Across U.S., citizens fight Bush administration for access to records

Across U.S., citizens fight Bush administration for access to records
Posted on Sunday, March 13 @ 09:12:04 EST
By Robert Tanner, Associated Press
FALL RIVER, Mass. - Ed Lambert, Al Lima and Mike Miozza never thought of themselves as activists, just regular guys. Then an energy company announced plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in this small community on the Taunton River. The men — the mayor, a city planner and an engineer — had nightmare visions of gas igniting into a huge fireball on the river, and asked for government-held reports that studied the threat to the town if the plant or a tanker were attacked.
But like many people who ask for government records these days, they didn't get what they were looking for. "It's a farce," Miozza says.
And it's happening across the country. To a Virginia homeowner seeking plans for a gas pipeline near his home. To Wyoming politicians worried about local dams. To an environmental group that wants the studies on 100-year floods and dam failures in a Southwest river canyon.
All asked for records, and all were turned down....