Tag Archives: Gretchen Bielmyer

Brad Bergstrom: “unsubstantiated assertions are not facts”

This message from Brad Bergstrom to the Valdosta Board of Education
is as he sent it, except instead of his blue font I’ve formatted
quotations the same as usual for the blog, and as usual I’ve not included
the entire list of email addresses copied.
He’s responding to
Brad Lofton’s message.

-jsq

To all:

I appreciate the opportunity Monday night to have briefly shared my perspective on the environmental impacts of biomass incineration with the BOE. It was at the urging of the "core group" (whom Mr. Lofton seems to disparage, below) that VBOE invited me
and my coleague Dr. Bielmyer to speak. As an ecologist and VSU professor for more than 24 years, I’ve long been interested in issues of conservation, forest resources and sustainable development in south Georgia. About a year-and-a-half ago, I met with Mr.
Ricketts, who kindly gave me and Mr. Seth Gunning a thorough presentation on the proposed biomass plant. Ever since then, I’ve been educating myself on the general issue of biomass power generation and specifically on the Wiregrass plant. I attended the
April 2010 public hearing (as did Mr. Ricketts and Mr. Lofton) conducted by EPD, and I asked several questions. I also submitted several written questions and comments to EPD for the public record, as did many others. All of those questions, and EPD’s answers,
and the complete application, and permit, can be seen here:

http://airpermit.dnr.state.ga.us/gaairpermits/

(After you open this link, type "Wiregrass" into the search box, then click on "Narrative"; the last 13 pages contain all the public comments and responses.)

I’m sure Mr. Lofton is a well-meaning and certainly a tireless advocate for new industry. That is his job. It is the rest of our jobs to determine what really is "fact" and "opinion." No matter how loudly one proclaims it, unsubstantiated assertions are
not facts, and inconvenient facts are not misinformation. I will point out some of these facts, along with links to document them, in blue font, interspersed among Mr. Lofton’s comments, below.

Continue reading →

‘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

VBOE Biomass Discussion Tonight

On the agenda for tonight’s meeting of the
Valdosta Board of Education is a discussion of the
the biomass incinerator Wiregrass Power LLC
proposes to build in Lowndes County, Georgia, just outside Valdosta.
Listed in the agenda as speakers are:

  • Brad Lofton, Executive Director, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
  • Dr. Brad Bergstrom

  • Dr. Gretchen Bielmyer

I hear that you can sign up at the door to speak.

For much recent discussion of this plant involving Brad Lofton,
see
the VLCIA category in this blog.

For more context, see

the biomass category.

-jsq