone from, um, likely not in the United States.  Ended up on hold, with brief ‘working on it’s interspersed.  Was finally able to send the e-mail.

My question is: What the fuck?  There was nothing questionable in that e-mail.  Many of you have received e-mails from me.   ‘Some’ would argue with far more questionable content (and epithets) in them.

Has this ever happened to you?  And, if so, were you able to get more info other than ‘You can send the e-mail now’?  I mean, what is going on?  Who is trolling my e-mails for ‘questionable content?

What do you want to talk about?