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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Groups Protest Expansion of Tar-Sands Oil Refining in CA

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Tuesday, March 20, 2018   

SAN FRANCISCO – Protesters took to the streets of San Francisco on Monday, to denounce the possible expansion of an oil refinery in the North Bay town of Rodeo – a decision they say was taken behind closed doors.

Documents from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District show that Phillips 66 will now have permission to ramp up processing of oil sands at two hydrocracking units from 42,000 barrels a day to 65,000, a 55-percent increase.

Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, says the agency changed the permit and approved it after the public comment period was over. And he says the process emits toxins into the air.

"Processing tar sands is extremely dangerous and energy-intensive, and it's going to increase the risk of air pollution, of water pollution, and increase the risk of health impacts to our communities," Kretzmann warns.

Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, denied that the permit allows for an expansion and said the matter will be debated publicly at a hearing on April 9.

Phillips 66, when contacted, offered no comment.

Last year, local authorities in the San Luis Obispo area rejected a request by Phillips 66 to upgrade some rail lines to allow for more oil trains. The company has also applied to expand its marine terminals, to take in more tar sands via boat - something Kretzmann also opposes.

"It's going to receive these dangerous tar sands via ships, and those ships coming in and out of San Francisco Bay have potential to cause spills and accidents and do a great deal of harm to our fragile ecosystem in the Bay Area," he says.

A coalition of environmental groups petitioned the federal EPA on Monday to step in and overrule the permit. Those groups include Communities for a Better Environment, San Francisco Baykeeper, Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club and Stand.earth.


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