Update 8/22/06 - AG's office has announced it will defer to the Riverside DA's investigation.
OrangeCrest - 6/30/06 --  Local DA investigates March Global Port refueling operation.  The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports today that the Riverside District Attorney is investigating the March Global Port refueling operation that operated 5 months adjacent to the I-215 freeway without a permit.  (Kimberly Trone article, Local section page 1).

Global Port officials apparently intend to misdirect the investigation, blaming their own naive "confusion.".  The P-E claims Global Port's Ray Brimble said there were questions about whether the inspector was using the correct codes; and that, "What the inquiry is going to turn up is that there was a lot of confusion on everybody's part because it was a start-up operation."

Unfortunately, the documents reviewed by OCC show otherwise.  There was no "confusion" -- March Global Port did not have a permit for its refueling operations and knew it.  Ironically, Brimble is also quoted as "I am confident we are going to tell the truth."

The actual March JPA documentation shows that March Global Port was told in October, 2005 by March JPA's regulatory subcontractors that it should not commence its refueling operation; and that it did not have a permit.  Global Port commenced its unsafe refueling operation anyway, using water trucks that did not meet applicable safety codes for fueling storage.

At the time Global Port commenced its refueling operations, it had not even requested the Code guidelines, much less applied for a permit.  Thereafter, despite being provide safety code information and details concerning the deficiencies of its refueling operations, Global Port continued to operate the unsafe refueling system, still without a permit.

March Global Port was subsequently directed by March JPA's Lori Stone to shutdown the unpermitted operation.  Ray Brimble disregarded the instruction, changing the subject in a reply email to the question of when March JPA would have its own fuel storage facility up and running.

The unsafe, unpermitted fuel facility continued to operate for approximately five months, until the Riverside County fire chief stepped in and shut it down.  Violations included lack of a permit, lack of necessary safety devices, lack of required environmental safeguards and failure to file required reports concerning fuel spills.

See also our earlier article:  5-20-06 / Orangecrest, CA -- Risking Lives -- The March JPA / March Global Port fuel farm


OrangeCrest, June 29, 2006 -- Did March JPA use Copeland-Lowery lobbying services?  Many local area governments reportedly did, but so far there have been no reports of subpoenas served on March JPA as have been served on other area agencies.  The lobbying firm is closely tied with Representative Jerry Lewis, and new information indicates the firm failed to report $2 million in lobbying fees.  See this TPM Muckraker article.