Corr - CC

My response to the Frederick Post Article regarding the Chamber of Commerce:

I find it sad that the organization can express regret for the way the statement was worded, yet not be able to apologize because the person who they think wrote it is on vacation and not available for comment. It's their statement and they should take responsibility. It doesn't matter who put the words on the paper, it is their position. You would think that the leadership of what should be a prominent business organization would understand that, take responsibility and make the appropriate responses.

From: Don James
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 6:07 PM
Subject: RE: [powerplant] Chamber of Commerce Support for Sempra...

All,

I thought about this quite a bit before I put this response together, giving me time to tone down my response. Forgive me for the length of the email, but once I got going... I have put my summary at the front, followed by details if you'd like to see more. Feel free to respond to all.

As usual this is just my humble opinion.. Also, remember as you read this, that the Chamber's goal is to bring business to Frederick County. To them, it seems, any business is golden. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they have not sat down to think about all of the possible safety, environmental and negative economic issues that are making the local citizens leery of the plant. They seem to have taken information that Sempra has provided and have concluded that this is good for the County and everyone will benefit. That has not been proven to me to be the case - not by a long shot.

The only reason I am bothering to respond to this is their statement "The "not in my backyard" political movement which would pass this problem elsewhere runs counter to the increased demand for electricity by all of us, and simple good citizenship practice." - How dare they categorize legitimate concerns for the safety and welfare of our children and our neighbors as a "not in my backyard" political movement that does not practice good citizenship. The implication that we should ignore these concerns and be 'good citizens' is nuts. That is an irresponsible and offensive statement to say the least.

-- In Summary --

In summary, I believe that the Chamber of Commerce has demonstrated a lack of respect for the safety and well being of those of us in Southwestern Frederick County (the Adamstown Region). They have shown that our concerns are outweighed by the as yet unproven opinions of the energy company that wants to set up shop "in our backyard". It would be interesting to know exactly who and what companies participated in the approval of this statement of support.

There are people in the area who are vehemently opposed to the placement of the plant on the Eastalco site, and will never give up their opposition. There are also people who are very concerned about a number of different issues and will be opposed to the plant until their concerns are sufficiently addressed. I am one of those people. The http://www.adamstown.us web site was set up to let all people voice their opinions regardless of their position, and it will stay available throughout the entire process regardless of my position. Sempra understands that we have legitimate concerns and continues to work with the community to provide the information that we want to try to convince us to drop our opposition. I expect that over time that may occur for some people, but there are no guarantees.

For the Chamber to just dismiss the legitimate concerns of people in the area and say we are not good citizens is a slap in the face to all of us, and just plain old cow manure.

I look forward to the continued dialog with Sempra and Eastalco and their efforts to provide us with enough information to convince us that this plant would be safe and good for the area. These discussions are continuing in a very productive manner, and will continue to do so on Thursday night @ Carroll Manor Elementary School @ 7pm. I hope to see everyone there.

Don

--- Detailed Response to their Support Statement ---

"The plant is proposed on properly-zoned land..." -- true statement, but this is irrelevant as the state (who has jurisdiction here) doesn't have to abide by the local zoning regulations. It's nice if they do, but they are not bound by these rules. The County can not even tell Sempra that they need to follow the normal permitting, etc procedures, they can merely ask.

"...the infrastructure to support the plant is in place..." - basically true
- minor gas line work through an existing right-of-way, the power lines are ok - both very good things for Sempra and for Adamstown if this moves forward as there will be less construction outside of the facility.

"...the water needed to run the plant could come from treated County wastewater, which could also provide a revenue stream to the County..." - lots of problems with this statement.

The ability for the County to provide wastewater to anyone for use is not available now. The plans to make that a reality (on the current timetable) are more than 2 years off. To provide this capability, the County would have to re-direct monies that would be spent elsewhere to accelerating the pipeline project. And - with the latest round of issues between the city and County I'm not sure if acceleration is even possible.

There were questions raised by Frederick County officials at the May 27th meeting regarding the amount of effluent water being sufficient for the plant's operations.

There were questions raised by Frederick County officials at the May 27th meeting about the impact on the amount of water we will be returning to the Potomac River on our permit. These water use permits are very specific about how much water you take and how much is returned. The plant's use of the water will evaporate a significant portion of the water - on the order (from what I remember from the meeting) of 90%.

There were questions raised by Frederick County officials at the May 27th meeting about the impact that the reduced volume of water being returned to the river would have on the concentrations of the pollutants. Say our pollution levels are fine on a percentage, a parts per million or other volumetric basis when putting back 3 million gallons of water per day into the river. What happens when you have the same amount of pollutants in a significantly smaller volume of water - say 3 hundred thousand gallons -- how will you be able to meet the volumetric parameters??

The County is not prepared to provide pricing information for the use of this water, or even a timetable for availability.

Sempra will also have to proceed with getting permission to obtain water directly from the Potomac River and building a pipeline to make that happen. This may need to occur even if all of the effluent water issues could be worked out, and there are times during low flow periods when the effluent water source would be insufficient to provide all of the water that the plant needs. Both sources will need to be available.

"Most importantly, the three-state grid from which we all draw our electrical current is in need of additional generation; the alternative is taxpayer-funded upgrades." - Ok - I heard there is a pending switch station modification that would not be necessary if this plant is brought on-line, but wouldn't the people who own the power lines be responsible for that??? In this case the all of us consumers would bear the burden.

"The "not in my backyard" political movement which would pass this problem elsewhere runs counter to the increased demand for electricity by all of us, and simple good citizenship practice." -

This is the single most REPULSIVE statement in the entire paragraph. To me this says they have no concern for our right to provide for the safety and well being of the children of Adamstown. They have no concern for the safety and well being of the people of Adamstown. They have no concern for anything other than the mighty dollar.

As I have stated and is clear on the web site, I will stand in opposition until it is proven that this will be safe for those people who live around the plant - especially the 300+ children who spend their days at Carroll Manor Elementary School that is only 1 mile from the location of this plant. Their developing bodies do not need additional obstacles - like additional pollutants. When it is shown what the air quality is truly like at the school and other local areas, and then factoring in the projections from the plant, then we can feel more comfortable about the well being of the children and the local residents. In addition, we have yet to see information on the impact of an explosion at the plant - with the same concerns in mind.

Were it not for the unproven safety issues and benefits to not only Adamstown, but even Frederick County, I would no longer be standing in opposition to the plant. I would be working with Sempra (as I am now as well) to find ways to alleviate our other concerns about noise, lights, etc and supporting the plant.

There are no guarantees that anyone in Frederick County (besides Eastalco) would ever see any of this electricity. Definitely not the people who are impacted by the plant.

This line is the reason I am even bothering to respond to this statement. How dare they categorize legitimate concerns for the safety and welfare of our children and our neighbors as a "not in my backyard" political movement. The suggestion that we should ignore these concerns and be 'good citizens' is nuts. That is an irresponsible and offensive statement to say the least.

Other notes:
Frederick County Tax revenues:

Commissioner Thompson brought up the fact at the May 27th meeting that the tax revenues being cited by Sempra probably do not exist. From the last go-around with the Duke plant it was discovered that the plant - the $300M plant - is business personal property and Frederick County can't tax it. That may be Frederick doesn't tax it - I don't remember for sure. Sempra had it for action to get more details on that and I'm hoping for clarification at the June 24th meeting. I'm no tax law expert, but it sure seems to me that with no tax revenues from the facility - there is NO benefit to the County - in fact it would be a potential loss of future revenue.

Tax on salaries of the 32 full time employees will be nice, but only if they live in the County - the County would get significantly more revenue by the development of a housing complex.

Tax on the salaries of the construction workers are again, only a positive impact if they live in Frederick County.

And on and on and on .. But you get the picture - I hope.

Final Opinion for today -->> Those Chamber people and companies that participated in the decision should be held responsible for their blatant disregard for our little portion of the County and their slap in the face to those of us with legitimate concerns for the safety of our children and neighbors. If we ever do find out who actually participated, I plan to make sure that I no longer patronize any of their establishments.

Don

From: Cindy Alderton
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 11:36 AM
Subject: [powerplant] Chamber of Commerce Support for Sempra...

Didn't know if anyone else was aware of this or not, however, as a member of the Chamber of Commerce here in Frederick County the below was included in my chamber minutes today (I do NOT support this!) Cindy Alderton

POWER PLANT PROPOSAL GOOD FOR COUNTY, STATE. The Chamber is supportive of a proposal by Sempra Energy to build a power plant on property owned by Alcoa Eastalco. The plant is proposed on properly-zoned land, the infrastructure to support the plant is in place, and the water needed to run the plant could come from treated County wastewater, which could also provide a revenue stream to the County. Most importantly, the three-state grid from which we all draw our electrical current is in need of additional generation; the alternative is taxpayer-funded upgrades. The “not in my backyard” political movement which would pass this problem elsewhere runs counter to the increased demand for electricity by all of us, and simple good citizenship practice.