Here's one for the little guy

<$BlogMetaData$>February 3rd, 2010


One for the Little Guy!

9-0 was the unanimous decision by the board of directors at Clay Rural Water on Thursday night to deny service to the refinery. There were about 40-50 people there as a show of unity for the board. There was a standing ovation after the vote was taken. Three of us spoke requesting that the board not accept the proposal for the refinery. I spoke for my allotted 5 minutes and reminded the board that if the refinery were to pull out or go bankrupt they would be stuck with a white elephant and the members of the system would be stuck for the bill. I also asked them to obtain a financial statement and consult with a risk management agency before they decide to vote to accept the proposal. I also said it was ludicrous to accept their version of paying us back by adding a portion of it to each monthly payment. If they paid back $1 million a month it would take them 4 years. This doesn’t include interest. And this would be after they started production because there would be no income until they start. Can you imagine paying for a system on the installment plan? I wonder if they wanted to use Visa or Master Card. Oh well, it seems the vote was already decided when they came into session because they already had a press release ready to go. I guess this was more of a formality than actual business. It gave us a warm fuzzy anyway. Woo-Hoo!

At the other end of the spectrum were the results of the ‘Bucket Brigade’ test last November. Everyone remembers when we did that right? Well, come to find out another brigade did tests near a Michigan refinery at the same time. The results were complete opposites. Our air was so clean it didn’t even register on 2 of the three samples that were sent in for processing. One sample did show minute traces of ethanol and limonene, a non-toxic chemical but sometimes odorous pollutant associated with decaying agricultural waste.

There was stark contrast by the brigade that tested samples at the Marathon refinery in Detroit. Air samples taken during a strong odor incident in the 48017 (location) near the operating Marathon oil refinery revealed at least four major refinery toxic air contaminants, including benzene and hydrogen sulfide. Benzene is a potent human carcinogen associated with refinery emissions. Levels of benzene in the two samples sent to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality were ten times above the level of benzene that the World Health Organization (WHO) associates with an increased lifetime risk of cancer. Duh! The Marathon plant by the way processes Tar Sands from Alberta. Hydrogen sulfide levels were very high. Hydrogen sulfide is a potent toxin that attacks the brain and nervous system. But don’t forget folks, this is Economic Development! ! ! !

Hyperion spokesman Eric Williams said you can't compare the plant in Detroit with the plant Hyperion wants to build in Union County, South Dakota. He says there have been huge strides in technology since the Detroit plant was built in 1930.

Oh what a bunch of crap. My heart bleeds for them. Does Eric Williams actually believe that or is it because he is paid to spew out all that psycho-babble? At what point with the State of South Dakota say this is stupid and call a halt to this silliness. Do we need to have somebody come down with a severe case of poisoning before they will listen to us? Stupid is, Stupid does.

Hang in there folks, the fat lady hasn’t even started to warm up.