I wonder if these two events are related…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona has gained national attention for his relentless pursuit of illegal immigrants, but now the hard-line lawman finds himself in the sights of the U.S. Justice Department.
The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in the country is under investigation for possibly breaking civil rights laws.
Among the federal allegations against Arpaio: “unlawful searches and seizures, discriminatory police conduct, and a failure to provide basic services to individuals with limited English.”
In short, the Justice Department charges that the sheriff unfairly targets Latinos.
Arpaio has reacted with outright defiance.
“This is the people of Arizona they are going against, using me as a puppet,” Arpaio said at a press conference on Thursday. “They’re not going to put handcuffs on this sheriff. I’m not going to surrender!”
EPA requires stronger air quality plan for Phoenix / EPA proposes to disapprove inadequate plan
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed to disapprove Maricopa County’s air quality plan because it does not adequately control emissions of coarse particulate matter.
“Phoenix has an air quality problem that EPA is committed to solving. Too many residents in our nation’s 5th largest city suffer from asthma, chronic lung disease and other breathing disorders resulting from particulate air pollution,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The State’s plan does not achieve the emission reductions needed for Maricopa County. While it does take some steps to control pollution, more aggressive measures are needed to achieve air quality standards.”
The Maricopa area is considered in “nonattainment” for coarse particulate matter (PM-10) — meaning the air quality fails to meet national standards for this pollutant. The State of Arizona submitted a plan in 2007 intended to ensure that coarse particulate matter was reduced by five percent each year until the standard was attained. The State did not correctly inventory the sources of PM-10, resulting in a plan that does not satisfy the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act. Additionally, the State contends that many of the days with poor air quality, when particulates exceed the standards, are due to “exceptional events” such as dust storms. But EPA has determined that a legally significant number of these exceedances were not caused by “exceptional events.”