Big Oil Evaded Regulation And Plastic Pellets Kept Spilling

Big Oil Evaded Regulation And Plastic Pellets Kept Spilling Enlarge this image toggle caption James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images Look on the side of a highway sometime and you might see them. "Pellet containment is incredibly important to our members," said Steve Russell, who until recently was the vice president of plastics for the American Chemistry Council, the industry's trade group that jointly runs the program. Recently though, Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, introduced legislation that would prohibit the discharge of pellets into waterways and possibly require companies that make and use pellets to apply for permits because of what he called "a failure of federal or state oversight officials to enforce pellet practices and loose industry self-policing." "I have no idea what you're even talking about," Hamrick said when asked about Operation Clean Sweep, echoing Jurasek and a third former employee. When asked about the pellets, Chevron Phillips acknowledged pellets had leaked from the plant but said in a statement that they came from a single storm event and that they've since made improvements, including new screens and "pellet patrols."