Green Puzzle: When Is a Soil Recycling Facility Not Like an Indian Casino?

We recently looked in on the controversy in Mecca, California about malodors allegedly produced by a contaminated-soil recycling company located on land belonging to the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. The dispute has been heating up:

State hazardous waste regulators cracked down on the business earlier this month, notifying Western Environmental that it should not accept California waste because it lacked the required permits. The state also told Western Environmental’s customers not to bring their waste to the plant.

But in a letter sent to its customers this week, Western Environmental claims the state’s toxic substances control department “does not have authority to regulate such waste” at the Mecca facility because it’s on tribal land.

Right on! Tribal marketing is already rolling out a casino + hazmat-recycling + convenience store concept.

The state contends it has jurisdiction since the plant is neither owned by the tribe nor a tribal entity.

Tricky lawyer mumbo-jumbo. But then . . .

It’s unclear why the state allowed the plant to operate for seven years without the permits.

Why? Because California believes in green jobs! Oh, wait. California believes in clean air! Uh . . . let me get back to you.

Plant officials stress that no environmental agencies investigating the odor have been able to pinpoint Western Environmental as the only source of the problematic odor.

We don’t stink but even if we do there’s nothing you can do about it.

Sock Clogger at UAF

Someone has been flushing socks down the toilets at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. More than 100 pairs since December. According to Andrew Sheeler, a reporter for the campus newspaper The Sun Star:

This has led to an occasional sewer smell that pervades the halls of the building. The sock flushing has caused an estimated $20,000 in damages, and has left Facilities Services (FS) employees baffled as to a reason why.

“We don’t think it’s vandalism,” said Marianne Freelong, FS Customer Service Manager.

We agree with Ms. Freelong. Why? Because the toilets in question are in the Fine Arts Complex.

It’s art. Duh.

P.S. Say, Jammie Nicholas hasn’t been hanging out at UAF recently, has he?

More Ersatz Perfume Deals from Germany

As celebrity fragrance enters its Decadent Phase, Germans are in the avant garde:

Clarence House smelled a rat today when a German perfumer claimed to have created the fragrances to be worn by Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding day.

Hamburg-based Kim Weisswange claimed she spent seven weeks in her lab perfecting the scents to secret recipes using more than 90 ingredients.

Miss Weisswange, 47, who said she made three scents for the Queen’s 80th birthday in 2006, claimed the order came in a phone call from the Palace, and said the two new perfumes “underline the character and personalities” of the couple.

Miss Weisswange even went to the trouble of creating mock-up bottle designs. She was written up here (auf Deutsch), and you can also catch her on YouTube, thrusting her Nase into one rose after another and working in her Laboratorium. Question: Big-time perfumers compose by weight, not volume, so why all the graduated cylinders in her lab? And why on earth would she compound smelling samples in a huge Ehrlenmeyer flask? [Relax, it’s just a PR video for the rubes.—Ed.]

Karl Has His People Spank Gerhard’s People

Gerhard und Geza

From KL’s flack:

“Mr Lagerfeld refutes his implication in the launch of the perfume Paper Passion. This project, of which Mr Steidl told him about, only emanate from the art books’ publisher himself. Mr Lagerfeld copublishes many books with Mr Steidl but stick to Coty Prestige when it is about his own perfumes’ creations.”

Ouch!

Berlin-based perfumer Geza Schön, who had already revealed the theme notes for Paper Passion, is probably not feeling the love either.

Celebrity fragrances have officially entered their Decadent Phase, when members of the entourage feel free to grab the spotlight by pre-announcing fragrance deals.

ISDP: Special Earth Day Edition

“Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend”

I collected a lot of material about the Ira Einhorn/Helen Maddux case for What the Nose Knows, but ended up not using it.

Via Instapundit.