By Emerson Drake At a meeting back in September we heard bio-mass incinerator promoter Steven Endsley and his team make a variety of claims some were true and some were false. This is an attempt to set the record straight, to separate fact from fiction, and fantasy from reality. Endsley’s team told MID’s Board of Directors they’ll use 375,000 tons a year of orchard clippings referred to as bio-mass or fuel, a year. They testified that there was more than enough “fuel” for the plant to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They even had someone who said he was a supplier who said he had the contract for the bio-mass. Of course this was after they had been reminded earlier in the meeting that they had stated they didn’t have a signed contract with a supplier(amazing how much can be accomplished during a 30 minute break isn’t it.) Interestingly enough in a letter to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) dated July 9,2010 promoter Endsley wrote that with so many biomass plants going in, there might not be enough ag waste for every plant. He insisted in the letter to Dave Warner and Rupi Gill of SJVAPCD that he wouldn’t be held to using the 50% requirement he stated on his application. He insisted that he only be held accountable for using 6.4% Ag waste. Promoter Endsley’s team also insisted that bio waste would be used from the bay area for the remainder of the fuel. In an email from Frank DeMaris (SJVAPCD) to Bob Ellery at Bay City Boiler who is Endsley’s partner in the company, DeMaris explained that Biomass or biomass waste does not include material containing sewage sludge,industrial waste, medical waste or radioactive waste. He also goes on to say the plastic content of wood waste is limited to 2 pounds in every hundred of wood waste. Almost needless to say that’s not what they tested their pollution controls on. And about the alleged patent pending on this “state of the art” pollution control system which Endsley describes as doubling up the standard existing systems and heating the air in the middle. That doesn’t sound very state of the art to professionals we’ve asked in the field. The day after MID decided not to pursue the purchase power agreement he asked the SJVAPCD to assume the role of lead agency in the CEQA process, a role the agency later turned down. The very real problem for Valley Bioenergy LLC is they don’t want to have to do a full blown Environmental Impact Report. They know they wouldn’t get the necessary permits to begin consttruction ever, let alone in time to complete 5% of the construction by December 31, 2010 necessary to receive the governmental stimulus money necessary to build the plant since the grant will constitute 30% of the construction start-up money. And as for what Endsley will do with his profits, well in the course of 20 minutes I heard him make two different promises for the money. One to set up a school for training people in green jobs, and the second was to use the money to establish a research center to study green energy. As a point of information four other members of the public heard Promoter Endsley make these stateements and more during the recent meeting of the MID and during a 45 minute break. These were Todd Seal, Noe Paramo, David Avelia, and Jesse Roseman. In short it appears that the biomass promoter Steven Endsley will say and do almost anything to get this gross polluter built and we the citizens will be forced to breath the air it pollutes and pay higher electric rates for the privilege. There will be a meeting at the MID offices Tuesday October 12, 2010. Please try to be there if you can. |
