The second-biggest funder of Tim Eyman’s undemocratic I-1053, after BP, is oil giant Tesoro. Who is Tesoro? A black hat in an industry of black hats, it’s the largest independent refiner on the US West Coast.
On April 2 of this year, an explosion at Tesoro’s Anacortes refinery killed seven workers: Daniel Aldridge, 50, of Anacortes; Matthew Bowen, 31, of Arlington; Matt Gumbel, 34, of Oak Harbor; Darrin Hoines, 43, of Ferndale; Lew Janz, 41, of Anacortes; Kathryn Powell, 29, of Burlington; and Donna Van Dreumel, 36, of Oak Harbor.
Yesterday, state regulators slapped Tesoro with the largest penalty in state history for a workplace safety violation. The fine is $2.4 million. That would be a lot of money for you or me. For Tesoro, it’s three days’ profit.
During the same tragic month of April (also the month the BP disaster started in the Gulf), Tesoro was earning $744,000 a day. And it was spending thousands of dollars on lobbying to forestall a modest tax increase on hazardous substances. The new revenue mostly would have funded cities and counties’ efforts to keep oil out of Puget Sound and other bodies of water. A search of the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission’s database (see page 78 in the tab for “total expenses by employer”) shows that Tesoro was spending more than $1,000 a day on just two Olympia lobbyists. That’s about ten times what Washington pays its elected legislators per day. The bill to protect Washington waters from oil and other toxics came close to passing. It’ll be back in 2011. The Gulf disaster boosts prospects for passage, unless I-1053 gives an ideological faction of 17 anti-tax state senators a veto. That’s why Tesoro likes Eyman’s 1053. That’s why they gave Eyman’s campaign $50,000.
State investigators’ report of the Anacortes explosion is damning. As Bloomberg summarizes:
Tesoro was cited for 39 “willful” violations and five “serious” violations of state workplace safety and health regulations, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries said in a press release today. The company could’ve prevented the accident, the agency said.
The findings are the result of a six-month investigation into the most deadly U.S. refinery accident since 2005, when 15 people were killed by an explosion at BP Plc’s Texas City, Texas, refinery.
“This explosion and the deaths of these men and women would never have occurred had Tesoro tested their equipment in a manner consistent with standard industry practices, their own policies and state regulations,” Judy Schurke, director of the state agency that oversees workplace safety and health, said in a statement.
Tesoro, BP, and Tim Eyman: working together to thwart majority rule, working together to protect oil profits, working together to prevent clean water.
Photo of Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington courtesy of Flicker photographer Steve Halverson, FlyingColorsY2K10( <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Trade Gothic LT Com”; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-2147483517 1073750090 0 0 9 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Trade Gothic LT Com”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> © 2009).
Brutus Insaint
BP is about to launch its new website BPCares.com. The decision to go ahead with the rebranding of the oil giant was one of the first goals for the new Board. In a secretly leaked memo, insiders painted a picture in which BP will begin to restore its image with the BPCares website and then pivot towards Amoco for complete salvation from the oil spill. The domains that BP now owns are: BPCares.com BPCares.net BPCares.org BPCares.info BPCares.us BPCares.biz The new BPCares website will be up soon.
Ross Macfarlane
Good post, Alan. Tesoro’s efforts to undermine progressive policies aren’t confined to Washington. Along with fellow Texas oil company Valero and Koch Industries, they are the main supporters of California’s Prop 23—a blatant attempt to roll back California’s climate and clean air laws and pad the profits for dirty energy producers.
philippe boucher
I wonder if NPR, KUOW, KPLU is going to tell this story… I hope so.
Howard Garrett
I don’t know why the names of responsible parties can’t be included in an article that with a headline like “Who Is Tesoro?” Despite the corporate personhood enacted by the owners of corporations and their compliant and incompetent judges, corporations are not persons. Only persons are persons, and just like any law-breakers they should be identified by name. I’d like to know who is the CEO, the Chair of the Board, and the holding company or majority shareholders who appoint the board and thus set the attitudes and policies that lead to these atrocities. Who are they?
Eric de Place
Greg Goff is president and CEO.Full listing of management here:http://www.tsocorp.com/TSOCorp/AboutUs/SeniorManagement/SENIORMANAGEMENT
Dave Kershner
At the time of the refinery explosion in Anacortes, Bruce A. Smith was Tesoro’s top decision-maker, holding titles of Chairman, President and CEO of the company. Having already announced his retirement before the Anacortes tragedy, Smith left the company in June of this year. Was the CEO aware of the serious safety breaches that led to the explosion on April 2nd? A year earlier, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries cited Tesoro’s refinery for safety violations that “posed a risk of death or serious injury to workers,” according to the Seattle Times. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is still investigating the explosion and will issue a report sometime next year. If it is determined that Smith knew about the willful violations cited by Washington Labor and Industries, he could be held personally liable. However, as the following article by Jim Morris at the Center for Public Integrity notes, the Occupational Safety and Health Act does not allow the courts to impose stiff financial penalties on corporate executives, even where actions of those executives contribute to worker deaths. See:http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2465/