I am telling my age with the short video over here <--------------In the movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", Butch and Sundance were relentlessly pursued by unknown lawmen.
On Wednesday, I attended a meeting of the legislative subcommittee looking into how Governor Roy Cooper came to establish the "memorandum of understanding" for $57.8 million from the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Three Very Serious Dudes walked in. I was wondering, who are those guys? Turns out, they were the investigators retained to look into this mess. More about them here: https://www.ncleg.net/documentsites/committees/govops/Subcommittee--Atlantic%20Coast%20Pipeline/2_December%202018/2.%20Eagle%20Intel_CurriculmVitae_ACP%20Subcommittee_2018Dec12.pdf
Ironically, the Governor submitted his own records request to the legislature. Here's the News and Observer story Accusing GOP of ‘political showmanship,’ Cooper’s office seeks public records
“If Governor Cooper had responded to records requests made pursuant to North Carolina law, we might not be where we are today,” said Therese Vick, a regional director with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said by email after the hearing. “Impacted communities and landowners deserve to know the truth about the permitting process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and how decisions were made. If it takes an investigation, well, that’s what it takes.”
Get your popcorn ready, and stay tuned...
On January 26, 2018, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality approved the 401 Water Quality certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. On the same day, Governor Roy Cooper announced a 57.8 million dollar “mitigation” fund—to be financed by ACP. This move by the Cooper Administration stunned and outraged environmentalists, impacted community members and landowners, and understandably raised questions of “pay-for play” and “quid pro quo.”
On January 30, 2018, on behalf of Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League I submitted a detailed records request regarding this decision
to DEQ. It was followed by a similar request to the Governor’s office on
February 9, 2018. Other requests for public records on the Atlantic Coast
Pipeline not related to the MOU were submitted to the North Carolina Board of Examiners
for Engineers and Surveyors (May 29, 2018) and the North Carolina Department of
Public Safety (June 11, 2018).
This is part of the February 9th request
sent to the Cooper Administration— DEQ’s was similar:
On behalf of Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
(BREDL), and pursuant to North Carolina General Statute §132, I am requesting
that I be provided all Administration records from January 1, 2017 through the
date of this request pertinent to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), including
records regarding the Memorandum of Understanding between your office and the
ACP, signed January 25, 2018. This should include documentation of interactions
such as calls, call notes, texts, faxes, meeting rosters, emails, letters,
memoranda, meeting notes (handwritten or otherwise), calendar entries,
audio/video records and contemporaneous notes both inter and intra agency
(including communications with Duke Energy and other ACP partners. local
governments, lobbyists, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, other
economic development entities, legislators, and others described below)
The
request to DEQ is still incomplete,
particularly regarding records from senior management, like Secretary Michael Regan and Assistant Secretary Sheila Holman. What few documents the
Governor’s office has provided have been largely irrelevant. To date, we have
received nothing from NCBELS or DPS.
Earlier
this year, the Governor published updated guidance on public records. The very first
paragraph states:
“The policy of the state of North Carolina is to allow
public access to the activities of government. Governor Roy Cooper believes
following the law in providing access to records and meetings is an important
part of the everyday duties of office holders and government employees, as well
as appointed and elected members of government boards and commissions.” You can
find the complete guidance here: https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/Public-Records-Guide.pdf.
Really?
Access to public records is vital to democracy, and
North Carolina’s public records law reflects that importance. Controversial
issues should not determine when, how, or even if the Governor and state
agencies comply with the law.
It is unacceptable
that the public is made to beg for records that belong to them, and that public servants and elected officials obstruct
access to those records. Among those
that have not received requested public records on the ACP (besides BREDL) are
the North Carolina General Assembly, and the media. It begs the question- why?
Why are the former Attorney General now Governor and state agencies flouting the
law in this way? At best, it looks very bad. At worst it raises serious
questions about the process that led to the approval of the 401 certification
and its companion 57.8 million dollars.
Governor Cooper, you
can clear all of this up. Release the records on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
