Tag Archives: air quality

‘if Mrs. Noll and any of her “experts” would actually meet with us’

Since the appended message was sent to a publicly elected
board chartered by the state of Georgia,
that makes it subject to Georgia’s open records law,
so I am publishing it here.

-jsq

From: Brad Lofton

Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:52 PM

To: Karen Ruff Noll, [and Valdosta Board of Education members]

Cc: Allan Ricketts; gkbielmyer@valdosta.edu; bergstrm@valdosta.edu

Subject: Re: Thank you to the Valdosta Board of Education

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen:

We were honored last night to provide you an update on a project that enjoys
so much support from environmental groups all across America, and we are
thankful for your invitation and partnership. Mrs. Noll won’t admit that no
governmental group or environmental group in this country that is charged
with setting environmental policy is opposed to our project. Not one. In
fact, they collectively point to biomass as the way forward for our country,
where nearly 45 percent of our existing renewable energy portfolio is
biomass. We were prepared last night to go into specific details regarding
the air permit and provide the actual facts for you as opposed to the
continued misinformation you are receiving from this core group. We ran out
of time and apologize for the length. Please let us know when and where we can have that discussion. Our plant will be carbon neutral, with a mercury
level that is so low it’s considered statistically insignificant by EPD.
There is a dramatic difference between what the state and federal law allows
under a statutory air permit and what our plant actually produces. This
group is stating the “permitted” allowances despite the fact that the actual
emissions are a very small fraction of that. Again, if Mrs. Noll and any of
her “experts” would actually meet with us, we would explain that.

Rest assured that this is a safe, green, renewable energy plant

that has
been vetted by scores of environmentalists, all the major universities in
Georgia (including Dr. Tom Manning, a biomass researcher at VSU), and
approved by every level of government. If Mrs. Noll has further concerns, I
would recommend her talking to President Obama, the U.S. Dept of
Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Environmental
Protection Agency, the state EPD, the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife
Federation, the state of Georgia’s Center of Innovation for Renewable
Energy, GA Tech, UGA, the Valdosta Daily Times (who support us), and scores
of others who support us.

We will not participate in a back and forth with this group. We’ll be happy
to meet with any of you in person to provide additional information and
facts. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but not the facts. Thanks so much
for what each of you do for our community, and it’s an honor to serve you.

Regards,

Brad

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Verizon

Karen Noll thanks biomass opponents who spoke at VBOE

Karen Noll sent this letter to the Valdosta Board of Education (VBOE)
and asked that it be posted here:

Dear Valdosta City Board of Education,

I just wanted to thank you for responding to my concerns about the
proposed biomass incinerator by seeking further information. I also
want to thank Dr. Brad Bergstom and Dr. Gretchen Bielmyer for coming
and speaking before the board. Their expertise in the area of ecology
and toxicology provided valuable information to the discussion. At
the same time, I greatly appreciate that these two professors’
comments were succinct and to the point.

I am deeply disappointed that the Industrial authority chose to
consume the board’s time with a 45 minute presentation that never
answered the question: Is this plant safe for our students?
Never did Brad Lofton or Allen Pickett come close to discussing the
air pollution emissions and their effects on the health of our
children. Anecdotal information from hand-picked people in Cadillac,
Michigan does not convince me as to the safety of this proposed plant
for my children.

Meanwhile, the American Lung Association, a group that I trust,
has
spoken out against biomass and its emissions in regard to children’s
health:


http://www.lungusa.org/get-involved/advocate/advocacy-documents/Letter-to-Reps-Henry-Waxman-and-Edward-Markey-re-American-Clean-Energy-and-Security-Act.pdf

The American Heart Association collected many specialist to look at
the relationship between Particulate matter and our health and their
findings are frightening:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/121/21/2331?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=particulate+matter&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

The American Cancer Society finds that extended exposure to air
pollution increases risks of cancer:

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/News/epa-estimates-cancer-risk-associated-with-air-pollution

Lastly, the world Health Organization presents air quality guidelines
to prevent health risks, which pertain to most of the emissions from
the plant:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/index.html:

I am appalled at the disrespectful tone that Brad Lofton took when
addressing concerned citizens of this community. I am ashamed that
the Industrial Authority would be so callous as to waste the Valdosta
City Board of Education’s time with an endless sales pitch.

I truly appreciate the board’s effort to become informed about the
issue and hope that we can get to the bottom of the paramount
question: is the proposed biomass plant safe for our students?

Sincerely,

Karen R. Noll

Industrial Authority Response to Two Letters to the Editor

The appended message from a tax-supported public official
to many people about official business was forwarded to me;
perhaps the public would also like to see it.

The CCA press conference he mentions seems to have been
covered by the VDT in this article:
to be about
Private prison company picks Valdosta as potential site.

The rest of the letter is about issues related to the

biomass plant
proposed for Lowndes County by Wiregrass Power LLC
(wholly owned by Sterling Energy Assets of Atlanta)
and backed by the

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
of which Brad Lofton is the Executive Director.
Here’s the letter from Leigh Touchton of the NAACP to which he refers.

-jsq



From: Brad Lofton [mailto:blofton@industrialauthority.com]

Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 4:37 PM

To: ‘Brad Lofton’

Subject: Industrial Authority Response to Two Letters to the Editor Yesterday

Importance: High

Good afternoon everyone:

Thanks to all of you that were able to attend our CCA press conference and
breakfast yesterday. We’ve had positive feedback today from around the
region, and we’ve received congratulations from most of the other 15
communities competing for the project.

After reading the two letters to the editor yesterday, I felt compelled to
e-mail our stakeholders to provide you an update with facts and information
related to the biomass plant. We have intentionally avoided a response in
the paper because we do not want to energize a forum for continued
misinformation. Despite numerous town hall meetings and other meetings
we’ve facilitated for two years, there is still plenty of misinformation on
the street.

Continue reading →

Video of Biomass Air Quality Hearing, Valdosta, 27 April 2010



A video of
a hearing about the biomass plant Wiregrass Power LLC proposes
to build in Lowndes County just outside of Valdosta was held

in Valdosta on 27 April 2010
by the Air Protection Branch (APD)
of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Eric Cornwell of APD explains location,
process flow, and specific items
covered by the permit (soot, SO2, NOX, CO, VOC, HCL, etc., but not
CO2).
He remarks that Wiregrass Power LLC is building a small plant with a
“lower emission limit in order to avoid some of the red tape”
by getting a minor permit instead of a major permit.
The first half hour concludes with Bob Turner, the plant manager,
presenting similar material, ending with:

“No new carbon is added to the atmosphere when burning woody byproducts.”

I beg to differ on that:
in the time it takes trees to grow back,
there is indeed new carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere.
More from

Dr. William Sammons on that.

Back to the video of the hearing.

Questions start at 00:29:44.
Here are some time markers and very brief summaries
of Q and A; see the video for the full questions and answers.

Continue reading →

Biomass Permit Expected Fortnightly



The VDT published on May 18

Projects in the works:
Industrial Authority reviews and discuss items at meeting,
by Kara Ramos,
in which there is this paragraph:

WIREGRASS POWER, LLC

The project should be approved and issued an air quality operating permit in the next 14 days, according to Lofton. A power purchase agreement should also be complete by June 1, 2010. The VLCIA granted an eight month extension for the project to begin construction.

(VLCIA is the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.
Brad Lofton is its executive director.)

We know from previous reports that this wood and sewage sludge
incinerator is expected to produce a maximum of 25 long-term jobs.
Many questions were asked at the air quality hearing about particulates,
CO2, mercury, and other pollutants.

The answers ranged from “we don’t monitor that” to

Continue reading →

WCTV on Biomass

A couple of biomass plant stories from WCTV.

On April 28 Deneige Broom wrote,
Proposed Plant Raises Air Quality Questions:

A Biomass plant could bring business and money to the area. But some want to be assured their health won’t suffer in the name of progress.

Some good quotes in there:

Dr. Brad Bergstrom attended the hearing wants concrete answers.

“There’s not going to be anything in the permit that will say, you can only burn this much sewage sludge,” said Bergstrom. “The company plans to only burn a small percentage but once they get their permit, that could change.”

Continue reading →

Biomass Plant Hearing Today

You can ask questions and expect answers.



The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Air Protection Branch issued a

Press Release on April 12, 2010 announcing a meeting:

EPD will hold a question and-answer (Q&A) session and a public hearing on Tuesday,
April 27, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room in the Valdosta City Hall Annex. The city hall annex is located at 300 N. Lee Street.

The subject is “on Proposed
Biomass-Fired Power Plant Application Submitted by WireGrass Power, LLC”

You can also submit questions and comments in writing:

Continue reading →

Biomass Air Quality Hearing Set



This appears to be the date and location for the Georgia EPD
air quality hearing for the Wiregrass Biomass plant proposed
for Valdosta:

6:30 PM, 27 April 2010

Multipurpose Room

Valdosta City Hall Annex

300 North Lee Street

Valdosta, Georgia

We’ve been waiting on this date
for a while.
EPD is going to send a press release to the VDT a few weeks in advance
and post it on its own website,
www.georgiaair.org.
Assuming, of course, that the date and place don’t change again.

Why should you care?
This plant proposes to burn sewage sludge, which can release numerous
hazardous chemicals into the air.
Here is Seth’s letter to the editor of the VDT of 21 Feb 2010:

Continue reading →

Hearing on Biomass Plant

Update: Seth says Eric Cornwell says earliest March 15 and latest probably May 1.

Update 2: Contact information:

Environmental Protection Division, Air Branch
4244 International Parkway, Suite 120
Atlanta, Georgia 30354
Subject: Docket 19407
Or folks can email Eric Cornwell, the director of the Air Branch
Division: Eric.Cornwell@dnr.state.ga.us

Seth Gunning tells us:

I received word from the EPD Air Branch Manager, Eric Cornwell, that they
have decided that they *WILL*, now, be working to host a public hearing in
Valdosta (and possibly a Q & A session prior to a hearing).

They expect the public hearing to take place sometime at the end of March
(law requires a 30 day notice before a meeting takes place). Eric informed
me that he would reply to all the emails he has received with the hearing
information, and as well would be putting an ad in the Valdosta Daily Times.

The plant’s air quality application is supposed to be online at EPD.
I can’t find it there, but here it is
hosted on the LAKE site.

More as it develops.