COUNCIL "DUPED" ON ENFORCING EMISSIONS CONTROLS
It took more than a year of planning to successfully dupe City Council into believing it is helpless -- that, as a body, it cannot enforce a Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems ordinance.
The ordinance would require major air polluters to monitor their emissions 24 hours a day. The data would accumulate continuously and be reported live for all to see. If the emissions would exceed a limit over a rolling time period, the city would issue a citation to that company. There would be no need for an employee trained in emissions because the software does all the work. The software crunches the numbers and leaves no doubt as to what level the emissions have been.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is ill-equipped to protect the public. As evidence of that, look at the $6 million fine handed Erie Coke Corp. a year ago. At the time, the DEP said the equipment at Erie Coke needed to be upgraded. Since then, the equipment has not been upgraded. What progress has been made other than the DEP garnering sensational headlines? The fine is under appeal and will be until 2010, at least.
Why are polluters so against the ordinance when they tell us they never exceed their limits? The fact that the DEP handed out such a large fine shows the polluters do violate the amount of emissions they are permitted. Until it is known what comes out of the Title V major air polluters continuously, it will be impossible to initiate any efforts to improve Erie's air quality.
Cars that have been made for more than 20 years have continuous emissions monitoring systems engineered into them. Their engines will not run if the systems are not working. Since we pay for these systems when we purchase a car, is it not reasonable to expect major sources of air pollution to monitor their emissions 24 hours a day?
Let's all work together and find a solution. The technology is available to monitor many more types of emissions than the DEP requires, and many of these emissions are known to cause cancer. Why not be proactive and let Erie be a real leader? Actions speak louder then words.
Randy Barnes|Erie
ZONING BOARD QUESTIONED
I've lived here long enough to know I shouldn't be surprised by anything that goes on at City Hall. However, I wasn't ready for what happened at the Erie Zoning Board hearing regarding the smokestack height for the proposed tires-to-energy plant.
To my amazement, one of the members of the Zoning Board admitted he didn't understand the ordinance, and then turned to the person who stood to gain the most from the interpretation and asked the Erie Renewable Energy attorney to explain it to him. Does this sound a little strange to you?
Not surprisingly, that Zoning Board member voted in favor of ERE's position just minutes later. So now I have some questions:
If he didn't understand the ordinance, why is he on the board? If he doesn't understand the ordinance, why wouldn't he ask the board solicitor or the assistant city solicitor? Both were there.
What exactly are the qualifications to be on the Zoning Hearing Board?
Lori Duska,
Erie – published
5/22/09
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WEAK
Anyone who believes government agencies will guarantee no dangerous pollutants will come from the proposed tires-to-energy plant doesn't know history. Time and again, agencies have not lived up to their promises when it comes to environmental protection, and we can't take a chance on them now.
Once the plant is built, there is no way it will be shut down -- no matter how flagrant the violation. Oh, yes, there may be some fines and temporary closings, but you can bet they will be back in business in no time. The health risks associated with this plant are too great to take a chance.
For those who look at this solely as an opportunity to bring a few jobs to
Erie, where do you draw the line? We already have a mountain of garbage from Lake View Landfill in
Summit
Township located near the start of
Walnut Creek. Next, a tires-to-energy plant that has the potential to spew contaminants all over eastern
Erie
County. Why not advertise
Erie as the dumping capital of the
United States?
We don't have any nuclear waste here yet. We could have hundreds, if not thousands of jobs, taking care of everyone else's trash and contaminants. However, I'm not sure that will help our efforts to tout
Erie as a tourist and vacation place.
Folks come back to Erie to live because it is relatively safe; the schools are pretty good; the neighbors are friendly; and the environment is beautiful, if you like the outdoors. Let's keep it that way.
David G. Williams,
Erie - published
5/22/09
PLANT PROMPTS GRAVE REACTION
I was dismayed to read that the approval of an issue as limited as smokestack height might prove crucial in allowing construction of a tires-to-energy plant at the former International Paper Co. site.
There are other more substantial factors to consider. Should a heavily polluting industry locate on a bluff overlooking a beautiful state park upwind from a renowned grape-growing area? Wasn't the zoning panel obliged to weigh these factors?
In years past, one could stand near
Gridley Circle at the north end of
Lakeside
Cemetery next to the proposed plant site and see a wide strip of foamy, brown-stained water reaching far east.
This was effluent from Hammermill Paper Co, and later International Paper. At nearby beaches, one could notice large pieces of tree bark from Hammermill washed in by the waves.
My late father told how a Hammermill spokesman spoke to a Kiwanis gathering he once attended and disparaged any notion that the plant harmed the lake. He even drank a glass of brown liquid, which he claimed was Hammermill effluent. Downplaying pollution was common then, too.
My father said that after the meeting, he remarked to the Kiwanis speaker, "I'll bet that what you drank was whiskey, and not what Hammermill puts into the lake."
I fear that my father, who was raised on
Nagle Road near the paper mill, is now stirring in his
Lakeside grave as another environmental violator is poised to erect a belching chimney that would place his grave within its shadow.
Robert R. Stanger,
Youngstown,
Ohio – published
5/21/09
ENERGY PLANT BAD FOR
ERIE
The proposed tires-to-energy plant should be scrapped. The lure of immediate employment and material gain is drowning out the long-term negative effects related to the health of our community and damage to our environment.
Those in favor of the plant are viewing this creation through rose-colored glasses. It appears good to rid landfills of tires, increase job opportunities for the many unemployed and find an alternative energy source. However, the smoke emitted into the community and the particulates will be extremely detrimental for everyone, especially future generations.
If you believe that the tires-to-energy plant or those approving of this facility are capable of policing themselves, making sure the environment is protected, you need to look no further than Erie Coke Corp. The coke plant has been a nuisance to the environment and community health for decades. They refuse to change, refuse to pay fines and continue operating.
The world needs change. The
Erie community should be progressive and demand more from the former International Paper Co. site. Greener jobs can be created on this large facility.
We need better-paying jobs in this area. However, the proposed tires-to-energy plant would be a giant step backward for
Erie. We deserve better.
Laurie Baker, North East – published
5/20/09
PLANT BELONGS IN YOUR BACKYARD
I see we have another supporter of the tires-to-energy plant who happens to live in Girard. I wonder how supportive he would be if he was downwind from the plant.
If letter writer Joe Michalski (Erie Times-News, March 29) thinks this is such a great idea, perhaps he could start a drive to have it built on the Roderick Wildlife Reserve, where U.S. Steel once considered building a plant on the Pennsylvania-Ohio line. This site was ideal for a steel mill, so I am sure it would be good for a power plant.
This way, the Girard area could reap all of the great benefits of having this plant constructed in its backyard.
Bob Rose, Harborcreek – published
5/16/09
