More Secrecy From the "Transparent Administration"

I call "bullshit" on this:

Dozens of communities nationwide are at risk from a coal ash spill like the one that blanketed a Tennessee neighborhood last year, but the Obama administration has decided not to tell the public about it because of the danger of a terrorist attack.

The Environmental Protection Agency, as part of an investigation opened after the Tennessee spill, classified 44 coal ash storage ponds in 26 communities as potential hazards.

The agency, which earlier this year pledged to be transparent and carry out its work in the public view, wanted to disclose the information until the Army Corps of Engineers said it shouldn't because of national security concerns.

"The potential for a terrorist attack" is code for "it's going to be too embarrassing if we tell you, so we won't tell you." There seems to be little difference between the Bush and the Obama Administrations' use of "the threat of terrorism" and the claims of "national security" that were invoked by the Johnson and Nixon Administrations to cover up their misdeeds and lies.

They have to be really stupid to think that classifying this information will work. It should not be too hard to go on the Internet and search for "coal ash ponds". Here's a list. Georgia Power alone has three plants that have a total of 1.5 million tons of coal ash in containment ponds. PSI Energy in Gibon County, Indiana has about 900,000 tons of coal ash at one power plant, so does Dayton Power & Light in Ohio. You could get aerials of those plants from a number of sources. You can also find articles about individual plants, such as this one.

You'd have to be a real imbecile these days to think that this information is going to stay under wraps. Or you'd have to work for the Army Corps of Engineers ("Our Motto: Our Levees Usually Almost Never Fair.") if you really believed that they can hide this stuff.