Tag Archives: Planning

Pilgrim nuke shut down in winter storm again this weekend



Entergy, the company that blacked out the Super Bowl,
now has taken down Massachusetts’ Pilgrim nuclear reactor
in a winter storm.
And that’s not the first time this year.
Plus, what will happen with sea level rise to that nuke on the coast?

Beth Daley wrote for Boston.com this morning,

Pilgrim nuclear plant shuts down in storm,
Pilgrim Station nuclear plant automatically shut down in the thick of the storm Friday night after losing power, according to a statement by Entergy, the plant’s owner.

Authorities said there is no danger and backup diesel generators are
powering safety systems.

“The plant is in a safe, secure condition and will remain on backup
power supply until off-site power is restored,” the statement said.

But that’s hardly the whole story.
Pilgrim Station has been down about a week lately, and at 80%
still other days, according to the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC):

Continue reading →

About that flyer

Sent Wednesday. -jsq



Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:43:49 -0500

Dear Mr. Pritchard,

Thank you for

your message of 1 February.

Yes, the binders of the documents for the closings of the various
bonds are the sort of financial instruments I requested in

my message of 28 January, and that Chairman Slaughter listed in

his letter dated 18 January
(that I received 28 January). Monday 11 Feb
2013 after the Work Session will be a good time for me to inspect
and copy those binders. I will bring a camera and a photocopier. If
that time will not work, please advise me of times that would.

Yes, there are other documents I would like to inspect. Please provide

Continue reading →

Members of the press or citizens are not welcome at library board? —George Boston Rhynes

Received today.
To quote

a VDT editorial of 3 March 2012:

When officials act like they have something to hide, they often do….

Here’s George’s Open Records Request.
-jsq


George Boston Rhynes
February 7, 2013

George Boston Rhynes (229-251-8645)

5004 Oak Drive

Valdosta, Georgia 31605

TO: Valdosta-Lowndes County; South Georgia Regional Library
Director/Chair person along with Board Members Respectively, Georgia
News Media Outlets concerned about open government and the sunshine
brightness…

SUBJECT: An open records request on behalf of the general public
right to know…

Continue reading →

Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer —Sierra Club



Sierra Club, one of the oldest, largest, and most influential
grassroots environmental activist groups in the U.S.,
has been

tentatively anti-nuke since 1974,
observing now that none of its conditions of
energy conservation, reactor safety, nuclear fuel disposal,
weapons proliferation,
or adequate regulation have ever been met,
has come out unequivocably against nuclear power.


Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer

The Sierra Club remains unequivocally opposed to nuclear energy.
Although nuclear plants have been in operation for less than 60
years, we now have seen three serious disasters.


Tragically, it took a horrific disaster in Japan to remind the world
that none of the fundamental problems with nuclear power have ever
been addressed.

Besides reactor safety, both nuclear proliferation and the required
long-term storage of nuclear waste (which remains lethal for more
than 100,000 years) make nuclear power a uniquely dangerous energy
technology for humanity.

Plenty of links in

that Sierra Club page.

Sierra Club is one of the first two of the 99 sponsors of

the Forward on Climate rally,
high noon Sunday 17 February 2013 on the National Mall in Washington D.C.
I’ll be there.
How about you?

-jsq

Duke Energy is closing Crystal River nuclear reactor



Finally!
The reactor
only 160 miles from here
that

nobody wanted to pay to fix
is closing for good: Duke is closing Crystal River.
After Kewaunee and Crystal River closing, which one is next?
San Onofre?
The never-opened Vogtle 3 and 4?

Ivan Penn wrote for Tampa Bay Times today,

Duke Energy announces closing of Crystal River nuclear power plant,

Duke Energy announced early Tuesday it will permanently close the
Crystal River nuclear plant that has been shut down since late 2009.



The company said it is reviewing alternatives, including building a
new natural gas plant, to replace the power produced by the nuclear
facility.

Duke's four coal-fired plants will remain in service at the same
Citrus County complex where the nuclear plant, known as CR3, is
located.



How about they build
offshore wind farms
and solar farms
instead, like

TEPCO is doing near Fukushima?
Those can be built on time and on budget, use no fuel, and cause no pollution.
And how about

rooftop solar for jobs and energy independence?

There's more in

the article,
including this:

Continue reading →

Petition the Commission: Provide solid waste and recycling collection centers

Seen today; I’ve added some links.
Yesterday I also saw (and signed) a paper version. -jsq


Lowndes County Commission: Provide solid waste and recycling collection centers.



 Petition by

April Huntley

Naylor, GA

The County

is responsible for protecting the health and safety of the public.
They

have made decisions to

close all the county dump sites
and license

one out of state waste collection company with

little, if any public input.
There is

concern among citizens of
more

trash being on roadways,
more

expense on their part, being forced to

pay for a service the county should provide and

not having choice
in collection companies which

may put small business owners out of business
while backing a large out of state company.

To:

Joyce Evans, District # 1 Commissioner

Richard Raines, District # 2 Commissioner

Crawford Powell, District # 3 Commissioner

Demarcus Marshall, District # 4 Commissioner

John Page, District # 5 Commissioner

Bill Slaughter, County Commission Chairman

Provide solid waste and recycling collection centers.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Denmark beats Georgia Power’s 20 year plan



As

anticipated,
Georgia Power released
that

20-year energy plan Thursday,
because they have file one every three years with the PSC.
It includes far less solar power than tiny little far-north-of-here
Denmark is busily deploying.



The good news:
Georgia Power is closing a bunch of coal plants.
And this plan makes a nod towards
"demand response programs, energy efficiency programs, pricing
tariffs and other activities".

The bad news:
they're replacing those coal plants with natural gas, and of course
"two new state-of-the-art nuclear facilities at Plant Vogtle";
you know, the two

Georgia Power has been charging customers for since 2009
while they deliver no electricity.
Georgia Power
can't even seem to deliver the reactor containment vessels.

But what about renewable energy?

Continue reading →

I have obtained the binder of the documents —Joe Pritchard

The County Manager has found the legal documents on
issuance of the
the bonds Chairman Slaughter listed in his letter of 18 January.

Received yesterday (as a *.docx file, and still to the wrong email address,
but this time including both residence and postal addresses),
County Manager Joe Pritchard followed up on his

email of 29 January,
in which he had seemed puzzled about the term

"financial instruments"
(it's a standard term in business and investing)
such as

I asked for 28 January.
I thank Mr. Pritchard once again for responding.
(I thanked Chairman Bill Slaughter in person the other day.)
The relevant correspondance about the flyer that Mr. Pritchard
previously wrote

was created by the VDT is still missing.
I will ask for that Monday, when I respond to Mr. Pritchard's most courteous
offer to inspect the financial instruments.

Here's Mr. Pritchard's letter.
-jsq


Joe Pritchard
February 1, 2013

John Quarterman

6565 Quarterman Road

3338 Country Club Road #L336

Valdosta, GA 31605

Dear Mr. Quarterman:

To follow up my email of yesterday, I have obtained the binder of
the documents executed at the closing of the $15,500,000 CVDA

Continue reading →

Why must the small business owner be discarded? —Deep South Sanitation

Cary Scarborough, owner of a local sanitation business, previously

asked the Commission not to grant a monopoly on waste collection.
He was quoted in

today’s VDT article,
and he has elaborated on his company’s facebook page.

To the Commission,

13 November 2012:



Don’t do this to private enterprise, to an individual. If it’s done
to me, it will get easier later down the road to do it to someone
else.

In

the VDT:

“I have not been told by the County that what I’m doing is
illegal,” Scarborough said. “But I realize they’ve drawn
up an ordinance, and they’re probably going to say that it’s
illegal. If they come after me, I guess they have to come after
me.”

Scarborough believes that if the citizens aren’t required to
contract with Advanced Disposal, they are then allowed to choose.

“If the citizens can choose, why can’t they choose me?”
he said.

On Deep South Sanitation’s

public facebook page:

“REGARDING THE ISSUE OF THE TRASH ORDINANCE IN LOWNDES COUNTY”

Continue reading →

No choice on trash —”representatives from Lowndes County”



The VDT went deep under the Lowndes County government’s anonymous cover
for an interview with “representatives” who
confirmed that unincorporated residents have no choice
for trash collection other than

the monopoly the Commission granted
to a company from New York City.

Jason Schaefer wrote on the front page of the VDT today,

County trash ordinance goes into effect Friday:
VDT has Q&A with county leadership about new law, burning,

VDT:
Lowndes County has said residents aren’t required to sign a
service contract with Advanced Disposal. What other services are
there in the area, and do they include Deep South Sanitation in
Valdosta?

LC:
“According to the solid waste ordinance, Advanced Disposal
will be the only residential hauler licensed to serve unincorporated
Lowndes County. There’s been some confusion about trash collection
service in the city. This ordinance is just for unincorporated
Lowndes County, not for any of the cities.”

Maybe these were the same “representatives” who sent

an unsigned letter
saying there were 5,000 residents of unincorporated parts of
Lowndes County who didn’t already have curbside service, and they
have one choice now: the one-and-only
county-appointed purveyor of waste bins.
What could possibly go wrong?

Continue reading →