Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
| February 13, 2014 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
|
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 5 (5 of 44 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
February 13, 2014 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
Letters to the Editor
A few problems
with this country
Editor, the Journal
Dan Abrams on "Good
Morning, America" brought
up the subject of young boys
and girls being coerced to play
sports to gain scholarships for
college.
Why not the same concern
for boys and girls being en-
listed for the armed services
of the United States with the
lure of scholarships for col-
lege? The injuries are just as
bad either way.
Now, shame on the United
States for not paying ad-
equate medical and living
expenses for injured veterans.
They have to go on television
ads, with hat in hand, asking
for help. How sad! The inju-
ries, etc., should be automati-
cally in the budget for all the
enlisted men and women.
Cut the graft in the gov-
ernment. See that all people
are treated to the life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness as
stipulated in our Constitution
"under God." Amen. And quit
sending bombs and probes to
the moon. We are having ter-
rible weather. The moon has
an effect on Earth. We need
to take care of our planet. It
is our home. The only one we
have.
Our beautiful Earth --
please don't spoil it. The heav-
en could be on earth.
"Nothing that is can pause
or stay; the moon will wax, the
moon will wane, the mist and
cloud will turn to rain..." -
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Even he knew the effect on
the earth.
Elaine Perron
Belfair
Signature
gatherers
deserve praise
Editor, the Journal
Commissioner Terri Jef-
freys' thoughts on the elec-
tion of Kristi Buck to the
Port of Shelton, because of
Buck's support on moving
the fairgrounds -- neglect-
ed to mention the 4,000-
plus signatures collected
for the support of the fair-
grounds.
My thoughts are that the
voters of Mason County are
a savvy group who have not
forgotten about Adage, cut-
ting the timber on Johns
Prairie and now taking bids
to cut more timber in other
locations.
The commissioners of
Mason County and the Port
of Shelton are elected and
should be working and lis-
tening to those who voted
them into office. My thoughts
are, if those elected officials
do not listen to the voters,
there will be more change
when elections roll around
again.
The Port of Shelton and
county commissioners have
announced the closure or
phase-out of the current fair-
grounds after Dec. 31. Where
is the accounting for the Ma-
son County voters?
Apparently we will have
to make our votes count at
the ballot box. It is two years
before any port commissioner
will be up for election. I hope
it won't be too late by then.
Ann Kimbel
Shelton
Reader disputes
health risk
Editor, the Journal
I am not Mr. Anvik, but
I would like to comment on
Jacob Rufer's letter to the
editor published Feb. 6. The
writer claims for helping to
stop Adage from building a
forest waste-fired electric
generating plant from being
built on Johns Prairie. He
claims it would have been a
health risk.
As I recall, the plan for
this generating plant called
for controlled burns in a
furnace with the smoke be-
ing scrubbed and filtered
before being released into
the atmosphere. And as I un-
derstand, this type of electric
generating plant was passed
by a vote of the people of the
state of Washington as be-
ing a green energy source of
power.
Now, that is all history,
the way this forest waste is
being disposed of is by pil-
ing it in large piles along our
highways, and burning it out
in the open with the smoke
and ash being released di-
rectly into the air with no
cleaning whatsoever. Look
at state Route 108 halfway
to McCleary and along state
Route 3 halfway to Allyn.
As for the business owners
folding their tents (instead
of closing their doors), well
maybe they weren't doing so
well anyway.
I would rather breathe the
smoke coming from a smoke-
stack.
Bill Robbins
Shelton
Have your facts
before your
comment
Editor, the Journal
Apparently, Mr. Anvik
never attended the commis-
sioners' meetings or read any
of the information concern-
ing this debacle, that was
going to be foisted on Mason
County.
The Adage incinerator
would have produced 668,000
tons of carbon dioxide a year.
This would have been consid-
ered carbon neutral and the
plant would have been given
carbon credits. This non-
sense was comparing the car-
bon dioxide produced from
the natural decomposition of
trees when they died, which
would be 40 to 60 years.
The plant was to be built
over a Class I CARA (critical
aquifer recharge area). This
class is extremely susceptible
to contamination. This is our
drinking water.
Landfill material was one
of the sources listed under
fuel to be used in the incin-
erator. Wouldn't that have
been a sweet aroma floating
over Shelton? The incinera-
tor would have been 172 feet
high. The fire department
equipment could only reach
up to 50 feet. I inquired at
the fire department what
would they do if there was
an explosion or very large
fire at the site and was told,
"I don't know, I really don't
know." The traffic report that
was done made no mention
of the 20-mph zone that goes
by the middle school or the
stop light for entrances to
Walmart and Fred Meyer.
This would have been the
route to and from the plant.
At least 40 trucks a day trav-
el on this road day and night.
Now, in regard to jobs --
there would be jobs while the
plant was being built but no
guarantee they would all be
filled by Mason County resi-
dents. It was to be a highly
sophisticated plant requiring
expertise in some areas. At
the public hearings, there
were very many people from
several other counties saying
they were looking for work.
Because the plant would
be run by computers, there
would be only 24 permanent
jobs. These people would
have to be highly skilled
with very special training.
The investors would make
all the money and we would
have been left with all the
carbon dioxide, road conges-
tion, very possible water con-
tamination and a few jobs.
Why is Mason County one
of the few counties willing
to accept this type of busi-
ness? Shelton Hills is being
held back because of the very
severe environmental issues
with Goose Lake and the C
Street landfill. This develop-
ment would be a great boon
for the city and county, but
you can't put homes, com-
mercial businesses and
a school in a highly con-
taminated area. It has to be
cleaned up and is very ex-
pensive to do so. The county
and city of Shelton need to
change their mindset and
stop living in the past centu-
ry. Both entities need to re-
invent their way of thinking.
I have heard Mason County
called a dumping ground.
When the Adage project
was stopped near Shelton,
why didn't Mr. Anvik jump
in and apply to the county
commissioners to have it
installed in Elma? With the
open space and access to a
highway, it would have been
ideal to build it there so he
could enjoy all the pollution,
increased traffic and 24 jobs.
So if Mr. Anvik is inter-
ested, I have three large
boxes of information about
the Adage plant stored in my
garage. I have read through
all the material, including
the two large volumes of
the SEPA reports, the revi-
sions and the new one that
had to be submitted to the
planning department. There
were very good reasons why
a group of very concerned
citizens fought this disaster.
We are still attending the
commissioners' meetings.
Pay attention to what is
going on in the community
and make our voices heard.
Anyone who would like to
join us, please feel free to let
us know.
Patricia Vandehey
Shelton
Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014 - Page A-5