Tag Archives: sewage sludge

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

“We’re moving forward with permits in hand.”

The Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
responds to

my message about the biomass incinerator Wiregrass Power LLC
proposes to build in Lowndes County, Georgia, just outside Valdosta.
he copied the VDT and the usual list.

-jsq

From: “Brad Lofton”

To: “John S. Quarterman”

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:19:12 +0000

John:

We’re moving forward with permits in hand. Have a nice day.

BL

Economic development affects the whole community

My response to
Brad Lofton’s previous mail to me
and

Sunday’s
exchange between Brad Lofton and Leigh Touchtom; I copied the VDT and the usual list.

-jsq

From: “John S. Quarterman”

To: blofton@industrialauthority.com

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:06:31 -0400

Brad,

So you can’t provide a journal citation, thus your assertion that
the stack of slides about CO2 was peer-reviewed is false.

Your assertions of environmental group support are equally dubious,
as Leigh Touchton has demonstrated. Meanwhile, you ignore plain
statements of opposition from medical groups such as the American
Lung Association.

Dr. Tom Manning is a chemist whose specialities have little to do
with renewable energy. At least three times as many VSU faculty
oppose the biomass plant, as you know from reading their LTEs in the VDT.

You say you want people helping you. OK, what are these “other
renewable energy projects”? You complain that people don’t get
involved until late, so please tell us now, so we can get involved early.

Continue reading →

“We’ve read this a hundred times, and we understand it perfectly.”

Sunday correspondence between Leigh Touchton and Brad Lofton
about Sierra Club support for the biomass plant.
They copied the VDT and the same people as the previous messages.

From: Leigh Touchton

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:50:57 -0400

To: blofton@industrialauthority.com

Sierra Club:
[quotes Sierra Club passage from

Brad Lofton’s previous message.]

I wish someone on the Industrial Authority would actually read the entire
Sierra Club position statement instead of cherry picking snippets they
think supports their incinerator.


http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/conservation/biomass.aspx

From: “Brad Lofton”

To: “Leigh Touchton”

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 20:08:46 +0000

We’ve read it ma’am and appreciate their support.

BL

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Verizon

Continue reading →

“we have other renewable energy projects”

The Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
responds to
my request of 26 Sep 2010 for some real clean energy jobs, and a renewable energy strategy for Georgia; he copied the VDT and the same people as the previous messages.

From: “Brad Lofton”

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:25:36 +0000

Hey John!

Thanks again for your e-mail. I refer you to my previous response, the large amount of data my staff has provided you, and all of the government (fed, local, and state) and environmental group support we enjoy. We have all permits in place, and we are moving forward enthusiastically to create green jobs in this economy! That’s good news.
You’ll be pleased to know that we have other renewable energy projects
we’re pursing as well in addition to our solar array (it may be small to you, but we’re being told that it’s currently the largest array in Georgia-not bad if you ask me). I wish people would spend half the energy assisting us recruit jobs than what they spend fighting economic development projects that will provide good jobs for this community. I want to apologize for providing you the wrong name for the VSU professor last week. Dr. Tom Manning is his name, and he is very much an active member of the VSU faculty. We also receive 1 mill of tax, not 1.5.

Have a nice day,

BL

P.S. Below is the direct quote from www.sierraclub.org not only

Continue reading →

How about some real clean energy jobs, and a renewable energy strategy for Georgia?

This is a response from me to
Brad Lofton’s letter of 22 September 2010.
I also refer to Leigh Touchton’s response of the same date.



From: “John S. Quarterman”

To: blofton@industrialauthority.com, Leigh Touchton

Cc: [VDT, elected officials, and other people]

Subject: Re: Brad Lofton, Executive Director Industrial Authority

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:23:39 -0400

Brad,

I also appreciate you taking the time to meet with people,
but I am disappointed in the information provided by VLCIA.

For example, you say:

You are absolutely correct in stating that we provided you peer reviewed
scientific literature proving that biomass plants are indeed carbon neutral

Excuse me? What journal accepts a stack of powerpoint slides for
peer review?

Maybe you mean it’s based on some journal article. Citation, please:
journal, date, and page.

The only thing I can find in it that was peer-reviewed was a quote
from an IPCC 2007 report, which asks for “a sustainable forest
management strategy”. That’s what we don’t have; that stack of
slides certainly isn’t it.

You mention:

Continue reading →

Let’s Think About This!

Michael Noll has offered this letter to anyone who wants to publish it:

This is an open letter with a few questions for the Industrial Authority on the proposed biomass incinerator. Simple answers will do, as we have heard enough confusing verbiage by now:

1. Isn’t it correct that annually the proposed biomass incinerator will emit 247 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 247 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), 247 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), 135 tons of particulate matter (PM), 113 tons of PM10, 87 tons of PM2.5, 60 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and 14 tons of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)?

2. Isn’t it true that the American Lung Association states that pollutants such as NOx, SO2, and PM can have “severe impacts on the health of children, older adults, and people with lung disease”?

3. Isn’t it correct that the “baghouse filtration technology” in connection with the proposed incinerator cannot capture PM10 (particulate matter smaller than 10 microns) much less PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns)?

Continue reading →

Banned or Blocked Biomass Incinerators

Leigh Touchton responds to Brad Lofton’s letter of 22 September 2010.
WACE is Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy; more on that new organization later.

-jsq



From: Leigh Touchton

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:04:48 -0400

Subject: Mr. Lofton once again misrepresents the facts

To: wace-georgia@googlegroups.com

Cc: blofton@industrialauthority.com, [and the VDT and some elected officials and other interested parties]

Dear WACE:

1. Mr. Lofton stated: “Despite what Mrs. Touchton stated, we’ve been in
touch with the Massachusetts and Florida EPD, and in no way, shape, or form
is either state banning biomass facilities. In fact, there are 15 scheduled
now for New England, many in Mass, and a number in Florida. There have been
discussions regarding the level of incentives (tax credits) allowed, but no
moratorium. We’ll be happy to share our contacts with you.”

I would like for Mr. Lofton to share his contacts with WACE. Because
previously his contacts at the Sierra Club were misrepresented by him.
Sierra Club does NOT endorse Biomass Incineration, neither does any other
major environmental organization in America.

I would also like Mr. Lofton to share his private email list of stakeholders
with WACE, in particular the investors, because I would like to share some
information with them. I expect transparency in our public officials and
his refusal to address my letter to the editor of the Valdosta Daily Times
in the same newspaper in which it was published does not lead me to believe
that he is operating in good faith. I am very disturbed that any public
official would state that they did not want to “energize a forum for
misinformation” regarding published concerns in the local newspaper. Mr.
Lofton has a duty to respond to all citizens’ concerns publicly. I am very
disturbed that he thought he could privately email a group about my
published letter to the editor and that the first I learned of it was nearly
a month after he did so. And no, I still don’t wish to have a private
telephone conversation with him or a private meeting with him, I’ve been
reading all the public documents that have resulted from his supposed
lengthy due diligence period. As I stated, the first I learned of this
proposed biomass incinerator was when the EPD called for public comments.
Mr. Lofton and Councilman James Wright were both invited to the June Women
in the NAACP meeting and neither man showed up so I don’t really care to
engage in who didn’t return whose phone calls. Additionally he could have
made contact with the schools and churches in the area, or attended an SCLC
or NAACP meeting but he did not. All our our meetings are open to the
public, unlike his private list of stakeholders.

Here’s one internet article on the moratorium in Massachusetts.

Continue reading →

“Carbon is absolutely not an issue with our plant.”

Below is a response to my letter of 22 September 2010.

-jsq

Date: On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 3:16 PM

From: Brad Lofton <blofton@industrialauthority.com>

John:

Thank you for your e-mail and the professional way in which you have come
and met with our staff to discuss these issues. I certainly respect your
concerns, especially since you felt it important enough to take the time to
meet with us a number of times to pursue dialogue and exchange information.

You are absolutely correct in stating that we provided you peer reviewed
scientific literature proving that biomass plants are indeed carbon neutral.
Dr. Carl Manning, an environmental professor at VSU who has done
significant research in biomass, agrees and completely supports our project.
It is also important to note that we will be using inert landfill material
that would otherwise produce methane if left to rot in a landfill. As you
know, methane is considered a greenhouse gas. This is another very positive
environmental benefit of our project (one of many). Carbon is absolutely
not an issue with our plant.

Rest assured that no trees will be harvested for this plant. The plant’s
EPD permit is very specific about this point, and federal tax credits
require the use of “wood waste.” Any deviation will result in plant closure
by the EPD. Our Authority would not have supported “whole log” production,
because of the environmental impact and also because of the competition it
would create for several of our large existing industries (PCA, Langdale)
that count on whole logs for production. We made the use of “wood waste” a
condition of moving forward.

A couple of other areas of misinformation that we would like to correct:

Continue reading →

Unanswered Concerns about the Biomass Plant

I’m quoting myself here, responding to
Brad Lofton’s letter of 19 Sepember 2010.

-jsq

From: “John S. Quarterman”

To: <blofton@industrialauthority.com>, Leigh Touchton

Cc: [VDT and several elected officials; list available upon request]

Subject: Re: Brad Lofton, Executive Director Industrial Authority, doesn’t want his correpondence in the Valdosta Daily Times

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:08:17 -0400

Brad Lofton,

Leigh Touchton has forwarded me copies of the correspondence between
you on behalf of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
with her and the VDT.

I must say I don’t agree with your assertion that:

“The vast majority of her concerns for our project would have
been answered two years ago if she had come to any of our forums…”

Here are some examples of unanswered concerns.

Continue reading →