Rural Electric Co-op Settles to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations

(link) - Department of Justice (DOJ) Announcement                                     Friday, July 23, 2010

"Indiana-Based Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative Reaches Settlement to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations: Marks 20th Settlement Under U.S. Power Plant Enforcement Initiative" 

When an Environmental Case reaches the Department of Justice, this means that a business or industry who violate Federal Pollution rules, laws or statutes, have been 'sued' by the Federal Government.

In this case; US vs. Hoosier Energy Rural Electric, The Power plants have agreed to reduce their pollution emissions by more than 24,500 tons per year. Hoosier will pay a civil penalty of $950,000.00 and spend $5,000,000.00 on their own business properties and in undoing some of the damage (mitigation) that their excess pollutants have done. I don't know how you can clean air, that is riddled with metals and other particulates (microscopic pieces of toxins that adhere to the hydrogen (water & oxygen) in the Air.

The Coal-Fire plants; Merom and Ratts Stations are in the Southwest area of Indiana.

This is a proposed settlement - lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and is subject to a 30-day Public Comment period and Final Court approval...

Citizens, I pray you know this means it is Very Important to get involved and respond during the Public Comment Period...If not, what can happen is a few people who are a part of this Co-op, will convince everyone that as a Co-op, every electric customer will end up paying for this...and won't it be better to just forego the fines, or reduce them to a couple of thousand dollars? Then, the Energy owners will pitch and moan how much it is going to cost to retro-fit their facilities; again paid for by the Victims, better known as Customers.

The "customers" at Merom have a per capita income of nearly $17,000.00. Only 86% have a high school diploma. Only 20% are employed in the coal industry, the rest are wood products, and construction. Merom residents will not have a voice, they will not have a say...That is not Environmental Justice!

I cannot locate any information on the town of Ratts, only that it is adjacent to Bloomington, Indiana.

There is no link on the DOJ website, nor on the Southern District Court of Indiana for public comments. I went to (link) The US District Court - Southern District of Indiana's Web Site ,and the only way you can communicate with them is through a PACER System. The PACER system requires a credit card for validation purposes, but practicing attorneys have membership...wonder how many Citizens in Southern District of Indiana have a credit card? This means there is not a way given to unrepresented Citizens to comment. This means, Industry will be the only ones able to comment on this proposed settlement...

Forwarded complaint to DOJ, Sierra Club and RePower America, due to the lack of available resources for Public Comment.

'"What's a gal to do?".

The newspaper industry cannot understand why there is a decline in membership, perhaps it is because we can get unbiased news from the Internet. From Sunday's Arkansas Democrat Gazette**:

• "The Arkansas Pollution & Ecology Commission has re-tooled it's Web site in response to a customer complaint." is the first sentence of the article.
• Ms. Nancy Felts Dunlap of Prairie County has been in dispute with Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality for months * regarding a permit granted to "a Prairie County drilling waste storage facility." The article only mentions one complaint.
• Ms. Dunlap wasn't against the facility going in, initially. Shortly after the prairie Co. land farm started operating, problems with the neighbors started.
• The Arkansas Dept. of Environmental Quality had already issued that permit with little regard for what any citizen, biologist, or geologist had to say.
• Ms. Nancy Felts Dunlap and Arkansas is plum out of luck. [sees problem, complains, appeals and Nobody cares.]
• The point is, this permit was granted. It stays granted.
• So, where does this changing the website come in? After all of that, the Dem-Gazette titles the article: "Ecology panel revamps Web site criticized as misleading"
• What is the whole story? It looks like we may have to look northward to get any real answers...*******

**Arkansas section-B, Page 7B, Obituary page, last article: Sunday,October25,2009***
www.adeq.state.ar.us/.../2009-07-20_Response_to_Motion_to_Dismiss.pdf
****www.adeq.state.ar.us/.../2009-08-03_Order_No_3(Recommended_Decision).pdf
*****http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/.../2009-07-08_PCLF
******http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/.../2009-07-27_Reply_to_Response_to_PCLF


*******http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/shale/2008/10/they_get_the_gold_mine_we_get.aspx *******