The final straw, or not

I don’t intend to get hung up on discussing railway ties each and every day, but here’s an example of some comments that I think raise questions. They were sent to me anonymously so I can’t identify the source. Here is the email I received yesterday, following by my questions to the sender:
                             THE FINAL STRAW!
 
What is the driving incentive for the Ministry of Environmentto go against the wishes of the city council and the people in Kamloops, to give a permit to install a gasification plant on Mission Flats?
 
 How can 25 native jobs of this plant benefit the city, when there is a big question mark when it comes to the health risk of 80,000 + people?
 
Why do other cities not want this plant and the same with the previous experimental cleaning of radioactive filters?  Why do we let Domtar get away with blackmail and not live up to their responsibility to clean up their act, which they signed a contract to do.  Let us say that 5,000 people benefit from the mill and it has a negative health effect on 85,000. Where is the logic in this?  
 
Experimental, after the dictionary, means unknown effect, so how come that all these people are coming out and stating all of these facts that are unknown, one way or another?
 
The question in today‚s corrupt society always comes down to,what is the driving incentive?  I know, money for a few is more important than the long time negative health effect of many.
 
I, for one would gladly contribute some hard earned money towards a class action lawsuit to really find out what is behind all of this.
 
More and more people are talking about moving from Kamloops, if this complete disregard for the quality of life and health of its citizens continues.  
 
We live in a beautiful city with wonderful weather and lots of sunshine, so why do we want to make a toxic dump of it.  We could follow the rest of the world and try to clean up the mess we created.
 
Here is a thought.  We have many hills around Kamloops and quite a bit of wind.  Why not install wind generators and even solar farms.  There you have clean energy.  Lets us stop being the dumping ground for unproven and dirty industry that no one else wants.
 
Clean air and clean water should be the basic right of every human being.  The big question should be, what kind of world would we like to pass on to our children? 

And my response:

The MOE grants permits based on whether it believes there will be any negative environmental consequences, not by referendum, vote of council or political pressure. Such decisions can be appealed and the aggrieved parties can challenge the decision. That is what appears likely to take place.

The benefit is intended to be a “green” process for disposing of waste railway ties rather than burning them in open fire, burying them or stockpiling them.

I’m not aware of other cities rejecting this plant. The situation would be identical to here, with the decision being made by MOE. Can you provide an example? Also, could you elaborate on your reference to radioactive filters?

Aboriginal Cogeneration is the company involved in the gasification plant, not Domtar.

“Experimental.” I’ve heard this before but the specific technology has been tested at the U.S. centre, and other types of gasifiers are in widespread use elsewhere. At least that’s what I read and what I am told. Is there evidence of failures at other gasifiers that have created environmental or health issues?

The driving incentive is that there is a need to find a clean way to dispose of waste railway ties. The issue with many people is that they don’t believe this is a clean way, but that doesn’t mean there’s something evil about a company wanting to provide a solution for a profit.

Class action lawsuit: on what grounds? Is someone breaking the law? I’m not being critical here, I’m just wondering what the basis would be.

“Complete disregard for the quality of life” etc. The folks at IHA and MOE have kids and care about our community, too. They obviously believe in this project.

Wind generators won’t rid us of the pollution problem presented by railway ties. Energy is a bonus.

Your final question could just as well be asked by anyone who is concerned about the proliferation of creosote-treated railway ties with no environmentally friendly way of getting rid of them. Again, the issue is whether this method is a good one. Can we not focus on that without attempting to bring into disrepute anyone who disagrees with the opponents of this project?

Cheers, Mel.