August 5, 2010

Today is Day 151 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

August 5, 2010

Texas Observer
Bill White's (Continuing) BJ Services Problem
Green groups call on EPA, Congress to investigate 'fracking' activities
by Forrest Wilder
Published on: Thursday, August 05, 2010
http://www.texasobserver.org/forrestforthetrees/bill-whites-continuing-b...

This morning 25 environmental and community groups called on the EPA and a congressional committee to investigate whether two companies violated the Safe Drinking Water Act by using diesel as a fluid in their natural gas “fracking” activities.

Gubernatorial candidate Bill White has collected more than $2.6 million serving on the board of one of the companies, Houston-based BJ Services, and has defended the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing as “essential to an affordable supply of natural gas.” The Perry campaign, naturally, has pounced on the issue to discredit White's environmental bona fides.

Concern that fracking operations are contaminating groundwater have soared, including here in Texas where the technique has opened up huge plays in the Barnett Shale and the Eagle Ford Shale.

In February, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released information showing that BJ Services and Halliburton had injected diesel underground in at least 15 states between 2005 and 2007. BJ Services admitted to the committee that it had pumped 1,700 gallons of diesel into drinking water supplies s in Arkansas and Oklahoma in violation of a non-binding agreement with EPA.

It’s not clear if this is the full extent of BJ Services’ use of diesel. The EPA agreement pertains only to coal-bed methane production, a small percentage of all fracking activity, said Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel with the Environmental Working Group. Here's what the green groups are asking from EPA:

First, we urge the EPA to investigate whether the SDWA was violated when companies used diesel fuel for hydraulic fracturing.

Second, while we would also like the EPA to investigate what chemical constituents are being used in hydraulic fracturing fluids, at a minimum we urge the EPA to ask any companies involved in hydraulic fracturing to certify whether or not they are using diesel in fracturing operations. We believe the EPA has the authority to request such a certification under 40 C.F.R.144.17.

Third, the EPA should take action to ensure that there is no unauthorized use of diesel in hydraulic fracturing. It is critical that EPA enforce the Safe Drinking Water Act so that drinking water supplies are protected.

The groups also want the precise locations disclosed. “We’d like to know exactly where so communities can protect themselves and take precautions,” said Horwitt.

To date, there is no evidence that the company used diesel in Texas wells.

I’ve asked the White campaign for comment and will post their response when I get it.

August 5, 2010

When Bill White was confronted with evidence of his shameful hurricane profiteering, he claimed he “doesn’t remember” intervening to resolve a financial conflict between the Coastal Water Authority and BTEC, a company whose majority owner was paying him compensation at the time of his improper actions.

The Associated Press is reporting, “White's recollection of the deal and its details was incomplete,” and, “Asked if BTEC got any special treatment because of his association with the company, White said: ‘No. I hope not. I don't expect that and the people who work with me at the city would know better than that.’”

These vague comments came after Bill White initially misled the AP in June when he dishonestly claimed he had no involvement in BTEC’s contract with the Coastal Water Authority after its signing in September 2005.

“BTEC Bill needs to come clean with the people of Texas and do better than deceiving them with ‘I don’t remember’ and ‘I hope not’ when answering for his hurricane profiteering,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Texans have a right to know the truth. When a company Bill White had a financial relationship with wanted to get paid by an agency funded by the city of Houston, they called their partner in the mayor’s office and suddenly they got their money. A few months later, Bill White was rewarded by being invited to make a $1 million private investment in the company that quickly made him a 50 percent profit.”

“New conflict questions for Bill White”
By Jay Root, Associated Press
August 4, 2010

Former Houston Mayor Bill White got involved in an ugly billing dispute between an area agency and a company he recommended to help the region recover from Hurricane Rita, playing a greater role in the transaction than previously acknowledged, according to documents and interviews with those involved.

White, now the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, was invited five months after the dispute was settled to invest $1 million in the privately held company. He has so far reported more than $500,000 in profits on that investment.

In an interview with The Associated Press, White's recollection of the deal and its details was incomplete, although he remembers urging a resolution to the dispute. But he insisted his actions on behalf of Houston-based BTEC were proper and said he did not personally benefit from them.

"I was calling hundreds of different companies using a network of contacts and relationship I've built," White said. "I never dictated the commercial terms or conditions."

Allegations of insider business deals have emerged as a major theme of the 2010 governor's race, producing some of the most heated exchanges so far between White and incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry. Both portray the other as corrupt: White has accused Perry of profiting from shady real estate deals with donors and lobbyists, while Perry claims White used his positions in government to line up private business deals.

At issue are the actions White took as mayor in guiding the massive relief effort that followed the September 2005 storm. White has previously said he called BTEC to suggest they pitch providing power generators to the Coastal Water Authority, an intergovernmental agency that provides water to Houston, surrounding communities and businesses. The company later won an emergency contract with the authority to provide those generators.

In June, White described that contact as simply calling a company he knew well — he had once served as a director and as chief executive of BTEC's parent company — to help with storm recovery. He said he let the company and the Coastal Water Authority, whose seven-member board includes four seats appointed by the mayor of Houston, take it from there.

"That was the end of my conversations and involvement in the case," White said in June.

But records obtained by the AP, including board meeting records, memos and e-mails from the Coastal Water Authority, show White was later involved in a dispute over unpaid invoices filed by BTEC to the agency. The records show he discussed the issue with two top city aides and a lawyer for the authority, telling them he wanted to make sure BTEC got paid for its services. One e-mail was provided to the AP by Perry's campaign.

The Coastal Water Authority hired BTEC for an agreed maximum of $2 million to provide large generators to keep water flowing to the heavy industry that dominates the region while work was under way to restore power to the area.

Problems plagued the operation from the outset, according to the agency's records. Two of the six generators malfunctioned, while the four others "could not keep up with our demand," the authority told BTEC. At sometimes testy board meetings, authority officials complained they could have bought the devices for about the same price as the temporary lease, CWA records show.

The authority eventually paid BTEC $1.6 million in January 2006, but the company wanted $424,105 more for fuel storage costs the authority claimed it didn't owe.

In January 2006, the Coastal Water Authority sent a memo to the city's public works department that said BTEC President Mike Boyce had "contacted the mayor" about the billing dispute. White said he doesn't remember that, and the company says it had no direct contact with White about the invoice flap.

But BTEC Vice President Sean Daichman told the AP the company had discussed the disputed invoices with Michael Moore, White's former chief of staff and now manager of White's gubernatorial campaign.

The authority relied on the powerhouse Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins to represent it in the dispute. BTEC called Houston City Hall and complained it wasn't being paid enough, authority records show. Anthony Hall, then Houston's chief administrative officer, said in an interview that it was during that period that White told him BTEC deserved to be paid because it provided generators during a genuine crisis.

"I think the concern the mayor had was that they had helped us on an emergency basis," Hall said. "He was concerned that whatever the dispute was, that it get resolved."

The issue still was on City Hall's plate on March 15, 2006, when Vinson & Elkins attorney Hank Coleman discussed the dispute in an e-mail sent to Gary Oradat, a top Coastal Water Authority engineer.

"I have spoken with Anthony Hall, who said he would warn the mayor," the e-mail begins. Further, it says, "He (Hall) agreed with my analysis that the mayor would likely be allowed to be a witness in any litigation on this matter, which would likely tip the scales toward BTEC based on what the mayor had told both me and Anthony."

Coleman did not respond to several messages left on a Vinson & Elkins voicemail that greeted callers with his recorded message. Company spokesman Jonathan Frels said Coleman had retired from the firm. Messages left for him by e-mail and phone were not returned.

In an interview, White was unable to recall details of what happened during the dispute five years ago, but said it was similar to other payment problems vendors claimed they were having after the hurricane.

"At some point there was some, I got some message I don't know where . . . that there had been unpaid invoices from BTEC," White said, adding he thought BTEC hadn't been paid at all. He recalls urging a top public works official and Coleman, the BTEC lawyer, to resolve the matter.

The dispute eventually was settled out of court in April 2006, with BTEC getting $264,000 of the more than $424,000 it sought. Five months later, White was invited to invest the $1 million, and tax returns show he has reported more than $500,000 in earnings on the investment. BTEC said White owns about 1 percent of the company.

Asked if BTEC got any special treatment because of his association with the company, White said: "No. I hope not. I don't expect that and the people who work with me at the city would know better than that."

August 4, 2010

Today is Day 150 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

August 4, 2010

“When reports first emerged that Bill White profiteered from Hurricane Rita, I called upon him to resign from the governor’s race if he could not fully explain his actions.

“Since then, Bill White has given contradictory explanations and falsely denied that he provided preferential treatment to BTEC, a company he had a financial relationship with. We now learn that Bill White intervened on BTEC’s behalf to resolve a financial dispute between the company and the Coastal Water Authority.

“Because Bill White has failed to come clean with the people of Texas, I am again calling upon him to drop out of the governor’s race and to apologize to the people of Houston and our state for his unethical actions and for profiteering from a natural disaster while mayor of Houston.

“Bill White’s actions to benefit his business partners over those he was elected to represent, and then to personally cash in within months with an exclusive private investment, are shameful and despicable examples of betraying the public trust.”

August 4, 2010

Liberal Bill White’s new television ad has been called “misleading” by WFAA-TV in Dallas and exposed for embellishing his record as a businessman and offering no way to pay for his proposals.

(See “Reality Check: New ad for candidate White is misleading,” video available at http://www.wfaa.com/news/politics/New-ad-for-candidate-White-is-misleadi..., full article below)

“Liberal trial lawyer Bill White is spending money donated to him by Washington Democrats to embellish his past, but he cannot hide his failed business record,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “With President Obama coming to Texas next week to raise more money for Bill White, these misleading ads will likely continue, but no amount of advertising will convince Texans to back a candidate who supports President Obama’s signature policies including the $862 billion stimulus, government-run health care, and disastrous cap and trade legislation that would destroy the Texas economy.”

August 3, 2010

Today is Day 149 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

August 2, 2010

Today is Day 148 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

July 30, 2010

Today is Day 145 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

July 29, 2010

Today is Day 144 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.