Karen Noll of WACE, Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy,
asked the Valdosta City Council not to sell wastewater
to the proposed Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant.
She presented
“500+ signatures from community members and organizations”
asking for that.
She also said
“…furthermore a response to our request each
member of the council is expected before the next council meeting.”
WACE, Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy, at
Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 24 March 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
It’s Sunday, so let’s see what a local preacher thinks about the
biomass plant.
Mayor Fretti asked if there were any Citizens Wishing to be Heard,
and a preacher said, “yes”.
No, not Rev. Rose.
He last spoke to the Valdosta City Council back on 10 February,
and left in disgust.
Besides, the Council
thinks people are frightened of little old him.
This time, 24 March 2011,
Angela Manning, minister of the 1500-member New Life Ministries
in Valdosta near the proposed site for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant,
read from the Valdosta City Council’s own mission statement and
asked,
Mayor Anthony Baker of the City of Gretna announced today that in light
of Adage, LLC’s decision to suspend activity on its proposed Bioenergy
facility slated for construction in Gretna (as well as suspension
of its application for an air permit through the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection) that the City now considers this matter
closed and will take no further action on Adage’s request to locate
this facility in Gretna. Inasmuch as the Bioenergy Plant could neither
legally operate nor be sited in Gretna without an air permit, the City
concluded that this was no longer a viable project and Adage’s decision
to suspend activity on its air permit indicated that further consideration
of the project by the City was unwarranted. Since there were no issues
pending before the City of Gretna requiring action by its Commission
relative to the Plant, the Mayor deemed termination of the project as
final disposition of this matter as far as the City is concerned.
Chairman Jerry Jennett asked for Citizens Wishing to be Heard,
and first up was
Leigh Touchton, President of
Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP,
who presented them
a letter from Dr. Robert D. Bullard,
about his findings that 80% of the residents
within one mile of the proposed Wiregrass Power Plant are black
and 75% of biomass facilities in Georgia are sited in minority/poor communities.
She
also said
she
was tired of people who are against biomass being
represented as a fanatical fringe crew,
primarily by Mr. Lofton,
considering she stood before them representing the local NAACP,
the Georgia state conference of the NAACP,
“the largest organization non-profit of voters in the state of Georgia”,
and the national NAACP.
Leigh Touchton, President, Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP
regular monthly meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Brad Lofton Executive Director, Allan Ricketts Program Manager,
15 March 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Perhaps I missd it because I was a few minutes late,
but this was the only mention of the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant
that I heard at this VLCIA board meeting.
The VDT isn’t the only newspaper in town.
This LTE appeared in the VSU newspaper,
the Spectator, yesterday, 3 March 2011.
And the Spectator even puts LTEs online.
-jsq
SAVE says Biomass spells bad news for Valdosta and VSU
By: Erin Hurley
How many of y’all have heard of the Biomass Plant that has been proposed
for Valdosta? Many of ya’ll probably don’t know what Biomass is;
I know I didn’t until about two years ago when this project first
started. The Biomass plant is an incinerator that will burn sewage,
sludge and tree “debris” in order to create energy. What’s the
big deal, right?
Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: 5:30-6:45 PM, Tuesday 1 March 2011
Updated meeting location
Where: home of Thomas Ieracitano
414 East Main Street, Hahira
229-251-2462
That’s on US 122, just east of the Masonic Lodge.
Thomas says:
“Bring a lawn chair, laptop (I will have Mediacom wireless)
and your own food and drink.”
If it rains or there are too many bugs or something,
we will move to:
Down Home Pizza
103 South Webb Street, Hahira
229-794-1888
Help cover food, water, transportation, incarceration, solar energy,
biomass, and regular local government meetings: you never know when
news will be made!
Here’s the
text of Valdosta Mayor Fretti’s State of the City speech of yesterday.
I thought they said it would be available on the web today,
but if so, I’m not sure where.
Pictured is Rudy the K9 dog, who is mentioned in this passage:
Now Wally was purchased with grant funds. Rudy was trained with grant
funds. Our mobile command center was purchased with grant funds. Several
other pieces of equipment for Police and Fire departments are purchased
with grants. Now, there are those that scream and shake their fist at
government to say, “Take no grants, for they are evil”.
Everyone wants jobs for those who need them and jobs for
young people so they don’t have to go somewhere else to find one.
But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water those people
need to drink?
At the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner Brad Lofton gave
a speech which I liked, and I told him so afterwards, because it
was mostly about real industry with real jobs that that the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) has brought
into the area.
Regular meeting of the Lowndes County Commission, 8 February 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Karen Noll of WACE, Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy,
asked the Valdosta City Council not to sell wastewater
to the proposed Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant.
She presented
