Hello all,
I’d like to introduce myself as I’m new to this forum. My name is Kathleen Attwood, and I am involved with a group named Southeastern Minnesotans for Environmental Protection. We are in opposition to the construction of a tire incinerator that is proposed to be built in Preston, Minnesota, in Fillmore County. This region has 680 miles of prime trout streams and waterways. But these waters, such as the Root River, are currently listed under the “impaired waters” list due to runoff and pollution. (I’ve got to admit that while I love to fish, I’m not a flyfisherman. Born and raised in Minneapolis….give me a leech and line ’cause I can’t get the hang of that fly fishing!)
The tire incinerator, Heartland Energy & Recycling, LLC, would burn 10,000,000 tires a year and emit over 200 tons of pollutants every day to produce 20MW of electricity. Included in the list of pollutants are: mercury (possibly 19 pounds a year), lead, zinc, arsenic, and many more.
Our group (SEMEP: website <www.semep.org>) brought a lawsuit against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency because they decided that an Environmental Impact Statement is not needed for this facility. The hearing was on December 2, 2003, and on February 17, 2004, the district court remanded the matter back to the MPCA for further review.
The MPCA recently issued their timeline for the review process, and it will allow for public comment. What is needed is for people with expertise and knowledge in various areas to submit comments with references and supporting information. This is why I’m writing to this forum.
You can view the information on the MPCA website at the following url: <http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:9NieZxONIzcJ:www.pca.state.mn.us/hot/heartlandenergy.html+mpca+”hot+topics”+heartland&hl=en&ie=UTF-8>.
You’ll probably have to cut and paste the whole url address to get it to link.
Those of you who have fished these waters know what a treasure they are. I’m asking you to become involved in the process and help protect the trout and waters of the SE Minnesota Bluffland.
If you have questions or want more information, I’ll supply what I can.
Regards,
Kathleen Attwood