Water company on the agenda of the Scottsdale City Council

In light of the events of the past week, it should come as no surprise that the Scottsdale City Council has changed its agenda for Tuesday's meeting to include a discussion of the Arizona American Water Company.

What is a little surprise is the wording of the agenda item itself -

***16B. Acquisition of Arizona American Water Company

Request: At the request of Councilman Ron McCullagh, discussion and direction to staff to investigate and analyze the legal and financial impacts of acquisition of the portion of the ArizonaAmerican Water Company that serves Scottsdale customers.

"Acquisition"??

That should make for an interesting discussion.

More on the water contamination situation:

As reported on Saturday, the tap water ban for AZ American Water's customers has been lifted, the facility is completely shut down and the investigation into the incident is continuing.

According to Todd Walker, spokesman for Arizona American Water, the Miller Road Treatment Facility won't be brought back online until the issue and process have been reviewed and resolved.

The EPA was closed Monday due to the MLK holiday, but I'll contact Vicki Rosen at the EPA before I head out to the City Council meeting on Tuesday.

During my talk with Walker, I asked for a comment on the Scottsdale City Council agenda item, but he demurred, saying that he didn't know enough about it to have a comment.

I should have more info tomorrow night.


An observation about the whole thing -

I've got to give credit where it is due - at the November meeting of the NIBW Community Involvement Group (post on that here) where people found out about an "incomplete remediation" incident at the MRTF, almost a month after it occurred, was marked by community anger at the lack of communication.

That failure was certainly corrected with this incident with the emails, reverse 9-1-1 calls, and media notifications, all made the day that the blower malfuntion was discovered.

Many people have complained that they didn't receive the notifications, and their anger and frustration is understandable, but under the communication plan agreed to by the EPA and all of the participants, they only had to send out a letter within 30 days.

Perhaps their communications missed some customers, but they did go above and beyond and deserve credit for that.

Save the criticisms for the apparently chronic problems at the MRTF. :)

HRC visit and other pres campaign info...

From an email courtesy of Doug Mings, chair of the LD17 Democrats -

Barack Obama for President

LD 17 (Tempe) For Obama Organizational Meeting

Where: ASU, Coor Hall, Room 195

When: Tuesday, January 22 at 7pm

What: With 2 weeks left, join Obama supporters, staff, and volunteers tohelp with the crucial final push and sign up for phone banks and canvassing to help organize Tempe for Senator Obama!

Contact: Greg Whitten, Obama Field Organizer Gwhitten@Obamaaz.com
Cell: 602-616-9017;
Office: 602-297-2008

Phoenix Headquarters
22 East Mitchell (between 3rd St and Central, just north of Osborn and southof Indian School)
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-297-2008

Hillary Clinton for President

Hillary Clinton will visit Phoenix tomorrow, Tuesday, January 22.

She will speak at Caesar Chavez High School, which is 3921 W. Baseline in Phoenix. Doors open at 6:00 P.M. The event starts at 7:00 P.M.

Phoenix Headquarters-2845 N. Central Ave (SE Corner of Central and Thomas)
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-279-8030 (o);
602-277-5042 (f)

Contact: Tony Wagner, Arizona Field Director
602-279-8030 (o);
602-277-5042 (f)
twagner@HillaryClinton.com www.HillaryClinton.com


John Edwards for President

http://johnedwards.com
East Valley For Edwards

Come out to an event and regardless of your age, background or experience,find out how you can get involved and make a difference.
602-705-7773;

EastValleyforEdwards@gmail.com


Dennis Kucinich for President
www.dennis4president.com/home

Local CoordinatorRick Romero:
602.515.9844;
romero85008@yahoo.com

Short Attention Span Musing - Primaries Edition

...The MSM and Clinton camp are painting the results of Saturday's Nevada caucuses as a huge victory for Clinton. However, the numbers that count, the number of delegates allocated, show that the results were almost dead even. Clinton received 13 delegates; Obama 12. (MSNBC) Other say that the numbers are still 13 - 12, but favoring Obama.

Either way, not exactly an overwhelming victory.

With previously pledged superdelegates, Clinton *does* have a significant lead in delegate totals. (CNN) On the other hand, though, superdelegates are notorious front-runners. If one of the other candidates starts pulling away in the primaries, a lot of those superdelegates will throw their support to the candidate that they believe is the popular choice.


...John Edwards is easily the candidate most in need of a victory in South Carolina. He has yet to win an event, and was completely shut out of the delegate allocation in Nevada. Another showing of 3rd or worse, especially one in his home state, may just end his candidacy.


...On the Republican side, Mitt Romney's camp is painting him as the frontrunner, but he may be the weakest "frontrunner" in primary history. He has yet to win a seriously contested primary and the next major GOP test is in Florida, a state where Rudy "noun, verb, 9/11' Giuliani has been campaigning for years.

McCain has the momentum heading into Florida, Huckabee has the hardcore religious conservative vote there, Romney has the personal fortune to spend there, and it's practically a 2nd home state for Giuliani.

One of the top 4 GOP candidates will tank in Florida, and his candidacy will be history.


...A suggestion for volunteers and staffers that will be representing Democratic candidates at LD and other local groups' forums before the primary: Know your candidates' health care positions.

I've been to the LD17 and LD8 forums over the last couple of weeks, and health care was the issue that most inspired 'spirited' discussion. Expect to be grilled on this issue like no other at events like this week's forum held by the Arizona chapter of the NJDC (Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Country Inn and Suites, 10801 89th Place, Scottsdale)


...Not that I'm one given to defending John McCain (I leave that to Politico Mafioso), but when Chuck Norris criticized McCain as too old to be president, I had to laugh. Norris is almost 68 years old and is washed up as an actor (hasn't appeared in anything other than an infomercial or a Huckabee video since 2005). McCain is a few years older but is hardly washed-up. McCain's campaign schedule alone gives lie to Norris' assertion.

John McCain may not be doing his job of representing Arizona, but that's because he has chosen not to do so, not because he is incapable of doing so.

There are many things to criticize about John McCain (remember the Chelsea Clinton joke in 1998? That kind of casual meanness alone disqualifies McCain from the presidency), but his age isn't one of them.

Give it up Chuck.


...And the best news of the day, non-primary related -


We are officially in the last year of the Bush presidency.


Later!

The tap water ban has been lifted in Scottsdale and P.V.

According to AZCentral.com -

A three-day ban on using tap water provided by the Arizona American Water Co. affecting about 5,000 Paradise Valley and Scottsdale residential and commercial customers has been lifted.

The article goes on to cite the Arizona American Water Company's latest press release advising its customers to run their taps to clean any possible contamination out of their systems, including running their hot water to clean out their hot water tanks.


In honor of this week's events, let's call it "The Great 2008 Paradise Valley/Scottsdale Cluster-Flush."


Stay tuned on this one - the Arizona Corporation Commission is expected to have hearings about this, PV (and probably Scottsdale) officials will be meeting with company officials, and Congressman Harry Mitchell is going to bring it up at the February 7, 2008 meeting of the House Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. He sits on the subcommittee.

The meeting subject is "Agency Budgets and Priorities for FY 2009."

Congressmen talking about agency budgets usually have the undivided attention of the relevant agency heads. :)

For updates, including the next NIBW Community Involvement Group (CIG) meeting time/place, contact the EPA's Vicki Rosen at rosen.vicki[at]epa.gov to be added to the email alert list.

Where's John Shadegg?

In the many articles and blog posts regarding the water contamination problems in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, many people have been quoted, from spokespeople for the various agencies and companies involved, affected residents, and even elected officials.

Congressman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ5) has gone so far as to directly contact senior EPA officials to express his concerns with the repeated problems this particular treatement facility (MRTF).

There's a limit to what a Congressman can do here, directly anyway, but what he can do is bring to bear a level of pressure and scrutiny that a member of the general public cannot.

And two Congressmen? Twice as much pressure and scrutiny.

So why hasn't John Shadegg (R-AZ3) brought his influence to bear?

I'm sure some readers are asking "Why should Shadegg get involved? It's Mitchell's district."

Well, that's only partially true. A number of the affected customers are in Scottsdale, and that *is* in Mitchell's district.

However, the bulk of the folks who can't drink their tap water are in Paradise Valley, which is in Shadegg's district.

See the southeastern portion of this district map of Shadegg's CD3, courtesy the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.


So I ask again - Where's John Shadegg?


I know Shadegg markets himself as a "laissez-faire, Reagan-style" Republican, but who knew that "laissez-faire" was French for "let them drink poison"??

Contamination levels down, but tap water usage ban remains in effect

The Arizona Republic has the details -

A ban on drinking tap water remains in effect indefinitely for nearly 5,000 Paradise Valley and Scottsdale customers of Arizona American Water while the company works with government health officials to test water samples for a potentially toxic solvent.

The ban, which began Wednesday, urges customers not to drink tap water or use it to prepare food.

Arizona American's initial warning was to expire at 5 p.m. Friday but now is indefinite.

{snip}

After the problem was detected, a test of the water showed the level to be 22 parts per billion. 5 ppb is the maximum contaminant level allowed.

{snip}

Thursday, it had dropped to 1.9 ppb, within acceptable levels, but more checks of the system are needed.

Read the complete article (linked above) for more details, but to summarize - the affected customers in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley still shouldn't use their tap water for drinking or food preparation.

Arizona American Water's latest (18 January 2008) press release is here.

Arizona state government FAQ page on this is here.

Edit to add:

There is a blog, The TCE Blog, that is dedicated to publicizing the effects of TCE. If you are interested in learning more about TCE, it's worth a read. It's written by Neil Fischbein, who once lived in a town with a water supply that was contaminated with TCE.

End edit.

Tempe mourns - Evelyn Cahill passes away at 88

Evelyn Cahill, mother of former Tempe City Councilman Dennis Cahill and mother-in-law to State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, passed away on January 15th.

In addition to Dennis and Meg, she leaves a sister, three other sons, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and scores of friends from her years of working in the Tempe school system and volunteering with many community organizations.

Her funeral service will be held at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, January 19, at ASU's Newman Center, 230 E. University Drive, Tempe. There will be a wake immediately afterward at her home on Parkway Blvd. Burial services will be private.

Her obituary from AZCentral.com -

Evelyn Cahill, 88, passed away January 15, 2008 at her home. Born in Boyde Wisconsin to Peter and Louise Duce, Evelyn had two brothers and four sisters. Evelyn married Jim Cahill and they had had four sons. The family moved to Tempe in 1953. She was a loyal and vocal ASU football fan. Evelyn worked as a waitress and later in Tempe schools food services. She enjoyed her years working in the schools and around children very much. Evelyn is survived by her sister Florence; sons Dennis (Meg), David (Sonja), Donald (Sue) and Dwight (Rebecca); 14 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. Evelyn was a talented, beautiful, eclectic and strong woman. She was a lifelong Catholic. Evelyn loved to travel, garden and play cards. She enjoyed volunteering, especially enjoying serving meals at the Escalante Center and volunteering at the Tempe Sister Cities' Hackett House. Evelyn's home hosted a young Chinese piano student who attended ASU. Evelyn was passionate about life and her family. She loved being the mother of four sons, and loved that to this day they are referred to as "The Cahill Boys." She was never happier than when surrounded by her family. In her retirement years, Evelyn enjoyed the recreational, craft and social activities available though the various Tempe Community Centers. She was a member of the District 17 Democrats, but always believed in supporting the person she felt best for the position regardless of political party. Evelyn especially enjoyed sharing her opinions about local politics, always having a flock of political signs in her yard and a button or two on her blouse for those she supported. Evelyn was much loved by family and friends and we will miss her humor and charm. The funeral service will be held January 19th, 3:30pm at the Old Mount Carmel Church located at the Newman Center: 230 East University Drive, Tempe. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions may be made in Evelyn's name to Hospice of the Valley 1510 E. Flower Street Phoenix, AZ 85014.

An article from the AZ Rep's Tempe community edition can be found here.

My deepest condolences go out to Dennis, Meg, her family, and her many friends on their loss.

Treatment facility shut down; investigation continuing

Vicki Rosen, the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator, sent out another email today with more info concerning this week's drinking water contamination incident in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

From the email -

Hello CIG,

I learned a few more bits of information regarding the failure(s) at the MRTF. Specifically, this deals with the legal relationships between EPA, the State of Arizona, the County, the Participating Companies (PCs) and the AZ American Water Co.

EPA and the State of Arizona signed a Consent Decree (CD) with the PCs, not the water company. The PCs are responsible for extracting and treating groundwater contaminated with TCE. The PCs chose the water company to do this, but the PCs are not responsible for the operation & maintenance of the plant. EPA has no direct authority over the water company under the CD.

The AZ American Water Co. is subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) which EPA has delegated to the State and the State has delegated to the County. All three entities (fed, state, county) may take enforcement action against the water company. The PCs are not subject to the SDWA.

She went on to explain that the affected treatment facility (Miller Road Treatment Facility, or MRTF) has been shut down until further notice while an investigation is conducted. It will not be brought back online until the various regulatory agencies involved (federal, state, and local) believe that the plant will be operated safely.

In addition, depending on the outcome of the investigation, the operator, Arizona American Water, and the "PCs", or participating companies (Motorola, Siemans, and GlaxoSmithKline) could face financial penalties arising from the incident.

Note: The PCs are the companies responsible for the groundwater contamination, either because they dumped the solvents improperly, or they acquired the companies that did.

Later!

Signs of improvement in Scottsdale/P.V. water contamination levels

Really quick update on the water contamination issue affecting Paradise Valley and parts of Scottsdale -

According to a news report on Channel 12's ten o'clock news, test results show that the TCE contamination levels are down to acceptable levels, however, customers shouldn't drink or prepare food with tap water until they have been told by EPA, state, and Arizona America Water officials that the tap water is safe for consumption.

The system still needs to be flushed.

Channel 12's report from their 5 o'clock news - Water company leaked contaminated water before (no mention of test results in this particular report)

Arizona American Water's press release of 17 January here.

The Three Amigos vote against HOPE

Coming soon to an upscale multiplex near you (no poor people allowed, other than those working there for minimum wage)...Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, and John Shadegg in "Three Amigos." Watch as these three soon-to-be out of work actors pretending to be public servants fight against public works projects that help the poor and middle classes...


Today, the U.S. House of Representatives considered and passed H.R. 3524, the HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2008. The Act authorizes grants to housing agencies to "revitalize severely distressed public housing developments." (CBO analysis)

Well, the House, except for Jeff Flake (R-AZ6), Trent Franks (R-AZ2), John Shadegg (R-AZ3), and 127 other Republicans.

Note - the final vote for passage was 271 - 130. All of the Democratic members of the AZ delegation and Rick Renzi voted in favor; the aforementioned Flake, Shadegg, and Franks voted against.

Before voting against HOPE, the three amigos supported four failed amendments that would have gutted or at least weakened the impact of the underlying bill. They voted for -

...the Neugebauer Amendment, which would have change the requirement that housing units demolished under a HOPE grant be replaced on a one for one basis to requiring the one-for-one match only if the units were occupied immediately prior to demolition. This is important in places like New Orleans where there are efforts to condemn public housing facilities and replace them with fewer, but larger, for-profit units. With a single stroke, this plan both inhibits the return to N.O. of poor black residents and generates greater profits for developer. (failed 181 - 227)

...the Sessions Amendment, which would have maintained HUD's authority to issue "demolition only" grants. Hmm..."demolition only"...that's an interesting concept for a bill that is supposed to be about renewing and revitalizing public housing. (Failed 186 - 221)

...the King Amendment, which would have barred using HOPE funds to pay for wages mandated by the Davis-Bacon Act (aka - prevailing wage.) I suppose this could be something of an improvement for Rep. King (R-IA). Normally, he spends his time railing about foreign immigrants. It seems that he is setting his sights a little higher now - the American skilled worker. (Failed 136 - 268)

Did I mention that King called the prevailing wage law "racist"?? What a schmuck.

...and the Capito Amendment, which would have removed the mandatory 'green' building standards and made them optional. (Failed 169 - 240)


It's obvious that these three have given up any pretense that they represent the interests of their constituents.

People don't matter to them as much as ideology does.

...OK, OK - Shadegg represents Paradise Valley, which doesn't need HOPE as much as it does clean drinking water. :)

Final note: to those of you who object to the appellation "Three Amigos" for Flake, Franks, and Shadegg, that perhaps that's a little to harshly partisan, keep this in mind -

I could very easily have nicknamed them the "Three Stooges."

Later!

Update on the contaminated water in Scottsdale and P.V.

Edit to update the update:

As stated toward the end of Ms. Rosen's email, Congressman Mitchell *was* briefed by the EPA on this matter and learned the following -

- TCE levels were four times the maximum contaminant level (approximately 20 parts per billion; 5 ppb is the maximum contaminant level), and

- Arizona American Water Co. customers in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley may have been exposed to those levels for up to 16 hours.

After learning these facts, Mitchell said “I have urged the EPA to conduct a full investigation. This is the second TCE incident at the same facility in three months. That’s not normal, and that’s not acceptable.”

Stayed tuned for more updates...

End edit...

Vicki Rosen, the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator for the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund site just sent out this email to the NIBW Community Involvement Group (CIG). It has some of the details on what happened at the treatment facility in Scottsdale.

The email -

Hello CIG members,

You may have already read about this week's failure at the MRTF in the newspapers, but this note is to let you know what EPA knows so far about what happened.

Yesterday (Wed. Jan. 16), Jamey received a call from Dennis Shirley, consultant to the Participating Companies (PCs), advising that there had been another release. Jamey immediately informed all the appropriate people at EPA, but it was late in the day so that's why this message wasn't sent sooner.

This is what we got from Dennis:

The release was discovered yesterday by Arizona American Water at 6:30 am. A blower on Tower 3 (which treats water from well PCX-1) had shut off. That shutoff could have happened as early as the day before (Tues, Jan. 15) at 2:30 pm. There may have been 16 hours when untreated water entered the system.

Athough controls were supposed to be in place that would shut down the system in such an event, this did not happen. Untreated water containing TCE was discharged into the drinking water system. Sampling has found that levels of TCE at approximately 20 parts per billion (ppb) were distributed into the system. Sampling continues at the point of entry and throughout the system.

The MRTF was immediately shut down as soon as the failure was discovered. It is currently not operating.

AZ American Water and the PCs went into response mode and notified all customers who would have gotten that water; this was done through a reverse-911 system of phone calls to each household telling people to not drink the water. People were also told that free bottled water would be available at a particular location.

Top managers at AZ American Water have supposedly already briefed Congressman Harry Mitchell directly.

This is what we know so far. EPA is consulting with a number of parties to assess the situation and what should be done. In the meantime, almost all of our NIBW team is out of the office until at least next Tues (Jan. 22). Jamey is spending time with his brand new baby boy (their first), so it may be a while before you hear directly from him. I'm actually out of the office today having just had minor surgery, and I will not be in tomorrow either. If I get any emails from any of you, you may not get a response until next week. Monday is a federal holiday.

I will be back in touch with everyone as we learn more. We will also start to look at when we can get together in person to discuss these important issues.

Vicki

Note: I've got a call out to AZ American Water, but since my workweek starts tomorrow, I may not be able to follow up until Monday (or Tuesday because of the holiday.) Check the news, the City of Scottsdale's website, the Town of Paradise Valley's website, or AZ American Water's website for updates.

Later!

Harry Mitchell contacts the EPA regarding the latest TCE/drinking water issue in Scottsdale

The letter that Congressman Mitchell has sent to Wayne Nastri, EPA Regional Administrator in San Francisco (which covers AZ) [typo corrected by me]:

Mr. Wayne Nastri
Regional Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901

Dear Regional Administrator Nastri:

I am seriously concerned about the continued failure to protect against the emission of trichloroethylene (TCE), a suspected cancer causing chemical, into the drinking water that serves portions of Scottsdale.

According to local media reports, residents were alerted yesterday about a malfunction at a water-treatment plant on Tuesday, January 15, 200[8] that may have sent elevated levels of TCE into certain drinking water supplies.

I first brought the TCE emission issue to your attention in November, when, after a previous TCE emission, the EPA failed to notify the public until weeks afterwards.

You assured me then, both by letter and by phone, that steps were being taken to guard against TCE emissions. Attached, for your convenience, are copies of our previous correspondence.

I would appreciate an opportunity to speak with you about this by phone as soon as possible.

Thank you for your prompt attention.

Sincerely,

Harry E. Mitchell
Member of Congress

Note: the text of Harry Mitchell's earlier letter can be found here.

Don't drink the tap water in certain parts of Scottsdale and P.V.

...It's deja vu all over again, but they seem to have worked out the whole "communicate in a timely manner" problem, anyway...

The number of hits on this blog exploded today, and most of the hits were on the posts I wrote on contaminated drinking water in Scottsdale (here, here, and here).

The vast majority of the hits were from the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, though a few came from much farther away.

My curiousity was piqued, to say the least, but had no idea why so many people were suddenly interested those (relatively) old posts.

Then I came across this article from the Arizona Republic's website -

Tap-water ban hits parts of P.V., Scottsdale

Residents in Paradise Valley and parts of Scottsdale were told Wednesday not to drink their tap water.

A water treatment plant for Arizona American Water malfunctioned Tuesday possibly sending elevated levels of TCE or trichloroethylene into the water supply, said Arizona American Water spokesman Todd Walker.

As the article noted, the problem occurred at the same treatment facility as October's problem, the treatment facility at Miller and McDonald in Scottsdale.

From the City of Scottsdale's press release on today's malfunction -

Water company's notice has no link to Scottsdale municipal water system

A private water company serving about 4,700 businesses and households in Paradise Valley and a portion of Scottsdale notified customers Wednesday evening not to drink tap water until 5 p.m. Friday.

The company is not associated with the City of Scottsdale system, and its system is separate from the Scottsdale municipal system serving about 88,000 customers.

The company’s service area within Scottsdale is generally north of Jackrabbit Road, south of Indian Bend Road and west of the Arizona Canal. It also serves some neighborhoods north of Camelback Road and west of the Arizona Canal. Arizona American serves about 1,200 Scottsdale customers. (Map of service area withinScottsdale, pdf/313kb/1p)

The Arizona American Water press release can be found here.

...Not the kind of press coverage that Scottsdale's elected leaders and their 'friends' in the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce want to see with the Super Bowl (and the thousands of tourists spending millions of dollars that come with it) two and a half weeks away...

Housekeeping note

I've added the blog of my coworker, Michael. He's a musician from Tempe and writes a blog about his music, specifically his work on the drums.

It's called "Michael's Prog Drum Blog".

Don't worry, his music is more creative than his title. :))

Anyway, his latest project is learning an exceptionally complex piece by Frank Zappa, The Black Page.

I've read all of his posts, and given my lack of musical talent/training, I still understand almost all of the prepositions and definite articles. :)

However, he's a good guy, and Zappa was, to use a normally misused word, a genius. Michael's blog is worth a read, though it will help if you have something of a musical background.

Later!

Ahhh...Congress is back in session...

...and the House Republicans are already in mid-session form...

They're already hard at work safeguarding the interests of big business and blaming workers for everything.

Today, they were "fighting the good fight" for mine owners as House Democrats worked to address mine safety in the aftermath of the recent spate of deadly mine disasters, such as Crandall Canyon in Utah and Sago in West Virginia.

During consideration of H.R. 2768, the S-MINER Act (Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response), House Republicans, led by Buck McKeon (R-CA), opposed every safety improvement as too onerous for mine owners and operators. In fact, the only 'safety improvement' that they supported (and supported strongly, at that) was an intensive drug testing requirement for mine workers.

Guess it's more fun to play "blame the victims" than it is to "govern responsibly."

Many of the Republican opponents of increased mine safety cited this Washington Post article from Sunday that chronicles a growing trend in West Virginia's mine country - painkiller addiction.

The Republicans so strongly favored increased drug testing they twice tried to wedge it into the bill, once in this amendment proposed by Joe Wilson (R-SC) (starting on page 2 of the .pdf) and in their standard 'motion to recommit with instructions', proposed by Mark Souder (R-IN).

The Wilson amendment also sought to water-down implementation of safety measures, substituting secrecy, studies and commissions for refuge chambers with emergency air supplies, flame-resistant conveyor belts, and transparency.

Note: The Wilson amendment failed by a vote of 188 - 229; the motion to recommit failed by a vote of 197 - 217, with the AZ delegation splitting along party lines for each vote.

In the end, the House passed the S-Miner bill by a vote of 214 - 199, with the AZ delegation again splitting along party lines.

As could be expected, the White House has threatened to veto the bill.

AP coverage here.

...I know that in this election year, the presidential campaigns are getting most of the attention from voters and the MSM (hey, even I think it's easier to focus on 10 or so candidates for 1 office than it is to focus on more than 900 candidates for the 468 House and Senate seats up for grab this year), we all need to remember that those seats are just as important as the Presidency, and those races are far more easily affected by local activists.

Whether it's for Harry Mitchell, Gabrielle Giffords, Raul Grijalva, Ed Pastor, Bob Lord, John Thrasher, or one of the Democrats looking to replace Rick Renzi (R-Mantech) in CD1, volunteer where you can, contribute where you can.