Dr. Noll
talks about air pollution and children.
He asks if the council thinks numerous medical associations and doctors
are lying to us.
Mayor Fretti asks if that’s a rhetorical question.
Dr. Noll indicates Rev. Rose and others seem quite disappointed
in lack of response.
Mayor Fretti falls back on process.
-jsq
NAACP reiterates charges of environmental racism,
despite claims from Brad Lofton, Executive Director of the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
that
“all of a sudden we haven’t heard anymore about environmental racism.”
Leigh Touchton, president of the local NAACP chapter,
presents to the Valdosta City Council
research published by
Robert D. Bullard about environmental apartheid.
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Dear Mr. Quarterman:Continue reading
Abraham Lincoln said, “The probability that we shall fail in this struggle should not deter us from the support of a cause that we believe is just.” Such a cause for us is opposition to the biomass plant.Continue readingGiven its support from city and county officials more concerned about doing the bidding of the rich and powerful than they are about the health of children, it is likely a “done deal.” Done by those who will profit from the deal.
None of the national health organizations endorse biomass plants as safe for children. The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the World Health Organization have concluded that biomass plants pose serious threats to children.
None of the deal makers, investors, or politicians who signed off on their deal live in the community which will most be affected by the poisonous toxins that will fill the air. Their children don’t attend the schools, nor do they attend any of the seven area churches.
Meetings have been held on the biomass project. Some by the Industrial Authority, WACE, the NAACP, and SCLC. And not a single citizen has spoken in favor of it. When I asked a council member about this, he said, “They are afraid of you.”
It is not the proponents who have anything to fear.
Floyd Rose
spoke to the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
First he told the bus story, which is about how he became an activist
many years ago.
Then he said this part,
transcribed by George Rhynes:
“I came home to Valdosta in 1995, and I found just outside of these walls; a plaque that read; the mayor and council shall make all appropriate and necessary laws; for the control of slaves; and free men of color.That plaque was removed reluctantly; at the urging of Mr. George Rhynes; while the plaque; has been removed! I have discovered; that the policy that gave birth to that plaque are still in place; and one of the policies is the one that I told you about two weeks ago; or perhaps three weeks ago now. That would not; and could not abide by; because it was designed only for the purpose of controlling the citizens of this city and that I would never be bought and I would never be bossed as a matter of conscience.
Now it was suggested; at the end of the last meeting; that some of us come before you; ah making a grand stand; and somehow creating theater. It was suggested that Floyd Rose just wants to be arrested. I have been arrested before; I spent twenty-five long hours in solitary confinement in the Lowndes County Jail; because of you; and anybody with any common sense; would never want to go to the Lowndes County Jail to spend any time. That is foolishness and it’s crazy!
Sure, everyone wants jobs for the people right now and jobs
so the children don’t have to go somewhere else to find one.
But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water
those children need to drink?
This is the problem:
“What I believe the three most important things are, not only for our community, and our state, and our country, but for our country, thats jobs number 1, jobs number 2, and jobs.”
I shook Brad Lofton’s hand after that speech and told him I liked it, because I did: in general it was a positive speech about real accomplishments. I’ve also pointed out I had a few nits with that speech. This one is more than a nit. This one is basic philosophy and policy.
Now one would expect an executive director of an industrial authority to be all about jobs. And that would be OK, if Continue reading
You thought maybe
Dr. Sammons was making this stuff up?
In physorg.com from 2009,
Inhaling a heart attack: How air pollution can cause heart disease:
Accumulating evidence indicates that an increase in particulate air pollution is associated with an increase in heart attacks and deaths. Research has begun in the relatively new field of environmental cardiology — a field that examines the relationship between air pollution and heart disease.This link owed to Laura Wiggins Norris and NO COAL PLANT IN BEN HILL COUNTY!
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Robert D. Bullard writes in
Dismantling Energy Apartheid in the United States,
Many “clean wood chips” burning biomass plants can easily turn to burning more contaminated fuels (which may be cheaper or even free), or get paid to take really dirty wastes like trash or tires. Public opposition to biomass facilities has driven siting that follows the “path of least resistance,” which often translates to states where environmental regulations are lax and companies are given huge tax incentives to build these kinds of incinerators, and investors count on the local residents being uninformed and apathetic. Environmental justice siting concerns often get buried in the excitement and notion of “green energy.”There’s more, including a writeup about the local proposed incinerator, starting:Zoning laws are often legal weapons deployed in facilitating energy apartheid.
Residents in Valdosta, Georgia are fighting to block a 40 megawatt biomass incinerator slated for construction on a 22-acre site in their community. The community is already overburdened with polluting industries and heavy truck traffic.Read it and see.
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This LTE appeared in the VDT today. -jsq
I’m just an older, working man that lives in our fair city of Valdosta. I have children and grandchildren that live, work and go to school in Lowndes County. After looking at the information available, and doing some research in my limited spare time, I’ve come to the conclusion that this proposed biomass facility that the Industrial Authority is trying to push through is a really bad idea. The pollution that will continuously pour from the plant will create cancers, heart and respiratory disease, as well as seriously aggravating chronic conditions such as asthma. Children are especially at risk, and there are two schools within a mile of the plant site, not to mention all the homes.As a cancer survivor
Continue reading
Following up on his previous correspondence. -jsq
Continue readingFrom: Russ Anderson
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:20:24 -0500
Subject: Re: Attn: Clarifications on my comments
To: blofton@industrialauthority.com, info@sterlingplanet.com, bmaddox@sterlingplanet.comBrad,
I’m not saying the project is good, responsible, that it will actually happen, and def. not that you are in any way right in your opinions of “green” and “renewable”.
Furthermore, I really wish you could get beyond the talking point of “the agencies and groups endorsing similar projects”, because again that is a highly contestable and skewed figure as many local, regional, and national agencies, groups, and networks still voice heavy opposition to this issue and biomass incineration.
Using words like green, renewable, etc. does not magically make it so. I know all about framing language and tactics of those wishing to line their pockets and exploit subsidy and tax loopholes. The simple fact that you are so set in your opinion and mentality is quite alarming..
For example, I am more than willing to embrace control technologies and
Continue readingDate: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:59:50 -0500
From: noll_family
To: apaulk@lowndescounty.com, jevans@lowndescounty.com, rraines@lowndescounty.com, cpowell@lowndescounty.com
CC: kay.harris, “John S. Quarterman”
Subject: Last Night’s MeetingDear Chairman Paulk and Commissioners.
Thanks for providing my wife and I and others opposed to the biomass plant the opportunity to address you last night. As a follow-up to last night’s meeting, let me share some thoughts with you, including reflections on a comment made about other “biomass incinerators” in our county and the continuing myth that biomass constitutes a “health benefit”: