Re: Details on the Power Plant -- Dracut Information Resource Forum

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Date Posted: 22:01:43 05/08/01 Tue
Author: Ed Valis
Subject: Re: Details on the Power Plant
In reply to: Celeste 's message, "Re: Details on the Power Plant" on 14:07:43 05/08/01 Tue

Hi Celeste!

Sorry for the delay in responding completely, but, I have been extremely busy lately and have not been able to devote much time to this endeavor!

I was going to respond to your voluminous posting item-for-item, but, upon reading them it became obvious to me that the information in the posting were the same old propoganda the MVRE and other groups have been shoveling out for the past three to five years!

The information you have posted and MVRE has been giving out is detailed and contains many truths. But, they also contain half-truths and many unsubstantiated information.

Most of the effects of the polutants that you have posted are correct. What you, and MVRE, have failed to provide are a couple of key pieces of information. Number 1: at what concentrations and exposure times do these effects materialize. Number 2, does Nickel Hill have the potential to produce these concentrations for these time periods. Based on the information to-date on the emissions and dispersion modeling (which, as a professional dispersion modeler seem to me to be valid), Nickel Hill does not come close to approaching these values. And, they do not even exceed Significant Impact Levels (for criteria pollutants which are the NOx, SO2, CO, particulates) which is generally 1/10th of a standard. Also, for the toxics, they do approach the MADEP AAL and TEL values for a couple of compounds, but, based on the review of the conservative nature of the emissions estimate and knowing the conservativeness put into the AAL and TEL I am comfortable that health impacts from Nickel Hill will not occur.

The main flaw in your, and MVRE's, analysis and comparisons is the assumption that Nickel Hill is the only way anyone is going to be exposed to these compounds (more precisely you try to convey this by ephasizing certain phrases and facts hile ignoring key other facts). The presentation of TONS and MILLIONS OF GALLONS and other units without a presentation of what these units truly mean as far as ultimate impact on someone is misleading. I noticed that you bring up a Harvard Study of a power plant's impact on health, but, fail to provide the size, fuel, emissions, age, stack heights and proximity to residences effected so that a true comparison to the proposed Nickel Hill facility can be done.

When people mention that the Merrimack Valley is currently overloaded with it's share of air polluting sources, I say look back only 20-30 years when the mills and supporting industries were thriving in the Merrimack Valley. These mills and supporting industries were burning coal or very bad oil, and pumping out pollution that would make todays industry in the Merrimack Valley look like they are emitting nothing! I feel, and based on some regional modeling and studies done in the past and currently being done, the true culprit in respiritory and other health effects are threefold: 1) A dramatic increase in vehicle traffic (which is the result of uncontrolled, poorly planned urabn"urban sprawl"), 2) people spending more time inside and being exposed to indoor air pollution (due to the traffic and "urban sprawl" and the advent of the computer age), and 3) we have alot more access to information and people have found out how to minipulate that information to slant the data towards the argument that they are making.

And, lastly, as I have said before, I believe that Dracut is doing nothing more (but problem more well thought out and controlled) then any other town in the area. They are taking advantage of a corridor of commerce. In this case it is the power lines and natural gas lines that go through town. In the case of other towns it was the interstate highway. And before that it was the railroads and the river.

I know that the Nickel Hill plant is not the final answer to the energy questions, but I feel it is the latest answer that will be a viable answer for at least 20-30 years while someone figures out how to supply the millions (soon to be billions) of energy starved people in the United States.

As I have said many times in the past, provide direct facts for the project at hand to make your case. If you continue to use general facts and try to tie these to a specific situation YOU WILL LOOSE THE ARGUMENT!!!

Have a nice day!

Ed :=)

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Replies:

Re: Details on the Power Plant -- Celeste, 20:28:39 05/11/01 Fri
- Re: Details on the Power Plant -- Ed Valis, 22:32:18 05/12/01 Sat