[Mpls] Re: stadium

[Justin Eibensteiner]

Clarifying only where necessary.  I'll agree this is an ancillary issue, but 
I also think that the more citizens know about these large point sources the 
more informed decisions they can make.  HERC is unique because it is 
operated by the county, so it means theoretically people in Minneapolis (who 
have all of their garbage sent there for incineration) can have some say on 
what types of activities occur.

More can be discussed offline for interested parties, but I did make the 
distinction of TRI emissions and not "criteria emissions".  Toxic Release 
Inventory figures are different than the figures reported to the MPCA and 
relate to substances known to cause negative human health effects.  For the 
incinerator the types of substances reported would be compounds like mercury 
and dioxin.  Here is where you can search point facilities' toxic emissions. 
  http://www.epcra.state.mn.us/

I oppose the use of tax revenue for the stadium.  If people are willing to 
pay pennies on the dollar then I think that there are a myriad of other 
issues that could be addressed first, such as:

"Clean energy tax" --$353 million could build enough renewable energy for 
the City (wind/solar) to offset a coal-fired power plant like Riverside 
(peaking plant) for good.

"Health-care tax" -- could prevent Minneapolis/Hennepin County residents 
from getting kicked of MN Care or other programs.

"Libraries tax" -- could actually keep the libraries in the City open more 
than 3 days a week.

I'm sure others could add to the list (NRP funding for example).  After 
hearing my friend in Charlotte, NC explain to me how their city was left 
holding the bag once the Hornets left and now (apparently not learning their 
lesson) they are building a new stadium for the expansion 
team--Bobcats--with city revenue.  The new stadium will open Dec 12th with a 
U2 concert, the old stadium (< 20 years old) will be sold to a group of 
investors for demolition.

Justin Eibenholzl
Armatage

>From: David Brauer <david at tcq.net>
>To: mpls at mnforum.org
>Subject: Re: [Mpls] Re: stadium
>Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:56:31 -0500
>
>Giving credit where credit is due...
>
>On May 2, 2005, at 2:17 PM, Justin Eibensteiner wrote:
>
>Regarding the burner's plume...
>
>>The basic point of contention is that the studies are theoretical and not 
>>empirical.  <snip>
>>Since none of this work has been done, the public has no way of gauging 
>>their exposure based on on any real data.
>
>Absolutely right. The only study was modeling done before HERC opened. 
>While I'm not aware of a detailed critique of that modeling, there is no 
>study of actual emission dispersal, so I concede Justin's point and will be 
>more circumspect about future claims of where stuff ends up.
>
>>If you check with Minneapolis Environmental Management you'll find that 
>>the incerator pollution controls fail from time to time (to the point of 
>>getting fined significantly), meaning anyone in the vicinity may be 
>>getting more bad air then they bargained for on the wrong day.
>
>I checked. The last HERC failure was in 1999 - a scrubber failure that 
>lasted less than a day, causing a hydrogen chloride violation. The plant 
>was fined $22,000. Since then - more than six years - no violations or 
>failures. I think the odds are with the fans here.
>
>>Another bonus for the incinerator is due to the fact they are considered a 
>>waste treatment facility they do not have to disclose their emissions to 
>>the Toxic Release Inventory--creating even less public transparency.
>
>The plant does report emissions, which are publicly available, as noted 
>earlier. I don't think there's anything furtive here.
>
>Fundamentally, I think the burner argument is a red herring in this debate. 
>It's easy to fixate on a high-profile point source that probably pumps out 
>less harmful junk than the tailpipes of the cars fans drive to the game - 
>and certainly than a coal-fired plant, of which there are several in the 
>Twin Cities.
>
>David Brauer
>Kingfield
>
>
>
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