Ruling on the Heartland Tire Plant

Heartland Tire Plant Article

Looking at this from a different view, with modern technology to keep the environment clean and promote some economic developement, it could be a good thing and create 30 full time jobs in the process. Main thing is we promote air quality and adapt for the changes of the future.

My question is how do we have a conscience of air quality in a town that is located in the driftless region (karst topography), already has an ethanol plant, and is proposing to build a facility that cannot be modeled since there isn’t one like it anywhere in the world?

Some price to pay for 30 jobs……What are our children going to think when they look back on the environemntal disregard this generation has had? Why don’t we add a few more feed lots while we’re at it for good measure.

That was a good shot at the feedlots, I grew up in the Caledonia area and come from an agriculture backround. I think it is real funny that you have the right to tell a farmer how to make a living and want to limit the number of cattle he can have, then turn around the next day and expect him to let you have acess to cross property to get to a creek. The key to progress in the future is working together to protect what we have and listening to both sides of the story. Just food for thought what proposal does anyone have for getting rid of old tires? Going back to steel wheels?

Plant or not, I’m relieved that at least a study will be done, and that it was not allowed to just be pushed thru.

I live just over 15 miles from the proposed site and “up wind”, far enough to probably not directly affect me in any way. But I’m definately against it for my own personal reasons. In theory it is a good idea, but why not put it somewhere that is already contaminated, like Nevada.lol

I’ll side with joey on the feed lot comment though, kinda low. We all got to eat. I’d be willing to bet a beverage of your choice, you don’t even know what constitutes a feedlot, not to mention the multitude of laws that go with them.

I’d be willing to bet that there is no data or proof that they do not negatively effect the environement. The potential for disaster is extremely high when you condier that manure is produced by the thousands of gallons. Where does that all end up int he first place,and second, what happens if just once there is some sort of mishap? It all ends up in the local watershed. Limestone doesn’t hold materials real well; it’s a sponge. There are articles every summer throughout the Midwest about manure run off and the chemicals in them that somehow end up in the local stream. Are we willing to take that chance? I have no quarrel with people making a living. The reality is feedlots, tire plants, and ethanol plants are a basis for people to make a living. Great. But what’s the long term effects these things have? I really enjoy the smell of ethanol when I’m on the Root and the wind is blowing just right. What would it smell like if you stuck a tire plant with a 210 foot smokestack in the middle of the driftless area? When your asthma rates start to sky rocket, are they going to tear down the plant?

I’ll say it again, is it worth 30 jobs in the long term? Isn’t it time we have a conscience about the legacy we are leaving behind? Just because I’m not from south of 90 and didn’t grow up on a farm, doesn’t mean I can’t have an educated opinion on the issues that ultimately effect us all.

“The reality is feedlots, tire plants, and ethanol plants are a basis for people to make a living.”—–Yes, but another reality is that they are necesary evils to allow city folk to survive

Ethanol burns cleaner than petroleum and allows you to drive to work with less harmful emmisions, and(even though I’m against it) a tire plant would produce energy to help satisfy our ever growing populations demand for electricity and find another use for old tires other than keeping the tarp down on the manure pile , and I can guarantee you that your burger and chops came from a feedlot if you bought them at the grocery store.

We are all entitled to a opinion, but an educated opinion requires knowledge of the whole. I would think most country hicks would much rather see the feedlots, tire plants and ethanol plant located right in the towns that consume the majority of these products. It would improve our quality of life, and farmers could just no till/ low till all the corn, bean and grains needed, and just ship it where its needed. But then again, we would still have to use pesticides to ensure those crops, and who wants to be exposed to that?!? Heck, I propose that every household be required to produce enough corn and soya to cover their own finished use requirements, aniamal units and power included.

I’m just poking a little fun at you Dave, I know you mean the best when you speak, I wouldn’t bother posting otherwise. I’m just throwing my uneducated opinion at you to give you another veiw.

Your post reminds me of Manure Burning

Maybe even this one Clean Air

Hi everyone. Just ran across this site, and I guess I might be jumping into a firestorm on my first post. Not trying to make any enemies… I feel I must offer up my $.02 though.

I think there has to be a line between necessity and responsibility. The community of Preston doesn’t have 30 people sitting around right now who will suddenly be enjoying a high quality of life because Bob Maust will so graciously employ them. This community doesn’t need a tire burning plant as it doesn’t have a huge pile of tires sitting around, either. Preston, like any other small community, can use help from industry…but this one isn’t the answer. The tires will come from around the country. Hundreds of trucks will be driving on, and pressuring, roads that are funded by state tax dollars (of which Bob is also trying heartily to circumvent).

Turning to the burning part. I’d rather see millions of tires burnt in more environmentally friendly fashion than just starting a pile on fire, or trying to dig a deeper hole. However, not in this backyard. The geology of the driftless area (Preston, SE MN…where we live) is karst. It’s porous. The karst land is why we enjoy the beautiful spring creeks that hold so many wonderful trout and provide amazingly healthy drinking water. It is absolute fact that our ecosystem is more fragile than in surrounding areas due to the fact that glaciers neglected this nice piece of real-estate. The only reason Preston has been chosen and not Aberdeen, is because the proprietor doesn’t give 2 licks about the environmental impact on his surroundings. Ever seen the stretch of stream that runs through his property??? Disgusting. He could make just as much money putting the plant elsewhere where it would be less destructive, and the necessary evil of burning tires could be done.

Regarding feedlots….I eat steak.
I think it would be very fair, though, to ask that anyone who is planning on building or extending a CAFO must do so in a very responsible manner. Is that too much to ask? I must say that no major feedlot is truly a family operation. It’s corporate, but we still need to eat our steak. Why are we suddenly labeled as “farmer haters” when we ask that these are not built right on, or within flooding distance, of a body of water? A local farmer can make a living, but a corporation that builds a CAFO will make millions. Why not move to a more responsible location?

This is a great conversation, and I in no way intend to offend. Just my $.03 I guess.

Welcome Snarky, no firestorm here, DA and I have agreed to disagree before, not that I disagree with him that much.

Thanks for you opinion on this! And like you mentioned getting the tires here, could have a bigger impact than the plant its self. Who knows? lets just hope it doesn’t happen.

D.A. the manure story made me laugh and the air story made me cry. But I was hopeing for a better rebuttal from you.

I’ve gotten plenty of heat in the past year from people who have not seen things the same way as I do, whether it be on the recent regs proposal, the moronic behavior of the Houston County Board of Commisioners and their EDA, and plenty of other things (which has included banishment from other less significant message boards), so I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and embrace all in 2005.

Then again, if you believe that……..

There’s not much I can say, Sarge. I don’t farm, but I understand theri situation. BUT……I don’t understand how a majority (and I’m not saying all here) of farmers in the southeast Mn area that have precious resources in their area (trout streams, wetlands, etc.) often times do not treat them with the neccessary care and respect that they require. There are several spots on the Root where the landowner cut down every single tree to provide room for his horses (not a feed lot…unless it’s an Alpo feed lot in disguise), and now every time if floods, those banks just keep gettting worse and worse, and the area is infiltrated with sand. Similar to a farmer who cuts down every single tree in his buffer zone (for a few bushels more) and when it floods, there goes the crop AND the land.

Perhaps common sense isn’t so common.

I know, I know, here’s where the you don’t live on a farm, and you don’t know how tough it is speech comes in. Well, if I wasn’t making ends meet at my job, perhaps I should find a different job. The reality is that the traditional family farm is rapidly going by the wayside being usurped by corporate America, so giving Preston a tire plant to furnish 30 peope with jobs (and how high a paying jobs are these by the way??) is going to cure the ills of the vanishing way of farm life in the southeast?

I understand the mentality of the folk who liv in that area since I hunt/fish/guide there routinely. I know that opinions and ways of life are hard to change, but with the disintegration of the traditional farming ways, change will be forced upon them.

There are some definate problems in SE MN, Here is another–http://www.fillmorecountyjournal.com/Main.asp?SectionID=16&SubSectionID=109&ArticleID=15123

Pretty sad!

But this thread had served a purpose, to bad no one jumped in. So take it easy DA, till next time.