You've got to be kidding me part II

Dec 3rd, 2008
You’ve got to be kidding me (Part II)
You know, when I was a kid my mother always told me that if you can’t say something nice about a person, keep your mouth shut. If I did that about Hyperion, DENR and the Governor, I wouldn’t have anything to write about.
I am still amazed at what is happening with the Clean Air Permit. If you read the papers, everyone that is against Hyperion is a heretic. I wonder how long we are going to have to speak out about this issue before people decide what we are talking about has validity. This refinery is not good for this area.
Let’s take economic development and the Clean Air Permit. I wonder if people who live in Sioux City and the surrounding area realize that if this refinery happens, no other industries can be built within 50 miles of the refinery because they will exceed the allowable limits of polluted air. If you read the clean air permit draft, Hyperion purposely left the Sioux City area out of the equation. I believe they did this because if they would have left Sioux City in the permit, the business leaders would have realized that this would be the killing blow for industrial development for the Sioux City complex. Let me expand on this.
If the State of South Dakota approves the Hyperion application, it will show in the permit that the refinery will put the polluted air at the borderline for unsafe conditions. In other words, the air will be filled with the maximum amount allowable under the Clean Air Act and the National Ambient Air Quality standards. In order for other industries to come into the area, they must meet the air quality standards, and they won’t be able to do that because Hyperion is sucking us dry.
Now here comes an associated industry in the oil business and wants to build a factory either near the refinery or in the 50 mile radius of the refinery. Sorry Charlie, you must be pollution free or you can’t build here. Now do you suppose somebody will cry foul? Does Hyperion care? I think they would because it will cost them lost revenue. So Hyperion appeals to the state and DENR to waive the limits on the associated industries to allow them to come into the area. Talk about a domino effect. This again is a disaster waiting to happen. What has happened to the economic development Hyperion promised when they got their permit? This area would become a cesspool of putrid air is what would happen. I don’t think the state is thinking out this process. It is too late to lock the gate when the cows are already out of the pen. Is this making sense? I have a habit of playing devils advocate in situations like this and what I see happening is something that scares me. I keep saying be careful what you ask for, you might get it.
I don’t know if any of you have taken the time to read any of the letters that are posted on the DENR website, but please take some time to read them, there is a wealth of information up there. One of the letters I would like to comment on is from Dr. Mary Slattery. Dr. Slattery is a retired cardiologist from Elk Point. One of the interesting points that she makes in her letter is that at the beginning of the process when Hyperion was obtaining options on the land, Governor Rounds was knowledgeable about the refinery but kept quiet. In effect, he was complicit with Hyperion to allow them to obtain this ground. By keeping this secret, it prevented competitors from raising the price of the land should anyone else want to get in on the action. According to Dr. Slattery’s letter, the Governor never explained his actions for keeping this quiet which allowed Hyperion to obtain these options at a price that was not competitive. I think this is a plausible option because the Governor has been deeply involved with this for a long time. Is what he did illegal? I doubt it because he can always use the excuse that he is doing what he is paid to do, bring industry to the state of South Dakota. After all, he travels all over the world in an attempt to get investors in the state. I would guess that the only ones to complain about that are the ones that signed options. If there had been competitive bidding, they would have gotten more money.
Does anyone else get the feeling that we have been lied to about this project since the very beginning? There are too many things going on for it to be left to chance. As long as the price of oil is down I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Just getting the air permit doesn’t mean it’s a done deal. They still have to find the people willing to invest in long term. Which reminds me, with Henry Waxman being nominated as chairman of House Energy and Commerce, Hyperion is going to have a hard time convincing anyone in Congress that they will build a “Green” refinery.

You've got to be kidding me

November 26th, 2008
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Hyperion lawyers met on November 20th in Pierre with the Board of Minerals and Water to plead their case for getting the Hyperion application approved as soon as possible. Lawyers for Hyperion said that a delay of six months will cost Hyperion almost $500 million and delay the state getting $25 million in revenue. Nothing like trying to put a little pressure on someone is there? I think these lawyers should have read the DENR website before they went to the meeting to see what EPA had to say about the Hyperion application. They might not have been so anxious to get this process going.
I apologize if this makes for dull reading, but please muddle through this and you will see what is going on here. This is going to get complicated, but I think it is necessary to show the seriousness of what is happening. I have been saying for months that this is never going to happen. There are many of us that have been saying time and again that Hyperion does not have the skills, knowledge or the expertise to build this refinery. After you read the comments in the rest of this article you might have to agree with me. If Hyperion can’t get their application straight and DENR goes along with it, how in God’s name is Hyperion going to be able to build a refinery and then have someone like DENR monitor their operation to make sure they are not stinking the place up. Many of us have been saying for months that this application cannot be approved without Hyperion submitting an Environmental Impact (EIS) statement. After looking at the response from EPA I can understand why. How are they going to file an EIS when they can’t even get the application right? There has to be an element of trust in here somewhere, but all I see is growing distrust.
The State of South Dakota DENR posted numerous letters and emails that were received on November 14th on their website November 20th. You can read the response from EPA in its entirety by following these directions. Go to( state.sd.denr)..(click on Hyperion Energy Center Environmental Permits).( Click on Hyperion Air Quality Permit).( Scroll down to comments on Air Draft Permit). (Click on 20 comments received). Scroll down about 8 letters and the EPA response will be there. I read all these emails and letters as they are posted, and when I read the response to DENR on the Hyperion application I almost fell off my chair. The EPA regional office in Denver sent a 24 page response to DENR on the 14th of November that when you read it, it will just about blow your socks off. It is 24 pages of rebuttal on just about every portion of the Hyperion application. The letter really makes DENR and Hyperion look stupid and totally inept. I am going to take you through this article page by page and first show the Hyperion/DENR action then the EPA response. If ever there was reason to be happy, reading this letter is like getting Christmas early. The second paragraph of the very first page sets the tone of the rest of the letter. It says that the permit format is confusing to review and understand, and suggests that DENR revise the format so that people can understand it. I wanted to stand up and holler. I had presumed that this application was going to be a slam dunk and that the EPA would merely rubberstamp the process. Boy was I about to be enlightened. Let me give you just a few examples.
In the last paragraph of the first page the EPA recognizes that refinery crude slate can vary greatly depending on the operation and product demand, the EPA could not find any discussion of the characteristics and requested that this be better defined. The EPA requested that at a minimum this include the sulfur content, hydrogen/carbon ratio and metals in the crude.
On page 2, the DENR application talks about monitoring requirements being on what is called a 365- day rolling average. EPA’s response is that this is the least stringent figure they have seen and therefore is unacceptable to the EPA.
On page 4, EPA notes that the economic impact analysis for refinery fuel gas desulfurization as well as the other emission control equipment in Appendix D, is inadequate, and they are not making any comments on the BACT determinations until they have had the opportunity to review the cost effectiveness and cost analysis.
EPA is continually saying throughout the article that DENR need to require compliance. DENR needs to establish limits. EPA is unable to make a determination. EPA disagrees; DENR needs to revise conditions. EPA strongly recommends. EPA strongly disagrees with DENR’s decision.
On page 17, EPA states that there is no mention of where the costs are derived from. Therefore, the costs have not been documented. Generally, cost information is provided from equipment vendors. If one were to look back at the original application that Hyperion made to the county planning and zoning and the county commissioners, every time there was a blank space for naming equipment and/or a vendor it was filled in TBD (to be determined).
On page 18, under Soils and Vegetation , the EPA states that their statement is subjective without supporting information. The next paragraph states that DENR adopted this portion stating that “The owner or operator need not provide an analysis of the impact on vegetation having no significant commercial or recreational value.” However the proposed facility will be approximately 10 miles from Ponca State Park in Nebraska, Oak Grove (Union Grove) State park in South Dakota and Big Sioux County Parks in Iowa which should be within the envelope of the soil and vegetation analysis and that the missing information needs to be included in the record for this proposed PSD permit.
The Coupe de Gras is the following sentence.
The proposed permit has numerous provisions that should be revised. This type of language is not appropriate for permits as this language is a form of “director’s discretion” that would allow the State to unilaterally change permit provisions without benefit of EPA review or public comment. We recommend that the DENR remove these from the permit.
Folks, Hyperion is trying to push through something that is inherently bad for our health and from some strange reason DENR has become a willing partner to this.
I absolutely do not understand how in good conscious DENR could let this happen. Somebody needs to be held accountable because it is their duty to protect the citizens of South Dakota from this very thing happening. It is their duty to be a watchdog and prevent anything like this from happening, but look what they are doing. They strongly advocate that this Hyperion issue is good for us and for the people of this region. This is an abborition that’s what it is.
This is what I think is happening. Hyperion puts together a jumble of documents. They don’t really know just how technical they have to be about this process so they team with the state DENR and submit a document that is totally screwed up. EPA looks at the document; throws up, then sends a 24 page response back to DENR telling them what they must do if they expect the application to pass the scrutiny of the EPA.
Now Hyperion knows the boundaries of the playing field and corrects the mistakes and they are home free. This process does not relieve the DENR from complicity. They have not done their job.
Governor Mike Rounds said long ago when it was questioned as to whether or not DENR had the skills or expertise to look at this document and the governor said that he had full confidence in the ability of DENR to thoroughly examine this document and make a just and fair decision. A Just and fair decision for whom?
This EPA response gives full justification that Save Union County, Citizens Opposed to Oil Production and the Sierra Club that we were correct and it is time for the Governor to sit up and listen to what we are talking about. If the Governor was sincere about looking out for the welfare of the citizens of this state, this would have never happened. Since this whole thing started we have been saying time and time again that this process cannot continue without an EIS. That document is more important now than ever before and I firmly believe it is the responsibility of the DENR to finally insist that Hyperion pay for an independent third party to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement

where's the logic?

November 19th, 2008
Where’s the Logic?
Let me first begin by retracting a statement I made in last week’s article of the “Akron Hometowner.” I said that I believed that Higman Sand and Gravel was owned by L.G. Everit Company. That is not correct. I apologize for any inconvenience caused to Mr. Higman by that statement. I can assure you it was not intentional.
I guess I do not understand big business and the logic of the economic development. Just who is taking the risk by having Hyperion build this refinery? I’m not worried about where Hyperion is seeking funding for this; well I am, but there is nothing I can do about it. I am worried about where our money that is going to be used in this venture is coming from. You know this isn’t going to be a situation where we sit back and see what develops. What I see is a lose-lose situation for the State of South Dakota and its people. According to the planned development rezoning issue that was passed by the voters in Union County last June, nothing was said about where the money that was going to be spent by Union County was coming from. I know for a fact that Brule and Spink Townships don’t have funds to even build the one mile of road that the ordinance directs that is to be built. I doubt very seriously that the state has funds available for rebuilding the road because I believe that anything that large must be appropriated by the legislature, and with the economy going in the toilet, revenue for roads etc. is not there
In an earlier article I said that the oil industry is a boom or bust industry. With the price of oil dropping more every day I can’t help but think truer words were never said. The problem as I see it is that if this project were already underway Hyperion would be laying off people because they could not afford to build the refinery for the tar sands when the price of oil is so low. Preston Phillips is quoted as saying that it is not economically feasible to refine tar sands when the price of a barrel of oil is below $90. Look where the price is today. Remember when people outside of Union County were upset because they couldn’t vote on this issue. I will bet they are glad now that they don’t live in this county.
Hyperion can say what they want to about economic development, greed is the driving force behind this and the only one that is going to profit from this is Hyperion. This is a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t mean to stand here and say the sky is falling, but reality should tell us this is not a wise decision. We are amateurs in a field of wolves, and Hyperion is taking us to the cleaners. They are backing us into a corner and it will be next to impossible for us to recover from it once construction starts.
Look at what is happening right now today in Canada. Thousands of workers are being laid off because of the slowdown of production. If Canada doesn’t mine the tar sands, there is nothing for Hyperion to refine and the domino effect takes over. I can’t understand why someone would be in a business that doesn’t have control of the product they are producing. I could understand if this was a company refining its own oil from its own wells, but things are very volatile in this market, and it is a very distinct possibility that this company could go bust before it even gets off the ground.
That doesn’t relieve us of having to pay for the infrastructure that must be built before Hyperion can even begin construction. The roads must be built. The equipment that will be needed for construction can’t be brought in on the current road system. The railroad must be built before construction can start because I’m sure that what cannot be brought in by road will come by rail. These are just two of the things that must be done before anything else can start. So who is going to pay for it? Hyperion keeps asking us to do it for them and I can see why. Talk about a bridge to nowhere, how about a rail line and a road to nowhere?
In order for oil to get above $90 per barrel, the commodities market will cause it to spike. We aren’t producing any more gas at $2.00 a gallon than we were when it was $4.00 a gallon. In fact we are producing less and the price is still dropping. What does that tell you? It tells me that the speculators have lost control of the market and it is going back to supply and demand. So where does this leave Hyperion? It leaves them out of business.
There was an interview on KELO-TV last Wednesday with TransCanada and Hyperion. TransCanada (Keystone) said they weren’t concerned about the downturn in the oil market because they had signed contracts for their pipeline. Hyperion said they weren’t really concerned because they aren’t due to start production till 2014 and things may change by then. Duh! This goes back to my original question. How can you take the risk to spend billions of dollars on a chance that your supplier may quit supplying you with the goods you need to refine? It’s easy, use someone else’s money. This is a no-brainer.

Where's the Logic?

November 19th, 2008
Where’s the Logic?
Let me first begin by retracting a statement I made in last week’s article of the “Akron Hometowner.” I said that I believed that Higman Sand and Gravel was owned by L.G. Everit Company. That is not correct. I apologize for any inconvenience caused to Mr. Higman by that statement. I can assure you it was not intentional.
I guess I do not understand big business and the logic of the economic development. Just who is taking the risk by having Hyperion build this refinery? I’m not worried about where Hyperion is seeking funding for this; well I am, but there is nothing I can do about it. I am worried about where our money that is going to be used in this venture is coming from. You know this isn’t going to be a situation where we sit back and see what develops. What I see is a lose-lose situation for the State of South Dakota and its people. According to the planned development rezoning issue that was passed by the voters in Union County last June, nothing was said about where the money that was going to be spent by Union County was coming from. I know for a fact that Brule and Spink Townships don’t have funds to even build the one mile of road that the ordinance directs that is to be built. I doubt very seriously that the state has funds available for rebuilding the road because I believe that anything that large must be appropriated by the legislature, and with the economy going in the toilet, revenue for roads etc. is not there
In an earlier article I said that the oil industry is a boom or bust industry. With the price of oil dropping more every day I can’t help but think truer words were never said. The problem as I see it is that if this project were already underway Hyperion would be laying off people because they could not afford to build the refinery for the tar sands when the price of oil is so low. Preston Phillips is quoted as saying that it is not economically feasible to refine tar sands when the price of a barrel of oil is below $90. Look where the price is today. Remember when people outside of Union County were upset because they couldn’t vote on this issue. I will bet they are glad now that they don’t live in this county.
Hyperion can say what they want to about economic development, greed is the driving force behind this and the only one that is going to profit from this is Hyperion. This is a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t mean to stand here and say the sky is falling, but reality should tell us this is not a wise decision. We are amateurs in a field of wolves, and Hyperion is taking us to the cleaners. They are backing us into a corner and it will be next to impossible for us to recover from it once construction starts.
Look at what is happening right now today in Canada. Thousands of workers are being laid off because of the slowdown of production. If Canada doesn’t mine the tar sands, there is nothing for Hyperion to refine and the domino effect takes over. I can’t understand why someone would be in a business that doesn’t have control of the product they are producing. I could understand if this was a company refining its own oil from its own wells, but things are very volatile in this market, and it is a very distinct possibility that this company could go bust before it even gets off the ground.
That doesn’t relieve us of having to pay for the infrastructure that must be built before Hyperion can even begin construction. The roads must be built. The equipment that will be needed for construction can’t be brought in on the current road system. The railroad must be built before construction can start because I’m sure that what cannot be brought in by road will come by rail. These are just two of the things that must be done before anything else can start. So who is going to pay for it? Hyperion keeps asking us to do it for them and I can see why. Talk about a bridge to nowhere, how about a rail line and a road to nowhere?
In order for oil to get above $90 per barrel, the commodities market will cause it to spike. We aren’t producing any more gas at $2.00 a gallon than we were when it was $4.00 a gallon. In fact we are producing less and the price is still dropping. What does that tell you? It tells me that the speculators have lost control of the market and it is going back to supply and demand. So where does this leave Hyperion? It leaves them out of business.
There was an interview on KELO-TV last Wednesday with TransCanada and Hyperion. TransCanada (Keystone) said they weren’t concerned about the downturn in the oil market because they had signed contracts for their pipeline. Hyperion said they weren’t really concerned because they aren’t due to start production till 2014 and things may change by then. Duh! This goes back to my original question. How can you take the risk to spend billions of dollars on a chance that your supplier may quit supplying you with the goods you need to refine? It’s easy, use someone else’s money. This is a no-brainer.

your tax dollars at work

November 12th, 2008

Your Tax Dollars at work.

You may remember in last week’s article I mentioned the D & I railroad. Well, let me give you some additional information that will really make you sit up and take notice. At the very least it will give you an inside look at your tax dollars at work.
The D & I railroad runs from Dell Rapids to Sioux City. The D & I is a wholly owned subsidiary of L.G. Everist. Now here is where it gets interesting. I’m sure my facts are straight, but I’m not able to confirm all the information so if this isn’t correct, I apologize, but I’m 99% sure this is correct. The D &I railroad operates on a rail line owned by the state of South Dakota. Yes folks, the State of South Dakota. So even though the state owns the railroad line, the D & I has almost exclusive use of the line. The other would be Burlington Northern. L.G Everist is one of the biggest if not the biggest aggregate mining company in this part of the country. I believe among others, they own the Higman gravel pit in Akron and the gravel pit in Hawarden. In their agreement with the state of South Dakota they do not pay anything for moving the aggregate up and down the railroad. Another interesting fact is that this rail line is part of the Sioux Valley Regional Railroad Authority. The board of directors is made up of representatives from each town that the railroad goes through. Some of the members are Brad Mccoy representing Beresford, Spencer Haacke of Hawarden, Gerald Bohr of Westfield, Maggie Gillespie of Alcester, Mark Fincke of Rock Valley, (formerly of Beresford) Union County Commissioner Milton Ustad is a participant but nonvoting member representing Union County. Also a member of the board is the president of D & I railroad, Mr. Jack Parliament from Sioux Falls.
Now here comes Hyperion and wants to have the D & I build a spur to the refinery. Well, the D & I doesn’t have the money for this project so they will have to get a loan. Guess where they will get the money? The state of South Dakota railroad board has in excess of $10 million dollars which is to be used exclusively to build, upgrade and improve rail lines in the State of South Dakota. They will loan the money to D & I at a very reasonable rate of interest and let D&I build the line on the state owned railroad to the Hyperion site. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. This refinery is going to be built with our tax dollars. If Hyperion gets a loan from the government; not a tax credit, but a loan for the $10 billion for the refinery, this is more of our tax dollars at work folks. Between the state of South Dakota and the Federal Government this will be a slam dunk for Hyperion. I’ve always heard that if you want to get rich, think big. Is this big or what?
Now before you go any farther, I was doing some research on the internet about Alberta tar sands, and ran across an article that almost made my heart skip a beat. It is from Time magazine dated November 4th, 1966. That’s right folks, November 4th 1966. This isn’t something that is made up. I couldn’t make this up, It is too bizarre; it is straight out of the Time magazine. You can find the whole article if you go to timemagazine.com and then do a search for Alberta tar sands. This is the 5th paragraph of the article. Hold onto your hats folks!! ! !
This is dated November 4th, 1966. Time magazine.
Those White House Calls. Brisk demand has given fresh urgency to some projects for new oil sources. Next fall in Alberta, a $240 million plant built by a Sun Oil Co. Canadian subsidiary will begin extracting 45,000 bbl. of oil a day from the Athabasca tar sands, which contain 369 billion bbl. of recoverable oil. Interest is also reviving in Colorado's vast deposits of oil shale. Recently, some producers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas raised basic crude-qil prices 80 to $3,08 per bbl.—closer to the point at which extraction of oil from shale could be economical. After that price rise, other producers were telephoned by White House officials, who warned them that anything over $3.05 would displease President Johnson. Since then, none have stepped across the line.
Talk about being completely stunned. The united states has know about the tar sands for over 42 years and still practically nothing has been done up there. Who is kidding who about this refinery? This is pure poppycock. If it wouldn’t have been economical at $3 a bbl. It sure isn’t economically feasible at $90 a bbl. I said the very first day that this announcement came out that it might be homeland security building an operations center, but no way would it be refinery. After reading that article from 1966 I have never been more convinced that this is a big scam; a land grab and I’m sticking to it. I don’t know what Huddleston is spending his money on but it sure isn’t a refinery.
I don’t know what to think about DENR. I figured they were just a formality for Hyperion to go through to get the air permit, but suddenly DENR gets some backbone and wants Hyperion to take extra precautions by putting thermal oxidizers on the 100+ storage tanks to prevent pollution in the local area. Hyperion says it restricts its flexibility on storage options. Does this mean they will be storing something other than oil products? Wonder what that statement means? Is it possible that Hyperion is being devious in their plans for the refinery site? Stay tuned folks.

Choo Choo Choo-o-o-o-o

November 5th, 2008

Choo, Choo, Choo –o-o-o-o


Okay folks, everyone that knows that there is a railroad in Southeast South Dakota and Northwest Iowa called the D& I Railroad raise their hands. Well guess what, the home office is in Sioux Falls. There was a conference in Sioux Falls last Thursday hosted by Hyperion Resources and one of the things that came out of this meeting was that Hyperion has been in contact with D & I railroad to build a railroad spur to the Hyperion site which will connect to the D & I line that runs from Sioux Falls to Sioux City. Looking at the map, one can see that it runs from Sioux Falls through Hawarden, Chatsworth, Akron, Westfield and then to Elk Point and Sioux City. There is a spur that runs from Beresford to Hawarden. It would be a piece of cake for D & I to build a spur that connects to the regular line. Or, they could build a spur from Akron to Spink. Or, they could build it from Elk Point to Spink. Or?
I called the D & I on Friday and asked them about their discussions with Hyperion and building a line. They would not comment other than the fact they have had talks with Hyperion about the rail line. I asked the company if they have seen Hyperion’s financial report. The owner said “well, I’ve seen part of it.” I cannot believe what is happening here folks. I mentioned last week or the week before about CRWS and comparing financial status and they hadn’t seen anything, now here we are with a railroad operating in this part of the state and they don’t ask questions either. I just cannot figure this out. Evidently I come from a different breed of stock. I would use President Regan’s philosophy. “Trust but verify.”
I’m not sure I was talking to the owner of the railroad, but I asked a man named Jack if they had been to the register of deeds office and looked at using easements that are on file to run the spur for Hyperion. He said he wasn’t aware of any easements but would probably check into it. Well folks, I highly doubt that the railroad doesn’t know every detail about this area and if they don’t plan on using easements that have been in place from the 1800’s, there is only 2 things they can do to build a spur; purchase easements for the railroad or (here it comes again!) use Eminent Domain.
I think I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but I swear this part of the county is about to get screwed Big Time! Everywhere one turns there are more things popping up than you can shake a stick at. Water, power, railroads, new roads - - what’s next? This is starting to sound like something out of the “Twilight Zone.” Better yet, if you look at the map for the railroad, we are in the Bermuda Triangle. This whole part of the country is getting boxed in, and I for one don’t like it one little bit. Before this is all said and done, the state will have taken all of Union County and turned it into the Hyperion Energy Center. For those of you who are for this venture and aren’t concerned because it isn’t in your backyard, I would suggest that you start looking over your shoulder. This is beginning to get really scary, and Halloween was last week.
I’m sure that by now everyone is tired of hearing the word NIMBY. My question to you now is how much territory does NIMBY cover? Should the railroad build a spur, which direction would they come from? The south? The north? Suddenly an area that was only 3000+ acres is covering 50 square miles. I would think that everyone from Elk Point to Spink and from Beresford to Spink would want to start thinking that this spur could come right through their property and there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it. Still want a refinery here? This is like a cancer. It will grow uncontrollably and there isn’t anything you can do about it. If you think what I am writing was meant to scare you into action, you’re right. This refinery is not going to go away any time soon, and it is going to negatively affect everyone in this area whether you like it or not. There might be economic development but at what cost. Is it a cost you are willing to bear or are people just thinking since they aren’t directly involved it is no big deal.
The deadline for submitting comments to DENR is the 14th of November. If you haven’t been to the website yet, I would highly suggest that you do so. There are some very good comments that have been sent in and is definitely good food for thought. I would suggest that everyone submit another letter requesting that when they hold the public hearing that it be done in this area so that everyone will have a chance to participate. It would be a shame if the only public hearing was held in Pierre. This is something that is going to affect this area for a lifetime and we need to be fully aware of what is happening.