Federal watchdogs are barking up Colonial Oil's tree with a hefty $2.8 million fine for clean air violatios. The Savannah-based oil bigwig, dinged by the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency, stands accused of fudging renewable fuel use numbers and peddling too volatile gasoline. Buyers beware, this gas was apparently contributing to smog and hitting asthmatics where it hurts.

The company, which didn't peep a word when asked to comment, isn't just forking out fines. In a costly mea culpa, it's shelling out $12.2 million to retire greenhouse gas credits. Sweetening the sour deal, the consent decree they inked, pending public scrutiny, may become a done deal after the regulatory bigwigs sift through a month's worth of public gab.

Getting into the grime of it, EPA hawks claim Colonial Oil left out over 100 million gallons of diesel, meant for ships that never braved the big blue, from its eco-friendly fuel use records from 2013 to 2019. The big no-no here: pretending they used the green stuff when they didn't, leading to a greenhouse gas uptick.

As if that wasn't enough heat, the oil honchos also hawked gas that had too much pep in its step, evaporation-wise, causing more smog and breathing beef for folks in the summer, according to The Current. Under the hammer, Colonial now has to nab and snuff credits to make up for their eco-slip, to the cool tune of 18,300 metric tons of CO2 snuffed out – that's like unplugging a small town or parking a fleet of cars for a year.

Mind you, despite their current mire, Colonial Group's website is all sunshine and daisies about its pioneering push into renewable diesel on the East Coast. A stark contrast to having the feds knock on their door for a cleaner act. Rules are rules, after all, and as Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim put it, "This proposed settlement will hold Colonial to the same renewable fuel requirements that all importers and producers must adhere to."

Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of the EPA wasn't shy about laying it bare either, saying renewable fuels were pivotal in cutting down nasty emissions and backing up the economy with solid jobs. This settlement is another sharp reminder to fuel folks to stay in their green lane or face the costly music.

A look at other offenders this year shows this isn't a lonely path. California-based Cummins, Inc.'s wallet is $1.675 billion lighter after the biggest Clean Air Act civil penalty ever slapped. And Apache Corporation's piggy bank is down $4 million, plus a couples of million more in clean-up acts after their own faux pas with well pads, per reporting from The Current.

After three games on the road, Richmond Hill is heading back home. They will take on the Savannah Country Day Hornets at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Tuesday, Richmond Hill got the win against Colquitt County by a conclusive 11-1.

Meanwhile, Savannah Country Day waltzed into their contest on Monday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They had just enough and edged the Redskins out 7-6. Seven seems to be a good number for Savannah Country Day as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Tyler Scott was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also only allowed one walk). Scott was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and a triple.

Scott wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Garrett Lorfano, who went 1-for-3 with a home run and two runs.

Richmond Hill has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 14-10 record this season. As for Savannah Country Day, they pushed their record up to 11-11 with that win, which was their third straight at home.

Richmond Hill suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to Savannah Country Day in their previous meeting back in February. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Scott, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Now that Richmond Hill knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.

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Credit: Creative Commons / LoneStarMike

Savannah's popular trolley tours may soon sound less noisy to residents and passersby, if a proposed ordinance passes City Council muster and achieves tourism officials' goal of preventing amplified sound from spilling out onto the streets of the city's historic downtown.

Adored by tourists yet loathed by many locals, the more than 100 registered trolley tour vehicles in the Hostess City would be required to use directional, noise-reducing speaker systems, under an ordinance recommendation made by the Savannah Office of Special Events, Film and Tourism.

Alternatively, trolley tour guides could speak to their passengers through in-ear devices.

The proposal was presented by Savannah City Manager Jay Melder at a Thursday workshop meeting of City Council, where he voiced support while also acknowledging the cost that such a regulation would impose on tour companies.

“I do want to note that this technology is not inexpensive for our operators, at roughly $10,000 to $12,000 a vehicle,” he said, referring to the directional speaker systems. “But I do think that pushing our industry towards these better technologies — especially when they're technologies that the industry themselves have identified — is a right next step for Council.”

One trolley tour company has already invested in “a few prototypes” of directional speakers, Melder added, which were well received by members of the Downtown Neighborhood Association who were invited to three demonstrations of the technology.

“We had about 20 people join board members to see if the speakers would be viable,” DNA president David McDonald said in a statement shared by Melder at the workshop meeting. “The consensus seemed to be that the installation of these speakers significantly reduced the volume of noise coming from inside the trolley.”

The proposed ordinance, which is still being written, would not require immediate compliance but rather set an 18-month phase-in period, by the end of which operators' entire fleets would need to use either of the two technologies.

There are approximately 110 registered trolley tour vehicles in Savannah between the three companies registered to operate in the city — Old Savannah Tours, Historic Tours of America (operating under the brand name Old Town Trolley Tours) and Gray Line Savannah — which altogether employ more than 180 trolley tour guides.

City Council members who spoke at the workshop seemed supportive of the recommended ordinance, which, according to Melder, would be ready for a vote within one month.

“I'm always going to vote for protecting the quality of life in any district,” Alderwoman Linda Wilder-Bryan said. “I'm downtown all the time, and you can really hear what the [trolley] tour guide is saying.”

“I just want to make sure that we let the industry know that we're not just targeting them,” said Alderman Detric Leggett, whose district includes almost all of downtown. “We want to look at the entire picture because there's so many different things that contribute to this noise that's going on, especially after the hours of seven, eight, nine o'clock at night.”

However, Melder shared that the Downtown Neighborhood Association communicated to him that trolley tour noise constitutes “95% of the problem.”

The proposed noise ordinance, Melder suggested, would be a reasonable compromise to what he called “drastic measures” that some downtown residents have asked for, such as reducing the number of tours that are currently allowed.

“Downtown's always been a mixed-use neighborhood,” Melder said. “And downtown is not a gated community. You come downtown to be able to enjoy the nightlife, to enjoy walkable streets, to enjoy the squares, to enjoy all of the amenities that downtown has to offer.

“So, we are not going to be able to achieve the kind of tranquil, bucolic neighborhood setting that might exist in other places in our region,” he continued. “That's not what downtown is. And it shouldn't be. And our residents shouldn't have that expectation.”

Tags: tourism tourism industry noise pollution Georgia Savannah Atlanta Macon

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About the author

Author

Benjamin is the Savannah-based reporter for GPB, where he covers Coastal Georgia.

Prior to coming to Savannah, he freelanced in Bellingham, Washington, for public media outlets including NPR, Marketplace, and PRX. Previously, Benjamin hosted Morning Edition for WVIK, his hometown NPR member station in Rock Island, Ill. Before that, he served a news internship with NPR member station WBEZ in Chicago.

Benjamin is a graduate of the University of Nevada-Reno's journalism master's program, and earned his undergraduate degree in journalism from Augustana College in Rock Island.

Businesses shouldn’t just chase customers but instead should cultivate fans, keynote speaker Jesse Cole said Monday at the American Gem Society Conclave in Austin, Texas.

“The future of your business is not based on how many customers you have, it’s how many fans you have,” Cole, founder of the Savannah Bananas exhibition baseball team, said in the opening keynote address. “Customers are transactional, but you want a fan for life. We have 100 customers who have tattoos of our team on their arm.”

Wearing his signature bright yellow tux, Cole told AGS Conclave attendees that when he first organized the Bananas team, he set out to provide a “fans first” experience that would “wow” customers.

“We said, we are not going to be like other baseball teams, we’re going to different. We are not in the baseball business, we’re in the entertainment business.”

Starting out, Cole identified several “friction points” that can interfere with people’s enjoyment of traditional baseball games.

Fans felt games “were too long, too slow, too boring,” he said. “They complained about convenience fees and service fees added to the tickets.”

As a result, the Bananas didn’t charge any fees with its tickets. They also developed their own “Banana Ball” rules, which keep every game under two hours and incorporate dancing and audience participation events.

The team now enhances the experience by sending fans a playlist to listen to on their way to the ballpark, and about a week after the game, it sends them a free highlights video.

“Our goal is to create not just fans-first moments but ‘you wouldn’t believe’ moments,” Cole said. “What can we do that’s a little more remarkable?

“[Jewelers] are in a serious profession, but what if people think, ‘Boy, not only did I get a great necklace, but I had a great experience’? Think about what’s the typical experience and how you make your store seem unlike any jewelry store in the world.”

Cole advised the audience to look for “friction points” in their own businesses.

“We don’t focus on our competitors, we look at putting ourselves in customers’ shoes,” he said. “Walt Disney would walk his park, and go through it and look at how he can do better. He wanted to find out what’s wrong with every ride.”

The Bananas take a similar approach: Employees sit “undercover” among the fans to find out how to “eliminate friction,” said Cole.

He noted that when customers call a company, they are typically put on hold and forced to listen to “boring” music. But the Bananas have their own entertaining hold music, and people sometimes call just to listen to it, according to Cole.

He said businesses have to ask: “How do you take those pain points and make them fun, unique, and memorable?”

One example of how the Bananas answer that question occurs when games are called because of rain—employees line up with umbrellas and escort customers to their cars.

Businesses need to “experiment constantly” to succeed, said Cole.

“We’re not remembered for our failures but for our hits,” he said. “Whatever is normal, do the opposite. Normal gets normal results. Attention beats marketing 1000% of the time. People talk about things that are unique and different.

“We constantly come up with ideas and see what works and what doesn’t work. And a lot of them don’t work. You either have a success or you have story, and sometimes both.”

(Photo courtesy of the American Gem Society)

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