Will Your CUC cost you $320,000,000?

I really hope I got this wrong.

The Environmental Protection Agency just linked me to a new toy based on Google Earth. It shows most EPA enforcement actions in the United States for 2009.

I dutifully went to the Mariana Islands-- the easiest way is to put New Guinea on the bottom of the map and the Philippines on the left side and slowly center us as you zoom in.

Once you find the islands, just click the type of enforcement action in the box on the left and little flags will pop up showing locations. Click the flag and you get a link to EPA's ECHO (Enforcement & Compliance History Online-- another toy I've been meaning to play with).

Saipan and Rota showed nothing I hadn't heard of, all of the violations except one were for the settlement (Stipulations one and two) CUC and EPA entered into March 11, 2009.

Nothing new at all, until I got to the "Enforcement Conclusion Dollar Amounts" in the ECHO search (Since it's a search, you may have to repeat the process; I can't guarantee the link will still work for very long), which lists the "Compliance Action Cost" at $320,000,000. I'm sure that doesn't include penalties for not meeting the deadlines in the stipulations.

Woa. That's the first estimate I've seen. Am I missing something? Someone please tell me I am.

Say hello to my little friend

Disturbed, likely to become depressed, this swirling mess of clouds is expected to pass near Guam on Tuesday, says the National Weather Service. It's about 500 miles East of Guam.

SINCE OCTOBER IS ONE OF THE PEAK MONTHS FOR TROPICAL CYCLONES IN MICRONESIA...RESIDENTS OF THE MARIANAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS DISTURBANCE. WEAK DISTURBANCES CAN QUICKLY INTENSIFY THIS TIME OF YEAR IN THIS PART OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC...AND WATCHES OR WARNINGS MAY HAVE TO BE ISSUED ON SHORT NOTICE.

To my caffeinated eye, it's bound to pass through the Mariana Islands, and I WISH THEY WOULDN'T SHOUT.