Monday May 9, Winchester Town Hall at 6:00pm.
Members of the DES permitting division will hold an open public hearing on the request of Rob Mitchell to secure an air quality permit for his proposed asphalt plant at the old P&H gravel pit which has now become a very noisy open quarry and a real nuisance to residents in the area.
The plant they want to install is old/used (from 1968) and the bag house is old/used (from 1993) and that the stricter regulations for pollution control do not apply to HMA plants built prior to 1973, so this will be a junky old dirty plant that will pollute our air, deliberately purchased by Mitchell to get around the stricter guidelines set forth for newer plants. This shows his lack of concern for health issues that will be caused by this old dirty plant and how he feels about the people living in the area.
Attend and support those of us who are speaking on behalf of the public, and ask anyone you know who cares to attend and sit in the audience. We need every warm body we can get in that hall for the DES hearing. DES begins at 6PM. But we want folks outside with signs and greeting the media and DES as they enter the building. I expect the town will ask the police to be there, so be civil at all times and encourage others to be civil about it. Your presence is the most powerful thing you can do. So show up and bring a sign! Pack a lunch! Just don’t miss this critical event!
15 comments:
Watch Gus steal their microphone...
IS this some type of portable plant? or a (semi) permanent building? If it is a building, as I'd think a plant is, should it not meet new code? IF not, couldn't a compromise be reached to bring a few jobs and tax rev into the town and lower all our taxes?
Last nights meeting was a gem. It was orderly, well conducted and actually pleasant to attend. There were many speakers voicing concerns over air quality and the effects this proposed plant would have on the lives and property of abutters and neighboring families. The panel from DES was very informative and answered questions openly and honestly and allowed people to express their feelings without being told to sit down or shut up as is the norm at our regular town meetings. The only negative factor that came up during the meeting was Gus Ruth's attempts to show his favor for this project over the concerns of the town's people and residents of Swanzey. His obvious bias was clear for all to see. It's a real shame we're stuck with him as a Selectman and as head of the Conservation Committee. He leaves a lot to be desired when he favors a plant that will sit on top of our aquifer and spew toxins into the water as well as the air, ruin people's lives and lower property values. It's too bad we can't get our town officials to run meetings in this manner instead of very rude way they do.
The DES has extended the deadline for written comments on this matter for another 2 weeks, so those of you who could not attend and wish to voice your concerns can send your emails and letters to them;
Barbara Dorfschmidt
Senior State Permit Engineer
NH DES, Air Resources Division
29 Hazen Drive
P.O. Box 95
Concord, NH 03302-0095
phone: (603) 271-6796
fax: (603) 271 -7053
email: barbara.dorfschmidt@des.nh.gov
"Our Aquifer" Do you own it? The evidence by the Keene State geologist, which was not challenged, demonstrated the "aquifer" is like a sponge, consisting of sand and gravel, that is only benefiting the property that it is on. If something happened at this facility it would only impact Mitchell water supply. This is dissimilar to the aquifer under the center of town which has a gas station over it, which is an important water resource to the town. But I guess you can always deny the existence of facts and convince yourself to the contrary. Keep repeating and it becomes a fact?
I am glad we have selectman and members on the Planning Board and ZBA that don't fall into believing rumor and innuendo and rely on the facts to make their independent assessment. The majority of Winchester residents realize the good work they do.
Winchester Ed
Winchester Ed, you have to be the stupidest moron that ever walked the face of God's green earth. Does not the Town's aquifer refer to all of us and does not the water from under Mitchel's site flow into the river you idiot? Go post your one sided drivel someplace else, you don't have to keep proving to all of us just what a foolish person you are and how YOU twist the facts constantly. I was at those meetings and Dr. Allen clearly stated that this portion of the aquifer does consist on Westport Village too and that though in his opinion there would be no threat to any water supply out this way, providing Franklin Mountain was not disturbed he also stated that any pollutants that got into the aquifer would be dispersed downstream towards town and should be diluted enough before it reached anyone's wells. Get your facts straight and go check the Town's map to see the area defined as AQUIFER, you idiot.
Hey Ed, roughly 600- 800 people turn out to vote and out of that number 200-300 vote for clowns that we have in office right now and you call that a 'majority' of the people. Not to burst your bubble fool, but there are over 4000 people in Winchester of which roughly 3000 are registered to vote. Calling 10% 0r less the majority is really way off the mark don't you think? Just shows what a small group of people actually runs this town .. mostly the friends and relatives of those in office and others blind to what is really going on here in Winchester.
Why is it that every time the informer posts a new subject for discussion people start getting way off topic and away from the original subject? Is this because it's effort to distort the truth and steer us away from the subject? Who's behind this? Just who are you Winchester Ed and Smoking Joe, do you both work for the town and fear this blog? I'm sorry informer but these two are really not providing any information worth reading and it's obvious they just post to refute what information you and others provide. They really need to be banned from posting on your blog.
While I'm not an "expert" on water and Aquifers, BUT do know what I have seen on the news of spills and contamination of aquifers. Remember love canal? That sure didn't just taint the water under the toxic fill. It travels with the flow of water underground. Now might it get diluted, yes, But it might not and it might be years before anyone know that the damage has been done. Then it's to late, so that's to big a risk to take.
Anonymous @May 11, 2011 8:03 AM
With the statistics you stated, are you implying that the informer supporters and the people that are not happy with our town are the ones not showing up to vote? I wonder if all 4000 voters showed up if it would change anything, we most likely never will know.
Richard. You are correct you are not an expert. Obviously you are ill-formed or just plain ignorant. Asphalt is kept hot. When it spills it turns into solid. Remember we put this on the roads, driveways, and school playgrounds. How many people have become ill from asphalt exposure that comes from a plant? How many water resources have been polluted by asphalt? Answer: None that I have ever heard of. (Don't you think the opponents would have presented this information if it had existed?)
Comparing a asphalt facility to Love Canal shows your ignorance.
Go ahead WI I imagine you will not publish this as I am attacking a ridiculous statement. Of course you will post comments that call me a moron.
Winchester Ed
Im a little lost. I just went and checked out the property for the proposed asphalt plant and I didn't see any abbuters. A river on one side SUR (gravel Pit) on the other, highway on the front and woods on the back so I'm thinking there are no abutters that could file a lawsuit? are people just wasting time and money when they don't even abbut the property? I can see why this didn't get far in court and I don't think any appeals will either
An abutter is defined as anyone who lives beside, behind, adjacent to, across a road, highway, river, stream and/or railroad bed from the property on the application. Do your research before you make silly statements. There are lots of abutters. For a copy of the list, which by the way was incomplete, go see Margaret Sharra and request a copy, it is after all public record. Might surprise you who is on the list and who isn't.
Your continued attempts to mislead and question the circumstances regarding the suit filed is getting pretty tiresome, it's obvious you haven't a clue about which you speak.
And herein lies the main problem with townsfolk in Winchester. The in-crowd supporters constantly look for ways to take the spotlight off of those elected officials who continue to skirt the laws of our town or just downright ignore them for their own reasons, probably some sort of kickbacks in favors or such, and shift the blame over to honest ordinary folk standing up for their rights and families. To the anonymous posters/supporters above, as the informer has so, eloquently stated, stop trying to put the blame where it doesn't belong, go get a hobby and do us all a favor and just plain get lost. Many of us won't be fooled by your lies and innuendos and misconstrued so called facts, we can see exactly what is going on and what our select board attempts to cover up.
OK sorry, by your definition the body shop and the log yard are abbutters but thats it and there names are not Mary Ryan so im still lost at how someone who lives down the road can call themselves a abutter. but its not up to us its up to the courts.
Talk about dense, go get an abutters list from Margaret, ask her how abutters are determined and for Mary Ryan and the other 63 Westport Villager's, this project was deemed one of Regional impact, which means that everyone affected under the area designated is an "abutter". You really do need to learn about things before shooting your mouth off. Oh, and the courts have no say who's an abutter for your information.
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