Category Archives: Planning

“We will not, however, debate you over e-mail.” –Brad Lofton to Dr. Noll

Breaking his self-imposed nonresponse policy, Brad Lofton responds to Dr. Noll’s summary. -jsq
To: “Michael G. Noll”, “Mary B. Gooding”, “Ricketts, Allan” <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>, “Copeland, Roy”, “‘John S. Quarterman'”, “Susan R. Wehling”, Kay Harris
From: “blofton@industrialauthority.com” <blofton@industrialauthority.com>,
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:56:14 -0500
Subject: RE: Wiregrass Power, LLC

Good morning Dr.Noll-

We have provided ample evidence supporting our project over a very lengthy period of time, and I am sorry that you simply can’t come to terms with that. No one but WACE has made any claims about our efforts to substantiate this project. If we had done no additional due diligence at all (and we have done plenty), the seven month environmental study and approval by the state Environmental Protection Division was completed, and they found this project safe for Georgia. The Feds not only support it, but they are providing tax credits and have publicly called biomass a great tool to reduce GHGs.

We’ll be happy to review all of the additional studies and vast amount of environmental and other support with you for the tenth time if you would choose to finally meet with us in person as we’ve been asking for over two years. We will not, however, debate you over e-mail. As I promised, we will add your e-mail today to our file, but with all approvals and permits in hand, we are indeed moving forward now and are excited about a Spring groundbreaking.

Thanks,
BL
Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

“no way shape or form” –Brad Lofton on Dr. Teaf

A week after Brad Lofton failed to produce evidence and offered to file Dr. Noll’s correspondence “in the appropriate file”, VLCIA has still not published the videos or slides from their 6 Dec 2010 event at the Rainwater Conference Center.

However, Brad Lofton and Col. Ricketts summarized that event for the VLCIA board at their recent board meeting, and they never presented any actual evidence there, either.

Brad Lofton said his toxicologist says the biomass plant in “no way shape or form” will cause health problems. Then he rattled off a long list of supporters of a Gainesville biomass plant. The rest of this post has videos of what he and Col. Ricketts said, plus screenshots of each of Dr. Teaf’s slides: see if you can find the details. Continue reading →

“we will make sure they get in the appropriate file.” –Brad Lofton

Mr. Lofton refusing to respond to Dr. Noll’s latest. -jsq
From: “blofton@industrialauthority.com” <blofton@industrialauthority.com>,
To: “Michael G. Noll”, “Mary B. Gooding”, “Ricketts, Allan” <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>, “Copeland, Roy”, “‘John S. Quarterman'”, “Susan R. Wehling”, Kay Harris
Subject: RE: Wiregrass Power, LLC
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:01:51 -0500

Dr. Noll-

Please feel free to continue sending e-mails, and we will make sure they get in the appropriate file. We appreciate your passion for one of our projects. As I mentioned yesterday, we’re enthusiastically moving forward at this time, and we will be breaking ground in the Spring.

Thanks,
BL
Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

“nothing short of irresponsible” –Dr. Noll to Mr. Lofton

Dr. Noll responding to Mr. Lofton’s latest. -jsq
From: “Michael G. Noll”
To: “blofton@industrialauthority.com”, “Mary B. Gooding”, “Ricketts, Allan”, <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>, “Copeland, Roy”, “‘John S. Quarterman'”, “Susan R. Wehling”, Kay Harris
Subject: RE: Wiregrass Power, LLC
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:55:18 +0000

Mr. Lofton.

Moving forward with a project like yours

  1. after it has been established that biomass is dirtier than coal (see the data we shared from the Georgia EPD)
  2. after it has been established by medical associations throughout the country that the hundreds of tons of pollutants your proposed plant would spewout (as identified in your own application) would result in significant health issues (increase and/or worsening of COPD, asthma, cancer, heart disease)
is nothing short of irresponsible and speaks of the lack of respect you have for the health of our community.

The fact remains that you have not been able to provide quantitative data or scientific studies that prove that biomass is “clean” or

Continue reading →

“It is your responsibility to prove us wrong” –Dr. Noll to Mr. Lofton

Dr. Noll responds to Mr. Lofton’s email of 24 Dec 2010. -jsq
From: “Michael G. Noll”
To: “blofton@industrialauthority.com” <blofton@industrialauthority.com>, “Mary B. Gooding”, “Ricketts, Allan” <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>, “Copeland, Roy”, “‘John S. Quarterman'”, “Susan R. Wehling”, Kay Harris
Subject: RE: Wiregrass Power, LLC
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 21:19:15 +0000

Hello Mr. Lofton.

You might remember that WACE handed out a “Myth vs. Fact” info sheet at the meeting. On it were clearly outlined major issues we have with your biomass project. I will only entertain the first three to refresh your memory, since they are the most important facts for our community:

Continue reading →

“Your memory doesn’t serve you correctly” –Lofton to Noll

When can we see these actual studies? And if we could see those VLCIA videos, nobody would have to depend on memory. -jsq
From: Brad Lofton <blofton@industrialauthority.com>
To: Michael Noll, “Mary B. Gooding”, Allan Ricketts <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>, Roy Copeland, “John S. Quarterman, “Susan R. Wehling”, Kay Harris
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:51:53 -0500
Subject: Re: Wiregrass Power, LLC

Good morning Dr. Noll-

Thanks for your e-mail. With all due respect, however, your memory doesn’t serve you correctly, and I would ask you to please review your notes again. The environmental consultant from Golder referred extensively to a seven month environmental analysis performed by the EPD in our state. I’m confused why a seven month study performed by the impartial environmental and regulatory group empowered to provide governance and decisions related to this project isn’t a sufficient enough environmental study for you. During the forum, Golder and Associates, a world renown environmental engineering firm, also went on to provide results of their extensive air modeling study. The fuel supply expert presented the results of a detailed study his firm had just completed that showed 13 times the required regional wood waste fuel needed for this plant. This was his firm’s 20th study across the country, and they are considered experts. The Ph.D economist cited an extensive study his firm had just completed successfully defending a similar biomass facility before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. The Toxicologist has over 27 years of experience and is a leading expert at a major U.S. University. If you would read his CV,

Continue reading →

“Your determination to sell our community your biomass project” –Dr. Noll to Brad Lofton

First of a series. -jsq
From: “Michael G. Noll”
To: Brad Lofton <blofton@industrialauthority.com>, “John S. Quarterman, Allan Ricketts, <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>
CC: “Susan R. Wehling”, “Mary B. Gooding”, Roy Copeland, Kay Harris
Subject: RE: Wiregrass Power, LLC
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:46:25 +0000

Hello Mr. Lofton.

I can certainly admire your determination to sell our community your biomass project as “green” or “safe”. However, as WACE already pointed out, there is a difference between fiction and fact (see my guest column in the VDT on December 12, 2010).

In the last couple months, WACE has provided the Industrial Authority and the community with a plethora of scientific literature and statements made by medical organizations that unequivocally state that biomass is neither “green” nor “safe”. At the same time, neither you nor Mr. Ricketts have been able to provide up-to-date scientific proof to us to challenge the position that biomass is, in fact, dirtier than coal and bears significant health risks.

Anyone who cares enough for the community he or she lives in, must understand the responsibility to provide such proof. I have difficulties to imagine that you or Mr. Ricketts do not share such a sentiment, despite the disagreements we might have. Let’s cut to the chase in regard to your panel of experts:

Continue reading →

Brad Lofton: “Please have anyone interested e-mail us directly.”

Brad Lofton answers my response of 23 Dec 2010 Col. Ricketts. Mr. Lofton appears not to have noticed that the press releases are in the same post as Col. Ricketts’ message. I’m still waiting for the videos the Valdosta videographer took to appear on the VLCIA website. Meanwhile, LAKE’s videos of the 6 Dec 2010 Q&A session have been on the web since 19 Dec. -jsq
To: John S. Quarterman, Allan Ricketts <aricketts@industrialauthority.com>,
From: Brad Lofton <blofton@industrialauthority.com>
Cc: John S. Quarterman, Michael Noll, Susan Wehling, Mary B. Gooding, Roy Copeland, Kay Harris
Subject: Re: Wiregrass Power, LLC
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:49:56 -0500

John-

We enjoyed having you Tuesday night, and we were especially glad to have you attend on the night we planned to review the expert panel’s testimony regarding the positive environmental, health and economic impacts of our project. We appreciate you agreeing today to provide all of that data (or at least links) on your blog plus the recent flurry of pro-biomass press releases. As you know, December has been very active with EPA and USDA releases promoting biomass plus GA Tech and Duke researchers announcing that renewable energy (including biomass) will save Southeastern U.S. ratepayers $23 billion a year by 2030. That’s great news for residential and industrial consumers alike. The unanimous permission granted for the Gainesville, FL biomass facility was good news, and we were amazed at the large amount of support they received-from the FL State Department of Health, to the guardians of the Suwannee River basin, the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and numerous government and environmental groups in between.

Regarding access to our panel info, we have already e-mailed our panelists’ presentations to members of the public, and we would be more than happy to continue doing that. Please have anyone interested e-mail us directly.

Continue reading →

Harrisburg, PA loses solvency and trust over incinerator

Michael Cooper wrote in the New York Times on 20 May 2010 about An Incinerator Becomes Harrisburg’s Money Pit:
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Officials here decided seven years ago to borrow $125 million to rebuild and expand the city’s enormous trash incinerator, which the federal government had shut down because of toxic air pollution.

But the incinerator burned through the money faster than the trash, leaving Harrisburg residents feeling like they were living through a sequel to the 1986 movie “The Money Pit.”

There were contractor troubles, delays, cost overruns and squabbles. The city borrowed tens of millions more, shoveling good money after bad into the job.

The Patriot-News Editorial Board wrote on 12 April 2010 about Harrisburg incinerator fiasco deserves an investigation to understand how it happened:
Over nearly a decade, officials at the Harrisburg Authority and City Hall made a series of decisions that sought to get the trash incinerator working and profitable, but which instead brought Pennsylvania’s capital to the brink of bankruptcy.

The 2003 deal that took on $125 million in debt to repair the incinerator neglected to include a performance bond.

Inexperienced firms were hired. Fees were paid for work poorly done. Loans were taken on disastrous terms.

Officials were aided, or rather misled, by the advice of numerous attorneys, bankers and engineers apparently far more interested in collecting handsome fees than they were in protecting the interests of taxpayers.

As a result, there is a deep distrust of the fundamental institutions that created this fiasco.

Something else sounds familiar about this situation:
While some of the seats have changed, many of the same people in government today had their fingerprints on these decisions.
It’s the same old boy network locally as approved Sterling Chemical, and the chair of the county commission at that time is now on the Industrial Authority. And the VLCIA has taken on what is reputed to be a $15 million bond issue.

How big is Harrisburg? 50,000 people, same as Valdosta. What is Harrisburg considering? Bankruptcy. Who profited anyway? Local developers.

What’s the moral?

All of the guarantees proved worthless.

All of the fail-safes failed.

What say we have the investigation now, before the fail-safes fail?

-jsq

Seth Gunning LTE in the VDT

This is the text of Seth Gunning’s letter to the editor that the Valdosta Daily Times printed on 20 Dec 2010. Here’s video of the referenced air quality permit hearing. -jsq
Recently on Thursday December 16th, State Judge Ronit Walker denied air quality permits for a proposed coal plant in Sandersville, Georgia. Judge Walker cited the Georgia Environmental Protection Divisions failure to properly review permits, and their lack of enforcement of basic Clean Air Act standards for several hazardous emissions.

Flashback to April 27th in Valdosta Georgia when Environmental Protection Division Air Branch Manager Eric Cornwell openly admitted to having NOT READ the air permit application for Wiregrass Biomass LLC’s proposal to build a hotly contested 40mw power plant&emdash; during a Valdosta EPD hearing meant to evaluate those permits.

Today, the Valdosta Industrial Authority is hazardously entrenched

Continue reading →