When Law Caters To Polluters, You Get A Polluted State

[updated from Saturday] Wisconsinites fighting sweetheart deregulating of sand and iron mining in Wisconsin through industry-written bills goosed through the Legislature by special-interest, willing GOP captives should take a look at the literal mess created by official obeisance to polluting businesses in oil rich North Dakota.

North Dakota, with its amber waves of grain, and also the subject of a thousand feel good stories about booming shale oil drilling, employment, prosperity, soaring housing prices, business certainty, etc. etc. etc. And also...

Where, it turns out, there have been 300 hushed-up oil spills in just the last 21 months, but none disclosed by state agencies because spill reporting is not required by North Dakota state law:

There's one spill in particular that seems to have grabbed the AP's attention: a massive — 865,000 gallon — oil spill from a Tesoro Logistics pipeline in the state last month, which covered several acres of a nearby farm. That spill raised some substantial questions about the ability of private oil companies to detect and correct infrastructure problems before something bad happens. It turns out that it also took the state 11 days to say anything about the spill, only doing so in response to questions from the press. 

This is what happens when you turn government, land, air and water over to industries hostile to the environment and public regulation.

This Wisconsin newspaper story and headline summed up the industry-influenced iron mining bill, which could lead to consequences for the Bad River watershed as North Dakota farmland near fracking sites and pipes:

Mining bill author admits it will cause environmental harm

And the same legislator, State Sen. Tom Tiffany, (R-Hazelhurst), said the sand mining de-regulation bill he has introduced was written with industry input. Define input!