Collective Press, Issue #6 / 2005
Pollution Partners: ASHLAND OIL and St. Johns County
by Ed Slavin
A controversial asphalt plant close to homes and businesses runs day and night. Choking on visible, black, sooty, air pollution, one local businessman telephoned "911" last year.
He and other St. Johns County residents have become sick, some even hospitalized, because of air pollution from an asphalt plant on SR 207. It is owned by ASHLAND INC., which is an $8 billion/year Fortune 500 company. ASHLAND is a polluter, convicted felon, and petroleum/transportation/construction/chemical company based in Covington, Kentucky. Its ASHLAND PAVING AND CONSTRUCTION (APAC®) subsidiary is America's largest asphalt paver, working for governments, developers and industrialists.
Asphalt plants have been associated with severe health problems (some studies suggest they bring losses of property value up to 56%). A Miami Township, Ohio Marathon-ASHLAND asphalt plant exploded March 20, 2004, requiring evacuation orders.
County residents are petitioning EPA investigators to probe why the plant was placed in a residential area -- and to decide whether to "suspend and debar" ASHLAND from all government contracts. Residents are asking the county to file a "public nuisance" lawsuit, to order the asphalt plant's removal, and for free public access to copies of the county's APAC® records.
In 2004, APAC® paid the State of Florida a $5250 fine/costs for its SR 207 air pollution. The St. Augustine Record carried front-page reports in 2004-2005 of air pollution, hospitalizations, respiratory illnesses, and a temporary plant shutdown.
ASHLAND Senior Vice President and APAC® President Garry M. Higdem, a Professional Engineer (also President and CEO of Transportation Construction), told me on February 8, 2005 that he took personal supervision in "considering" moving the plant (a trial balloon announced in a St. Augustine Record article on March 1, which spoke only of "smoke" and "odor," not pollution).
In response to community organizers, EPA and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ramped up enforcement activities. The DEP issued two warning letters and seemed likely to achieve a consent order/fine with ASHLAND. Rick Banks, Environmental Manager, Florida DEP, said February 18th that seven inspectors in recent weeks spent "half their time on this one plant" (one of 300 DEP-regulated facilities in nineteen area counties). They now report that ASHLAND is installing a larger "baghouse" to reduce its air pollution, but the plant shows no sign of moving.
On February 8th, ASHLAND's Higdem directed his staff to research "odorants" (substances that conceal odors). Ten days later, ASHLAND was still "researching." When told that odorants were easily available on the Internet, he called back shortly and said a "cherry-flavored" odorant will be used. Residents report ASHLAND once attempted to use LYSOL® to clean up its kiln odors (the manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet warns against heating LYSOL®). Higdem said, "It is absolutely not true."
"Grandfathered"
SR 207 citizens complained to the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners (SJCBCC) in April 2004. Then-Commissioner Marc Jacalone asked, "It's there legally, isn't it?" Commissioner Karen Stern agreed the plant was "legal." In 1999 ASHLAND asked -- and the county government allowed and approved -- locating an asphalt plant "grandfathered" in a residential neighborhood on SR 207 (just before county zoning laws changed to distinguish between "light" and "heavy" industrial uses). County Zoning Manager Rosemary Yeoman told me January 31st that the SJCBCC did not need to vote -- "it had proper zoning.... which permitted heavy industrial." Referring to a newspaper ad about the changes, Yeoman claimed "residents were given notice in 1983 when the rezoning went through."
ASHLAND's Higdem asked me February 18th, "Why would the county have had this county-zoned industrial" to allow asphalt, ready-mix, incinerators and other industrial plants in a residential neighborhood? Good question. (Higdem then said it was like "playing Monday morning quarterback" to question the plant's location.)
Since APAC®'s 1999 opening in a residential neighborhood, SJCBCC and other governments have awarded ASHLAND contracts. SJCBCC approved adding a rock crusher and other facilities.
Zoning Director Yeoman said, "I'm not aware of where the asphalt plants are -- I've not done research on where any asphalt plants are located." ASHLAND's Higdem claims there is an "incinerator" nearby, possibly contributing to the pollution. "I could not tell you the address," he said -- it's "anecdotal." Higdem suggested the pollution source "might" be railroad locomotives or a "ready-mix plant," asserting the "soot is not coming from this plant," never providing proof. Florida's DEP disagrees, and ASHLAND paid the fine in 2004.
Highway freight could double in 20 years, says former APAC® President Charles F. Potts, President of Heritage Paving, with operations as far away as China, currently Chair of the asphalt trade association, and who worked for sixteen years for Florida's Transportation Department. (An APAC® website brags of receiving "many¼awards for safety and quality" from the Florida Transportation Dept.) In 2004, Potts told paving executives about a $284 billion highway bill (passed by the U.S. House on March 10, 2005): "we must grab hold of the opportunity ... to set the stage for the kind of long-term vision that will not only keep our transportation system viable and vital" keeping America "prosperous, protected and strong." Meanwhile, SJC residents have trouble breathing.
Governmental Assurances Untrue
Writer David Thundershield Queen once opined that under Governor Jeb Bush, Florida DEP really stands for "Don't Expect Protection." For over five years, there was no sampling or continuous air monitoring. The DEP only measured the number of particles and their size, based on weak DEP regulations and severely limited in what it can do by the county's own questionable 1999 zoning decision.
On January 26th, Florida DEP inspector Christopher Kirts and Assistant County Attorney Laura Barrow inaccurately told SJCBCC that ASHLAND's subsidiary was "not violating its [air pollution] permit," postulating the problem "might" originate in "recent cold and windy weather." DEP's Kirts said Assistant County Attorney Barrow's presentation was "perfect," stating it was primarily "older people" affected because they're more "sensitive" to pollution. Barrow said there was a "problem with those folks claiming (sic) they have breathing problems."
Two days later, DEP inspected and found ASHLAND's kiln to be "cracked," with a "seam" contributing to illegal air pollution, leading to two warnings and work on a new enforcement action. Oops.
On January 26th, Ken Bryan (who recently opened an upholstery shop near the plant) told SJCBCC that he was sick three days the prior week, his "head hurting" and "throat hurting." He asked what the permit allows, but No one answered him. Rebutting the "old people" remark, Ken Bryan said he is a healthy, 56 year old, 36-year U.S. Justice Department employee who runs marathons. The Record never quoted him in its January 27 article and instead spun the issue toward pollution partners SJCBCC/APAC®, not naming ASHLAND. ASHLAND representatives sitting in the audience Jan. 26th never explained its position, Bryan reports.
Ms. Thelma Lewis, 75, believes ASHLAND is the problem, not the nearby Southern Villas senior citizens with respiratory problems who have required hospitalization. On March 1, the Record reported that she was circulating a petition "against" APAC®, never quoting its specific requests of EPA and the county (suspension, debarment and public nuisance litigation).
At the January 26th SJCBCC meeting, DEP's Kirts admitted ASHLAND's SR 207 asphalt plant is "a public nuisance," defined as causing "annoyance to the community or harm to public health," for which Florida law provides remedies, no matter what "permits" or regulations say. Called on January 28th, Barrow dismissed the possibility of a county nuisance suit on its citizens' behalf, incorrectly asserting to me the existence of state and federal "preemption" of public nuisance suits, despite precedents to the contrary (asserting her only "clients" were County Commissioners, not sick SR 207 residents).
Residents petitioned the county to file a "public nuisance" lawsuit to abate ASHLAND's "nuisance." Commissioner Stern met with residents and publicly supports moving ASHLAND's plant.
Commissioners were told on January 26th that there was no rush to award a new ASHLAND contract, with a need to prioritize Ponte Vedra road-building needs. There was time to "investigate."
Yet on February 23 Stern made a motion to award a new $1.2 million contract February 23rd. The vote was 5-0, with no mention of a public nuisance suit (or the enforcement of environmental provisions Stern had inserted in the previous contract). No one mentioned that ASHLAND was a convicted felon or discussed its worldwide record. Stern berated the (unnamed) author of an E-mail for stating the Commission was ill-serving Route 207 residents, stating she spoke to two ASHLAND lawyers and an Assistant County Attorney, claiming Ponte Vedra's asphalt would come from Jacksonville. There was no discussion of public opposition. There are over 175 signed petitions from Route 207 residents supporting suspension and debarment of ASHLAND from all government contracts. ASHLAND refused to attend a local broadcast TV debate with Ms. Thelma Lewis and Ken Bryan taped February 25th: program host Norma Sherry provided an empty chair for ASHLAND. Asked for copies of their board minutes discussing the plant, ASHLAND never provided them. Since January, the office of SJC Administrator Ben W. Adams, Jr. has stalled citizens on document and fee waiver requests and filing a nuisance suit.
In Harm's Way
Asphalt pollution became notorious thanks to the St. Augustine Record's reporting. In harm's way by APAC® are Osceola Elementary School, St. Joseph's Academy Catholic High School, Little League baseball fields, a nursing home, Southern Villas (federally-owned HUD senior citizens' apartments), a home for the retarded, and other residences and businesses. One asthmatic student assigned to Osceola was transferred elsewhere at their parents' request. Some seniors must stay indoors, breathing oxygen. Some people who have never had breathing problems were hospitalized.
People are collecting black sooty air pollution samples from their cars and air conditioner filters. Commissioner Stern reportedly promised to have them analyzed, but no results were revealed as of April 1.
Seemingly untouchable, APAC® has lucrative state and county paving contracts for I-95 and other roads. ASHLAND's Higdem said APAC® operates in fourteen Southern and Midwestern states with over 60 quarries and aggregate production facilities, 12 ready-mix concrete plants, 226 hot-mix asphalt plants, and over 7,000 pieces of mobile equipment.
A December 2004 Duke-University of North Carolina study found sixteen times higher suicide rates in communities with asphalt plants - compared to the statewide average according to psychiatrists working in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control, with 6.4 times higher brain cancer rates. Hydrogen sulfide, benzene, volatile organic compounds, and other dangerous chemicals were believed responsible.
Asphalt fumes are known poisons, and the EPA reports that asphalt-processing facilities are "major sources of hazardous air pollutants such as formaldehyde, hexane, phenol, polycyclic organic matter, and toluene. Exposure may cause cancer, central nervous system problems, liver damage, respiratory problems and skin irritation." ASHLAND's Higdem disagrees but never said why.
Asked if she would like to read the December 2004 UNC-Duke study on suicide rates in neighborhoods with asphalt plants, County Zoning Manager Yeoman told me January 31st, "No sir, I really wouldn't -- it's not a function of this department -- I would not have any reason to -- it's allowed...under the regulations of the county." She also added, "this department handles zoning -- public health is not part of our purview." She then wanted to know "why you're asking these questions?" On February 8th & 18th, ASHLAND's Higdem had not yet seen the study and had no comment, observing on the 18th, there are "lots of studies that get done."
Yeoman told me, "Not all rezonings have been approved." She was unable to name one single rezoning that had not been approved. Diane Rodgers, Special Projects Editor for the St. Augustine Record, investigated and reported that developers won 147 of 149 votes before SJCBCC in 2003, approving the clearing of “more than 33,000 acres and build[ing] tens of thousands of homes in the next ten years.” That’s a lot of asphalt.
ASHLAND A Convicted Felon
When SJCBCC awarded a new contract on February 23rd, Commissioners did not discuss the fact that ASHLAND has a long criminal history:
In 2003, found guilty of air pollution in Minnesota and put on probation (possibly violated by asphalt pollution here)
Pled guilty to bid rigging in Tennessee and Virginia in 1982, agreed not to engage in collusive bidding activities in the future, fined $7.8 million
Made $100,000 illegal campaign contribution to President Richard Nixon
Agreed to an SEC consent decree to cease corporate bribery, after admitting illegal bribes in Oman in the Middle East
Settled pollution lawsuits with over 700 residents in Kentucky and West Virginia
In August 2004, was indicted by a Missouri federal grand jury for highway bid rigging, acquitted by jury trial in October 2004. ASHLAND's Higdem credits lying government witnesses and hearsay for APAC®'s acquittal.
Judge: "Why in the world should I believe you?
ASHLAND pled guilty and was fined $9.1 million by a federal judge in 2003 for explosions and fires at its St. Paul Park, Minnesota refinery, severely injuring one worker and injuring others. ASHLAND failed to seal a manhole, violating the Clean Air Act and rules regulating refinery sewer systems, with workers injured on May 16, 1997, pumping hydrocarbons into the refinery's sewer system for treatment and recycling, igniting into a fireball when vapors escaped through an improperly sealed manhole. A second explosion erupting from a manhole injured six ASHLAND firefighters, one severely.
With two injured workers watching, an ASHLAND Vice President apologized to District Chief Judge James Rosenbaum for "lapses" that led to the "accident," claiming that the company was "truly sorry." Citing ASHLAND's environmental lawbreaking history, Judge Rosenbaum asked, "Why in the world should I believe you?'' In 2004, ASHLAND won its federal appeal, with the Eighth Circuit holding that its criminal probation should not require it to be responsible for environmental protection at the Minnesota refinery, which ASHLAND sold after the explosions to a joint venture run with USX subsidiary MARATHON OIL, with ASHLAND now owning 38%.
In Texas City, Texas, a contractor's crane ruptured a tank at a Marathon refinery on October 30, 1987, releasing a hydrofluoric acid vapor cloud, sending some 1000 residents to hospitals. Calling in lawyers before calling "911" or local schools, Marathon allegedly hornswoggled releases from lung-injured residents, paying only nominal sums, though some young and old people became lung cripples for life. Texas courts ordered disclosure of Marathon's supposed "attorney-client privileged" documents. There was a settlement with residents who sued for fraud. Then the crane contractor's insurance claim backfired, with the Texas Supreme Court upholding an absolute "pollution exclusion" in 1995.
In 2001, Marathon-ASHLAND settled with EPA, agreeing to spend $265 million to reduce pollution at Texas City and six other refineries, involving 5% of U.S. refinery capacity.
Pittsburgh River Killers
In Pittsburgh on January 2, 1988, an ASHLAND above-ground storage tank broke, sending 3.9 million gallons of diesel oil rushing out in a tsunami, with 750,000 gallons leaving its property, much of it entering into the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, contaminating drinking water supplies, killing 11,000 fish and 2000 birds, disrupting drinking water for two million residents of Pennsylvania and surrounding states, polluting 200 miles of rivers -- one of the most severe inland oil spills in American history. It was preventable. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania found that ASHLAND failed to:
.... find the flaw and establish relevant material properties...ASHLAND, its employees, and some contractors displayed a pervasive pattern of negligence and ignorance in selecting, assigning, constructing, supervising, and inspecting the reconstruction project....The negligent conduct by ASHLAND ...allowed the tank to collapse not only caused extensive environmental damage and widespread community dislocations, but also risked serious or fatal bodily injury.
Pittsburgh cost some $32.25 million in fines and settlements -- "to ASHLAND ... about as painful as the fine you would pay ... for a parking violation," Robert Sherrill wrote. Fish reportedly started returning ten years later.
Elsewhere, ASHLAND was fined $106,000 by Ohio in 2003 (for not replacing vegetation and other pipeline construction violations) and $650,000 by EPA in 2004 (for hazardous waste violations in Michigan).
Illegal Cash Contributor To Nixon
ASHLAND and its then-CEO confessed to giving the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) a $100,000 illegal cash campaign contribution, part of Nixon's Watergate scandals --charged falsely to Gabon, an African subsidiary. ASHLAND's then-CEO Orin Atkins wrote to a stockholder that, "There was a good business reason for making the contribution and although illegal in nature, I am confident that it distinctly benefited the corporation and its stockholders."
Testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee, Atkins claimed the $100,000 produced no "distinctive benefit" for ASHLAND, saying it was intended to "give us a means of access to present our point of view to the executive branch of the Government." Atkins agreed with Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (D-N.C.) that Nixon's fundraising "very much" resembled extortion. Sen. Ervin told Atkins "it certainly is a human weakness or desire for anyone engaged to business to have a friendly ear in Government." ASHLAND's then-CEO Atkins soliloquized:
"...the situation is difficult to rationalize. We were not seeking any particular privilege or benefit because we don't do any significant business with the Government....all we were attempting to do was to assure ourselves of a forum to be heard. Were we a larger factor in our respective industries, we could expect to have access to administrative officials in the executive branch of Government with ease, but being a relatively unknown corporation, despite our size, we felt we needed something that would be sort of a calling card, something that would let us in the door and make our point of view heard. We didn't expect those points of view to be accepted, but only from the point of view of being able to express them and that was our thinking or rationale as to why we were interested in making any type of contribution."
Three days after paying $100,000 illegal cash to Nixon's campaign, ASHLAND representatives met with Nixon's Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP), seeking to secure more crude oil. The Senate Watergate Committee concluded there was "no evidence" the $100,000 and subsequent meeting were connected.
Atkins stayed on as CEO until 1981. In 1988, Atkins pled guilty to providing stolen documents to the National Iranian Oil Company, receiving probation.
Worker Deaths: OSHA Found "Willful" Violation in Jacksonville
Road building and quarrying are dangerous, but sometimes ASHLAND workers die preventable deaths.
In 2004, APAC® employee Hardney L. Rush was electrocuted by a 7200 volt power line at a Missouri limestone quarry. This tragedy was found by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to be the result of APAC® managers' unsafe policies, controls, and procedures.
USDOL Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined APAC®-Florida $112,500 for "willful" violations in a December 22, 1999 death on San Jose Blvd. in Jacksonville, where a worker was crushed by a five ton pipe in a nine foot trench, after defective hoisting and rigging gave way, killing the man in a trench lacking shoring or exit ladders.
As Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter David Barstow found in 2003 and later stories, OSHA rarely finds “willful” violations in worker deaths, hampering victim families’ lawsuits and criminal prosecutions. Against this background, the 1999 “willful” violation and large fine against APAC®-Florida are both significant. Construction trench deaths are among the most easily preventable worker deaths.
Contracts, Lobbying and "Contributions"
The Center for Public Integrity (CPR) calculates that during 1998-2003, ASHLAND and its Political Action Committees (PACs): × Spent $5,905,000 on lobbying expenses; × Gave 88.36% of its campaign contributions (some $1,227,945) to Republican candidates and gave 11.64% (some $161,825) to Democratic candidates; × Gave Republican Party committees $416,730 and Democratic Party committees $42,875; × Gave $23,050 to President George W. Bush and $25,858 to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)(most prominent Congressional opponent of campaign finance reform), $21,300 to House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)(sponsor of two earmarked "bridges to nowhere"), among other large contributions.
ASHLAND's multi-million dollar investments in politics and politicians were evidently repaid many times over. The CPR reports that during that same 1998-2003 time period, ASHLAND received $111,649,608 in payments from U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts alone --over 51% of which were won with only one or two bidders.
According to antitrust experts, little competition can be a sign of monopoly power or bid rigging. In 1983, President Reagan signed an Executive Order that eliminated the Kennedy Administration's inexpensive government purchasing antitrust initiative -- publication of identical bids in government procurement -- supposedly to save money and restore "efficiency."
ASHLAND Defender Marc Jacalone: “Harassment”
Former SJCBCC Chairman Marc Jacalone was a prime mover for APAC® contracts/favors. SJC residents Carla Cowan and Glen Tilley successfully complained to FEC about Jacalone in August 2004. On March 4, 2005, the Florida Election Commission (FEC) found "probable cause" on 24 election crimes by Jacalone (Commissioner from 1996-2004). -- including FEC charges of abusing his campaign funds to make illegal contributions to other local, state and federal candidates (including the Bush/Cheney presidential campaign, the SJC Republican Party, former St. Augustine City Commissioner Bill Lennon, successful Airport Authority candidate Randy Brunson and legislative candidates Wiley Deck and Kerry McCarthy).
Defeated last year, Marc Jacalone sold his interest in his family gasoline station. Jacalone now sells commercial real estate whose rezonings he obtained as Commissioner (working for Coldwell Banker). I called Jacalone March 10 and asked whether one of his real estate listings could be a site for an asphalt plant. He asked, "Are you APAC®?" Told I was not, Jacalone seemed disappointed. While insisting APAC®'s asphalt plant was "not in a residential neighborhood," he incorrectly claimed it was there before 1999 (contradicting Yeoman). When asked if he would be requesting a hearing on the Florida Election Commission's 24 findings of probable cause, Jacalone responded, "I don't know about that -- I don't think that's any of your business, number one -- it has nothing to do with you." Asked if it was pertinent to growing perceptions of county political corruption, Jacalone said, "Gotta go, talk to you later," disconnecting.
I asked Jacalone March 11th if he knew that ASHLAND was a convicted felon when moving to award it contracts. Jacalone did not respond, hollering, "This is phone harassment... I want you to know that when I hang up with you, I'm calling the Sheriff's office." Sheriff David Shoar confirmed in writing that Mr. Jacalone did not call or file any complaint. What does Jacalone have in mind? Some SJC politicians and businessmen "call the cops" at the first sign of dissent. SJCBCC lost in federal court over those proclivities.
In 2004, SJC’s First Amendment violations -- in the form of illegal abuse of its zoning “police power” to halt critical political billboards with unconstitutional SJCBCC Ordinance 99-51 --- were “struck down” as “unconstitutional on its face” by the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A three-judge appeals panel found that SJCBCC gave County Administrator Ben W. Adams, Jr. the “unbridled discretion” to censor political free speech, with an illegal “prior restraint” adopted in response to political billboards posted by the owner of by Cafe Erotica/We Dare to Bare. SJCBCC attempted to inflict “content restrictions” on free speech and to limit political signs to 32 square feet while allowing commercial signs as large as 560 square feet. SJCBCCC responded to signs that criticized county regulators, including signs that stated: “Karen Bruner is an Incompetent County Official” and “James Acosta is a fatass Barney Fife. He has cost the county thousands of $ in lost lawsuits for using selective [e]nforcements.” “Prior restraint” on free speech is illegal in America, even in the Pentagon Papers case (involving classified Vietnam War history excerpts that were published by the New York Times and other newspapers).
"Unyielding Commitment"
In 2003, ASHLAND CEO James J. O'Brien was paid $2,703,959 in total compensation including stock options, with another $623,227 in unexercised stock options from prior years.
ASHLAND, traded on the New York Stock Exchange as ASH, describes itself as having:
sales and operations throughout the United States and in more than 120 countries... including four wholly owned divisions: ASHLAND Paving And Construction (APAC®), ASHLAND Distribution, ASHLAND Specialty Chemical and Valvoline. In addition, we own 38 percent of Marathon ASHLAND Petroleum LLC, the nation's fifth largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products [which supplies Pilot and Speedway]. We've come a long way since we started in 1924 as a regional petroleum refiner. Despite our growth, and thanks to our vision, we have a strong sense of who we are, and an unyielding commitment to how we want to practice business.
"Corporate Bullies"
Multinational Monitor reported in 1994 that ASHLAND pressured the magazine Chemical and Engineering News to halt a story about its pollution on the West Virginia-Kentucky border. Diane Bady, director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, says that she worked with [reporter] Lepkowski for over a year on the story. "ASHLAND managers are corporate bullies," Bady says. "They fight behind the scenes to make it impossible for reporters and regulators to do their jobs."
As of April 1, Morris Communications' St. Augustine Record, the FOLIO Weekly and monopolistic Gannett's FIRST COAST NEWS ABC/NBC TV joint news affiliate operation all had never printed or uttered the name "ASHLAND" -- each only calling the plant's owner by its alias ("APAC," no "®"). None of these three media corporations responded to questions about why they have never reported the name ASHLAND (or ASHLAND's criminal history).
Meanwhile, one national "journalist" has served for seven years on convicted felon ASHLAND's Board of Directors.
U.S. News & World Report Publisher: "We Love Dr. Healy"
Since 1998, Dr. Bernadine P. Healy, M.D. has served on ASHLAND's Board of Directors, chairing its Environment, Safety and Health Committee and serving on its Audit Committee. Dr. Healy serves on President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (CAST)(which did not respond to information requests).
Dr. Healy is "health columnist" for U.S. News and World Report, whose Publisher Mortimer Zuckerman is a multimillionaire real estate developer. Zuckerman told me February 1 (through his prefers-to-be-anonymous-spokesperson): "We have the greatest of confidence in Dr. Bernadine Healy. We love her. She is an extraordinarily talented physician and journalist." Zuckerman signs editorials with evocative titles like "The Politics of Cynicism" and publishes articles like "Two Cheers for Toxic Chemicals" -- advancing the "hormesis" theory that low levels of radiation and poisons are good for you.
On March 7, Healy told me that any questions about ASHLAND's SJC plant must "be dealt with by the company directly." Dr. Healy was asked if she cared to comment on conflicts-of-interest as a "journalist" ands corporate director-- she responded, "no not really -- thank you for calling, bye-bye," disconnecting.
Healy's February 14, 2005 U.S. News column says cancer is "sneaky and inexplicably virulent in many of its forms," hinting "a slew of chemicals at home and work" cause cancer (along with STDs, alcohol and chemicals released in cooking) -- cancer risks are hard to avoid "short of getting to a sackcloth and ashes nunnery. (Oops. Forget that. Ashes are on the list too.)" "Oops" indeed.
Identifying herself as a lifelong Republican and "feminist," Healy serves as a member of the boards of Hudson Institute (the late Herman Kahn's think tank), Marshall Institute (corporate-oriented science group), Battelle Memorial Institute (military and nuclear weapons contractor), National City Bank, Progressive Insurance, Invacare (maker of recalled, allegedly defective wheelchairs and other home medical equipment), Medtronics (manufacturer of silicon implants, recalled, allegedly defective heart and other medical devices, accused of giving monetary inducements to surgeons)(the U.S. Supreme Court denied its claims of "federal preemption" of tort claims).
Dr. Healy was formerly American Red Cross CEO ($400,000 per year, twice the salary of Elizabeth Dole in that job), Cleveland Clinic Research Director, Ohio State University Medical School Dean and head of coronary care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital, with expertise in both medicine and pathology. In the 1980s. She was President Reagan's Deputy Director (Life Sciences) of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the first President Bush's National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director, where she approved hundreds of patent applications for human genes and targeted the NIH Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI) for charges of privacy violations and conflict of interest. She has been a CBS News Medical Contributor.
On July 16, 1998, Healy told CNN's Larry King, "First and foremost a doctor has to relate and respond and care about the patient." The physician's Hippocratic Oath says, "First, do no harm." Does Dr. Healy believe her good buddies at ASHLAND followed that principle in placing an asphalt plant next to an elementary school and senior citizens?
Pollution Partners: One-Party Rule and Environmental Depredations
The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy said at Berkeley in 1967, "it is not enough to allow dissent, we must demand it, for there is much to dissent from," listing environmental and other societal problems that flow from abuses of power. Five all-Republican Commissioners, led by Commissioner Karen Stern, prayed at the January 26 SJCBCC meeting, asking they be spared from "dissension." Undemocratic blasphemy? If there had been more dissent, the ASHLAND plant might never have been allowed in a residential neighborhood.
John D. Rockefeller's and Henry Flagler's lawbreaking Standard Oil Trust was said to have done "everything" to the Pennsylvania legislature "except refine it." Corruption and environmental pollution have often been linked, from America to the developing world. By disconnecting people from policymaking, "corruption can have a devastating effect upon the environment" reports anti-corruption group Transparency, International.
Convicted felon ASHLAND, St. Johns County officials, and so-called journalists all have a lot of explaining to do:
Why locate an asphalt plant in a residential community?
Why weren't air pollutants ever measured?
Why can't more state and local governments operate their own cleaner asphalt plants?
How much asphalt will be produced to feed massive SJC overdevelopment?
Why didn't SJC enforce environmental provisions in its old paving contract?
How many "journalists" serve on corporate boards?
How many asphalt plants are causing health hazards for how many people worldwide?
Why are governments doing business with a known convicted felon?
Why isn't there an elected County Attorney (as elsewhere)?
Why isn't there an independent County Inspector General (as in Miami-Dade County and elsewhere)?
Is there any favor governments will not grant Big Business?
Will elected officials ever stop slow dancing with contractor-polluter-contributors like ASHLAND?
Will someone please explain it to us (no cherry-flavoring required) as if we were six-year olds? Will it take public protest for ASHLAND, the County and the Record to behave responsibly?
Friday, January 02, 2009
What a year this has been. (What a rare mood I’m in.) The fog of war is lifting. Reformers are winning. Don’t mind if I gloat.
What a year 2008 has been. (What a rare mood I’m in.) The fog of war is lifting. Reformers are winning. Don’t mind if I gloat.
2008 was the year that smug Republicans’ "fear and smear" tactics began to disappear (and get ignored). Once upon a time, Republicans used scary, primal TV commercials stating, "there’s a bear in the woods" to re-elect Reagan in 1984 and a pack of wolves to elect G.W. Bush in 2004. Those tactics backfired in 2008. We proudly elected Barack Obama President, knowing that the time to heal is here, ignoring the "fear and smear" like water off a duck’s back.
So what did Republicans have to say in 2008? They still hate Gays and Lesbians and want to violate our rights, even at the expense of amending state and federal constitutions. Like Hezbolloh (the so-called Party of God), Republicans are little better than embittered terrorists. Our local County Commissioners proposed a Charter with a non-discrimination provision (10.06) that intentionally left out Gays and Lesbians. Shame on them. St. Johns Countians wisely defeated their charter, twice.
In our county, Republicans used predictable mean and base tactics, from false rumors to precinct gerrymandering (with voting in right-wing churches) to sign-stealing, to try to steal Democratic votes. But Barack Obama still carried Florida and we will honor his historic inauguration on January 20 th.
Much work remains. More than two trillion dollars was robbed from our economy by Republicans refusal to regulate their cronies. Our Congressman John Luigi Mica still represents those cronies, while ignoring average St. Johns County residents -- his record is anti-veteran (0% DAV rating three years in a row), anti-worker, anti-consumer and anti-environmental. Mica badly needs replacing in 2010. So do some City officials, like those "usual suspects" who got our city fined for egregious environmental violations.
Free speech is still under attack. Our School Superintendent and his minions (combined with St. Johns County Cultural Council President Phil McDaniel), complained bitterly about cartoonist Ed Hall’s depiction of a generic Florida school administrator (not our county schools). Their whiny E-mails make them sound like oversensitive, self-absorbed McCarthyites, whose mean spirit created the hostile atmosphere in which Ed Hall was fired by the St. Augustine Record. These McScrooges need a kick in the rear -- the School Board counsel has "never" provided them with training on the First Amendment -- it’s time they learned that "character counts" includes respecting everyone’s First Amendment rights.
Historic and environmental preservation require constant vigilance. The University of Florida wasted $300,000 on a "study," while not doing anything to preserve Government House or other historic buildings. UF wants to build a $10 millio n building across from the Castillo San Marco. "Just say no" to UF’s "edifice complex", which would include tearing down two historic buildings. Our historic area needs a new building "like a moose needs a hatrack" – adoptive re-use of historic buildings on St. George Street is better for the interpretive building. Please leave our Castillo area alone.
Mayor Boles’ timid appointment of the "usual suspects" to a non-diverse committee to observe the 450th anniversary of our city left out any representation of Native American Indians – is Boles insisting on "making all his nowhere plans for nobody?" (in the words of the Beatles’ song).
Williamsburg, Virginia Mayor Jeanne Zeidler told me earlier in 20008 that if she were in our shoes, she’d readily support a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Coastal Highway. Let’s heed her (and Boles’ own mother, Maurine Marshall Boles). So exactly what are we (and Congress, our City and our County governments) waiting for?
Happy progressive New Year!
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine
829-3877 (o)
Ed Slavin was editor of the Appalachian Observer in East Tennessee, winning declassification of the largest mercury pollution event in world history (1983), re commended for a Pulitzer by the District Attorney. He first proposed a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Coastal Highway in 2006.
2008 was the year that smug Republicans’ "fear and smear" tactics began to disappear (and get ignored). Once upon a time, Republicans used scary, primal TV commercials stating, "there’s a bear in the woods" to re-elect Reagan in 1984 and a pack of wolves to elect G.W. Bush in 2004. Those tactics backfired in 2008. We proudly elected Barack Obama President, knowing that the time to heal is here, ignoring the "fear and smear" like water off a duck’s back.
So what did Republicans have to say in 2008? They still hate Gays and Lesbians and want to violate our rights, even at the expense of amending state and federal constitutions. Like Hezbolloh (the so-called Party of God), Republicans are little better than embittered terrorists. Our local County Commissioners proposed a Charter with a non-discrimination provision (10.06) that intentionally left out Gays and Lesbians. Shame on them. St. Johns Countians wisely defeated their charter, twice.
In our county, Republicans used predictable mean and base tactics, from false rumors to precinct gerrymandering (with voting in right-wing churches) to sign-stealing, to try to steal Democratic votes. But Barack Obama still carried Florida and we will honor his historic inauguration on January 20 th.
Much work remains. More than two trillion dollars was robbed from our economy by Republicans refusal to regulate their cronies. Our Congressman John Luigi Mica still represents those cronies, while ignoring average St. Johns County residents -- his record is anti-veteran (0% DAV rating three years in a row), anti-worker, anti-consumer and anti-environmental. Mica badly needs replacing in 2010. So do some City officials, like those "usual suspects" who got our city fined for egregious environmental violations.
Free speech is still under attack. Our School Superintendent and his minions (combined with St. Johns County Cultural Council President Phil McDaniel), complained bitterly about cartoonist Ed Hall’s depiction of a generic Florida school administrator (not our county schools). Their whiny E-mails make them sound like oversensitive, self-absorbed McCarthyites, whose mean spirit created the hostile atmosphere in which Ed Hall was fired by the St. Augustine Record. These McScrooges need a kick in the rear -- the School Board counsel has "never" provided them with training on the First Amendment -- it’s time they learned that "character counts" includes respecting everyone’s First Amendment rights.
Historic and environmental preservation require constant vigilance. The University of Florida wasted $300,000 on a "study," while not doing anything to preserve Government House or other historic buildings. UF wants to build a $10 millio n building across from the Castillo San Marco. "Just say no" to UF’s "edifice complex", which would include tearing down two historic buildings. Our historic area needs a new building "like a moose needs a hatrack" – adoptive re-use of historic buildings on St. George Street is better for the interpretive building. Please leave our Castillo area alone.
Mayor Boles’ timid appointment of the "usual suspects" to a non-diverse committee to observe the 450th anniversary of our city left out any representation of Native American Indians – is Boles insisting on "making all his nowhere plans for nobody?" (in the words of the Beatles’ song).
Williamsburg, Virginia Mayor Jeanne Zeidler told me earlier in 20008 that if she were in our shoes, she’d readily support a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Coastal Highway. Let’s heed her (and Boles’ own mother, Maurine Marshall Boles). So exactly what are we (and Congress, our City and our County governments) waiting for?
Happy progressive New Year!
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine
829-3877 (o)
Ed Slavin was editor of the Appalachian Observer in East Tennessee, winning declassification of the largest mercury pollution event in world history (1983), re commended for a Pulitzer by the District Attorney. He first proposed a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Coastal Highway in 2006.
At Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and New Years holidays, we give thanks
At Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and New Years holidays, we give thanks for the
people who this year helped bring the world closer to the ideals of
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other world religions and ethical belief
systems – the idea of treating people right and leaving the world a better
place.
Christmas tree gold stars and thanks to:
1. President-elect Barack Obama, former community organizer, for a classy
campaign and near-landslide electing our first African-American President.
America, we’re recovering from the scourge of racism.
2. Stetson Kennedy, courageous local civil rights hero, whose decades of
investigating Ku Klux Klan and segregationists advanced brotherhood, helping
make Obama’s election possible.
3. St. Augustine Civil Rights Foot Soldiers, whose actions in 1963-64 helped
bring about the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
4. Faye Armitage for running a good strong race against U.S. Rep. John Luigi
Mica.
5. Doug Courtney for running a good
strong race against State Rep. William
Proctor.
6. Rev. Ron Rawls, Judith Seraphin and other local volunteers, for bringing our
community together. This was the banner year when community activists defeated
our City Hall’s efforts to bring solid waste back to Lincolnville, halting our
city and state in their tracks as they tried to move waste illegally dumped in
the Old City Reservoir back to Lincolnville.
7. St. Johns County Democrats, working to end one-party Republican misrule
(which recently saw Republican County Commission Chairman20Thomas Glaize Manuel
arrested and charged with two federal felony bribery counts),
8. First-time voters, proving wrong the commentators who said that young, poor
and minority people don’t turn out to vote. 2008 marked an epic shift, where
people spoke out against abusive, authoritarian, hierarchical regimes.
9. St. Augustine Ampitheater and Winter Wonderland, for bringing music, fun,
snow, ice skating and tobogganing to our sunny clime.
10. Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (AMCD), for adopting
a whistleblower policy on November 20th, one all other local governments must
emulate.
11. 39% of Florida voters, for rejecting anti-Gay Amendment 2, realizing that
it’s unAmerican to deny constitutional rights in state constitutions.
12. Justice Department, for indicting and convicting corrupt public officials.
13. Unions and workers, for standing up to organizations that export jobs and
exploit=2
0people.
14. Diplomats for working toward "Peace on Earth."
I salute you.
Big Christmas stocking lumps of coal to:
1. President Bush and VP Cheney for mucking up our Nation and planet, mocking
our Constitution as "just a piece of paper."
2. Congressional Democrats for not impeaching Bush/Cheney.
3. Controversial Congres
sman John Mica, for being a doormat for Bush/Cheney,
head-butting an ABC news cameraman, lying about his anti-veteran record (zero
DAV rating three years in a row)(Mica recently admitted he is "right-wing").
4. Repressive governments , which continue to play "gotcha" with citizens and
small businesses, while wasting our money.
5. City of St. Augustine for secrecy, waste, illegal dumping and racism.
6. "Plazabum.com" and Republican dirty tricksters for perpetrating
hatred/propaganda/censorship.
7. Republican Governor Charles Crist and Republican-dominated Florida
legislature, which haven’t reversed the 2000 vote by which all OSHA protections
for government workers (state, county, city, town and special taxing district
employees) were stripped away, with none of the protections afforded
non-government workers. This is a disgrace. Florida’s not come far enough since
1566, when Florida's first Governor, Pedro Menendez, ordered a French Gay
translator murdered.
In the New Year, let’s "give peace a chance" and give average people decent
respect. Enough bailouts for undeserving billionaires. Let’s rollback NAFTA20and
grow American jobs (including creation of a St. Augustine National Historical
Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Highway).
Happy Holidays.
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-0808 (o)
0A
people who this year helped bring the world closer to the ideals of
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other world religions and ethical belief
systems – the idea of treating people right and leaving the world a better
place.
Christmas tree gold stars and thanks to:
1. President-elect Barack Obama, former community organizer, for a classy
campaign and near-landslide electing our first African-American President.
America, we’re recovering from the scourge of racism.
2. Stetson Kennedy, courageous local civil rights hero, whose decades of
investigating Ku Klux Klan and segregationists advanced brotherhood, helping
make Obama’s election possible.
3. St. Augustine Civil Rights Foot Soldiers, whose actions in 1963-64 helped
bring about the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
4. Faye Armitage for running a good strong race against U.S. Rep. John Luigi
Mica.
5. Doug Courtney for running a good
strong race against State Rep. William
Proctor.
6. Rev. Ron Rawls, Judith Seraphin and other local volunteers, for bringing our
community together. This was the banner year when community activists defeated
our City Hall’s efforts to bring solid waste back to Lincolnville, halting our
city and state in their tracks as they tried to move waste illegally dumped in
the Old City Reservoir back to Lincolnville.
7. St. Johns County Democrats, working to end one-party Republican misrule
(which recently saw Republican County Commission Chairman20Thomas Glaize Manuel
arrested and charged with two federal felony bribery counts),
8. First-time voters, proving wrong the commentators who said that young, poor
and minority people don’t turn out to vote. 2008 marked an epic shift, where
people spoke out against abusive, authoritarian, hierarchical regimes.
9. St. Augustine Ampitheater and Winter Wonderland, for bringing music, fun,
snow, ice skating and tobogganing to our sunny clime.
10. Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (AMCD), for adopting
a whistleblower policy on November 20th, one all other local governments must
emulate.
11. 39% of Florida voters, for rejecting anti-Gay Amendment 2, realizing that
it’s unAmerican to deny constitutional rights in state constitutions.
12. Justice Department, for indicting and convicting corrupt public officials.
13. Unions and workers, for standing up to organizations that export jobs and
exploit=2
0people.
14. Diplomats for working toward "Peace on Earth."
I salute you.
Big Christmas stocking lumps of coal to:
1. President Bush and VP Cheney for mucking up our Nation and planet, mocking
our Constitution as "just a piece of paper."
2. Congressional Democrats for not impeaching Bush/Cheney.
3. Controversial Congres
sman John Mica, for being a doormat for Bush/Cheney,
head-butting an ABC news cameraman, lying about his anti-veteran record (zero
DAV rating three years in a row)(Mica recently admitted he is "right-wing").
4. Repressive governments , which continue to play "gotcha" with citizens and
small businesses, while wasting our money.
5. City of St. Augustine for secrecy, waste, illegal dumping and racism.
6. "Plazabum.com" and Republican dirty tricksters for perpetrating
hatred/propaganda/censorship.
7. Republican Governor Charles Crist and Republican-dominated Florida
legislature, which haven’t reversed the 2000 vote by which all OSHA protections
for government workers (state, county, city, town and special taxing district
employees) were stripped away, with none of the protections afforded
non-government workers. This is a disgrace. Florida’s not come far enough since
1566, when Florida's first Governor, Pedro Menendez, ordered a French Gay
translator murdered.
In the New Year, let’s "give peace a chance" and give average people decent
respect. Enough bailouts for undeserving billionaires. Let’s rollback NAFTA20and
grow American jobs (including creation of a St. Augustine National Historical
Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Highway).
Happy Holidays.
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-0808 (o)
0A
Guest Column: Giving thanks for people who speak out
Guest Column: Giving thanks for people who speak out
Ed Slavin
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 11/25/07
At Thanksgiving, I give thanks for:
1. St. Augustine's civil rights "foot soldiers," who changed history. They deserve a prominent museum.
2. Our American Founding Fathers and those who work for democracy and transparency everywhere.
3. Nature and those who work to protect it everywhere be especially thankful whenever Congress enacts a St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Highway Act, including electric trolley-cars.
4. People of faith for speaking out for global environmental protection and against war and poverty.
5. Veterans for defending our liberties.
6. Flagler College for recognizing student rights (Club Unity and Gargoyle newspaper).
7. St. Johns County Commissioners, better listeners than St. Augustine City Commissioners (whose antics rightly earn Folio Weekly "brickbats" and improved St. Augustine Record coverage).
8. Anastasia Mosquito Control District commissioners for canceling its $1.8 million luxury jet helicopter and ending risks to people, pets, butterflies, frogs and other "non-target organisms" from spraying organophosphates. Thanks to three AMCD Commissioners (Emily Hummel, Barbara Bosanko, Linda Wampler) for changing their minds and two others (Jeanne Moeller and John Sundeman) for persisting in speaking their truths. Courage.
9. The Burrell, Mills, Ponce and other local families for standing up to land speculators like Robert Michael Graubard. Expose "developers" (a/k/a land-raping, tree-killing, wetland-destroying speculators, whom County Commission Chairman Ben Rich calls "worse than any carpetbagger").
10. FBI for investigating/prosecuting political corruption, including convicting two Miami PBS&J engineering chief executive officers for illegal campaign contributions/bribery/embezzlement. Follow the money.
11. Congress and investigative reporters for uncovering corruption. Be thankful whenever the House Judiciary Committee finally begins impeachment hearings.
12. Our city of St. Augustine for admitting wrongdoing in its illegally:
a. polluting Lincolnville for decades with illegal dumps;
b. moving illegal dumps' contaminants into our Old City Reservoir 2005-2006. No thanks to Florida Department of Environmental Protection (a/k/a "Don't Expect Protection") for allowing our city to move 20,000 cubic yards of contaminants back to Lincolnville. Environmental racism? No thanks to St. Augustine City Manager William Harriss, who blamed former subordinates, recently yelling "I've done nothing wrong." Be thankful when sworn witnesses testify about environmental crimes.
13. John and Elizabeth Edwards, for running a clean lobbyist-free presidential campaign and exposing Ann Coulter's bigotry.
14. Al Gore for winning Nobel Peace Prize and Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth." Florida proudly voted for Gore in 2000, with recounts wrongfully ordered halted.
15. My parents, family, teachers, professors, friends and mentors for teaching me to question large organizations and how they mistreat people. Always ask, "why" (and "why not?"). Uncovering uncaring governments' massive, secretive pollution in Oak Ridge, Tenn., mercury (1983) and St. Augustine Old City Reservoir confirmed my mother's wisdom: "Trust your mother, but cut the cards." "The truth will set you free."
16. Congressional Democrats for raising the minimum wage (first time in nine years), while voting to protect whistleblowers and our environment.
17. Progressives, activists, performers, whistleblowers, artists, scientists, reporters/writers and truth-tellers. They've enriched our lives.
18. People willing to work for new leadership in Washington. Our U.S. Rep. John Mica voted against whistleblowers and against raising federal minimum wages. In 2004, 72 percent of Floridians voted to raise our minimum wage. Mica sought to halt investigations of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Mica defends Big Oil company price-gouging and offshore oil drilling demands. Enough.
Be thankful we get to overthrow our governments every two years. We need new leaders, including a "humble" president who "restores honor and dignity to the White House" (as Bush falsely promised). Too many politicians are arrogant, waste money and won't admit mistakes.
As Mosquito Control Commissioner Jeanne Moeller says, "there are more people like us than there are people like them."
Thank you for working to improve our future.
Robert Kennedy said, "it is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, [s]he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Ed Slavin is a Georgetown University School of Foreign Service graduate, journalist, advocate/activist who first proposed a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Highway on Nov. 13, 2006.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/112507/opinions_033.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Ed Slavin
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 11/25/07
At Thanksgiving, I give thanks for:
1. St. Augustine's civil rights "foot soldiers," who changed history. They deserve a prominent museum.
2. Our American Founding Fathers and those who work for democracy and transparency everywhere.
3. Nature and those who work to protect it everywhere be especially thankful whenever Congress enacts a St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Highway Act, including electric trolley-cars.
4. People of faith for speaking out for global environmental protection and against war and poverty.
5. Veterans for defending our liberties.
6. Flagler College for recognizing student rights (Club Unity and Gargoyle newspaper).
7. St. Johns County Commissioners, better listeners than St. Augustine City Commissioners (whose antics rightly earn Folio Weekly "brickbats" and improved St. Augustine Record coverage).
8. Anastasia Mosquito Control District commissioners for canceling its $1.8 million luxury jet helicopter and ending risks to people, pets, butterflies, frogs and other "non-target organisms" from spraying organophosphates. Thanks to three AMCD Commissioners (Emily Hummel, Barbara Bosanko, Linda Wampler) for changing their minds and two others (Jeanne Moeller and John Sundeman) for persisting in speaking their truths. Courage.
9. The Burrell, Mills, Ponce and other local families for standing up to land speculators like Robert Michael Graubard. Expose "developers" (a/k/a land-raping, tree-killing, wetland-destroying speculators, whom County Commission Chairman Ben Rich calls "worse than any carpetbagger").
10. FBI for investigating/prosecuting political corruption, including convicting two Miami PBS&J engineering chief executive officers for illegal campaign contributions/bribery/embezzlement. Follow the money.
11. Congress and investigative reporters for uncovering corruption. Be thankful whenever the House Judiciary Committee finally begins impeachment hearings.
12. Our city of St. Augustine for admitting wrongdoing in its illegally:
a. polluting Lincolnville for decades with illegal dumps;
b. moving illegal dumps' contaminants into our Old City Reservoir 2005-2006. No thanks to Florida Department of Environmental Protection (a/k/a "Don't Expect Protection") for allowing our city to move 20,000 cubic yards of contaminants back to Lincolnville. Environmental racism? No thanks to St. Augustine City Manager William Harriss, who blamed former subordinates, recently yelling "I've done nothing wrong." Be thankful when sworn witnesses testify about environmental crimes.
13. John and Elizabeth Edwards, for running a clean lobbyist-free presidential campaign and exposing Ann Coulter's bigotry.
14. Al Gore for winning Nobel Peace Prize and Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth." Florida proudly voted for Gore in 2000, with recounts wrongfully ordered halted.
15. My parents, family, teachers, professors, friends and mentors for teaching me to question large organizations and how they mistreat people. Always ask, "why" (and "why not?"). Uncovering uncaring governments' massive, secretive pollution in Oak Ridge, Tenn., mercury (1983) and St. Augustine Old City Reservoir confirmed my mother's wisdom: "Trust your mother, but cut the cards." "The truth will set you free."
16. Congressional Democrats for raising the minimum wage (first time in nine years), while voting to protect whistleblowers and our environment.
17. Progressives, activists, performers, whistleblowers, artists, scientists, reporters/writers and truth-tellers. They've enriched our lives.
18. People willing to work for new leadership in Washington. Our U.S. Rep. John Mica voted against whistleblowers and against raising federal minimum wages. In 2004, 72 percent of Floridians voted to raise our minimum wage. Mica sought to halt investigations of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Mica defends Big Oil company price-gouging and offshore oil drilling demands. Enough.
Be thankful we get to overthrow our governments every two years. We need new leaders, including a "humble" president who "restores honor and dignity to the White House" (as Bush falsely promised). Too many politicians are arrogant, waste money and won't admit mistakes.
As Mosquito Control Commissioner Jeanne Moeller says, "there are more people like us than there are people like them."
Thank you for working to improve our future.
Robert Kennedy said, "it is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, [s]he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Ed Slavin is a Georgetown University School of Foreign Service graduate, journalist, advocate/activist who first proposed a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Highway on Nov. 13, 2006.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/112507/opinions_033.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Guest Column: Public can fight St. Augustine 'City Hall'
Guest Column: Public can fight St. Augustine 'City Hall'
Publication Date: 02/02/08
Folio Weekly termed me an "environmental hero" on illegal dumping. I merely did my job as a citizen.
Since February 2006, I have endeavored to learn about City Manager William B. Harriss and the illegal dumping. Questions were stymied by city ommissioners interrupting me with ridicule, rodomontade, and non sequiturs. Whenever a community or constituency goes to the City Commission to express their concerns, they're treated disdainfully, often leaving disillusioned, hurt.
Commissioners' hubris is nearly fatal to democracy and our environment - including forgiving a $15,000 tree-killing fine and approving the shipping back of solid waste to Lincolnville - without allowing any public comment, violating specific promises in each case.
Violations of free speech rights are indefensible and must be ended.
America was founded by visionaries who cherished free speech: Robert F. Kennedy said that if our Constitution were written in St. Paul's style, it would say: "But the most important of these is speech."
Free speech is everywhere under attack - locally, nationally and globally. Embittered, controlling, manipulative organizational oligarchs hate dissent and retaliate, yielding to immoral, infernal lusts to "reach out, reach out and crush someone."
From Harriss to President George Walker Bush to Russia's Vladimir Putin, "they know not that they know not that they know not."
Apparently not even oligarchs' own family members are safe from "gag orders" and efforts to chill/punish dissent. Mayor Joseph Leroy Boles, Jr. allegedly told his mother Maurine (a member of our city's history advisory board) to stop commenting on public issues (after I quoted her in The Record last year as supporting the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Highway). Joseph Boles opposes "federalizing" history and park functions (neglected by our city and state).
"How low can City Hall go?" Threatening citizens with arrest, violating free speech rights, refusing to answer budget hearing questions (or televise budget hearings); attacking artists and entertainers (St. George Street and Slave Market Square a/k/a Plaza de la Constitucion); discouraging meeting attendance (removing 60 seats from the Alcazar Room); reducing your available time for public comments outside scheduled agenda items (from 8 minutes to 3 minutes per meeting); insulting persons asking questions; threatening to seek attorney fees against Dr. Dwight Hines for filing his successful Open Records lawsuit, with Boles demanding to make him "pay the piper" (our city wrongfully withheld more than 45 pounds of public records it claimed did not exist).
Where are the "sanctions"/prosecutions for City Hall's criminal, anti-social, anti-environmental, anti-worker acts?
Our St. Augustine government embarrasses us all: illegal dumping in the Old City Reservoir (risking the health of untrained employees); wasteful spending ($22 million "White Elephant Parking Garage"); and suppressing free speech. It detracts from the beauty, history and image of our town.
Michael Dukakis said, "the fish rots from the head." City managers/staff are often surly, during commission meetings actually laughing and talking on cell phones when citizens and commissioners are speaking. Where are their manners?
Our city manager and city attorney sit with their backs to the public, never shown on-camera on cable-TV, speaking without being identified by name. Employees live in fear of retaliation if they speak the truth about Harriss and his reign of ruin.
Meanwhile, our county officials are more protective and vigilant to protect free speech rights, expanding public comment rights and clarifying First Amendment rights on county property (Amphitheater/Farmer's Market, Fairground and World Golf Village Convention Center).
Virtually all-white, all-male City Hall officialdom is isolated and an anachronism.
Every time St. Augustine City Commissioners violate First Amendment rights, a part of the soul of our city dies. Our Nation's Oldest City and its history and beauty are worth saving. We need greater transparency and accountability. See Clean Up City of St. Augustine, www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com for pollution and other scandals and solutions.
Get involved. Run for office. Support reformers. Vote. Write. Speak out.
We need a "clean sweep" - "a new broom sweeps clean." Why not display a broom in your car/pickup/lawn/porch? Prove wrong those naysayers who complain, "you can't fight City Hall."
Ask questions. Demand answers. This is advanced citizenship. Smile. It's 2008.
Ed Slavin is former legal counsel for constitutional rights with Government Accountability Project; worked for three U.S. senators (Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart and Jim Sasser); clerked for Chief Judge Nahum Litt of the U.S. Department of Labor; and wrote a biography of President Jimmy Carter for young readers (forward by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/020208/opinions_txt01_060-111.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Publication Date: 02/02/08
Folio Weekly termed me an "environmental hero" on illegal dumping. I merely did my job as a citizen.
Since February 2006, I have endeavored to learn about City Manager William B. Harriss and the illegal dumping. Questions were stymied by city ommissioners interrupting me with ridicule, rodomontade, and non sequiturs. Whenever a community or constituency goes to the City Commission to express their concerns, they're treated disdainfully, often leaving disillusioned, hurt.
Commissioners' hubris is nearly fatal to democracy and our environment - including forgiving a $15,000 tree-killing fine and approving the shipping back of solid waste to Lincolnville - without allowing any public comment, violating specific promises in each case.
Violations of free speech rights are indefensible and must be ended.
America was founded by visionaries who cherished free speech: Robert F. Kennedy said that if our Constitution were written in St. Paul's style, it would say: "But the most important of these is speech."
Free speech is everywhere under attack - locally, nationally and globally. Embittered, controlling, manipulative organizational oligarchs hate dissent and retaliate, yielding to immoral, infernal lusts to "reach out, reach out and crush someone."
From Harriss to President George Walker Bush to Russia's Vladimir Putin, "they know not that they know not that they know not."
Apparently not even oligarchs' own family members are safe from "gag orders" and efforts to chill/punish dissent. Mayor Joseph Leroy Boles, Jr. allegedly told his mother Maurine (a member of our city's history advisory board) to stop commenting on public issues (after I quoted her in The Record last year as supporting the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Highway). Joseph Boles opposes "federalizing" history and park functions (neglected by our city and state).
"How low can City Hall go?" Threatening citizens with arrest, violating free speech rights, refusing to answer budget hearing questions (or televise budget hearings); attacking artists and entertainers (St. George Street and Slave Market Square a/k/a Plaza de la Constitucion); discouraging meeting attendance (removing 60 seats from the Alcazar Room); reducing your available time for public comments outside scheduled agenda items (from 8 minutes to 3 minutes per meeting); insulting persons asking questions; threatening to seek attorney fees against Dr. Dwight Hines for filing his successful Open Records lawsuit, with Boles demanding to make him "pay the piper" (our city wrongfully withheld more than 45 pounds of public records it claimed did not exist).
Where are the "sanctions"/prosecutions for City Hall's criminal, anti-social, anti-environmental, anti-worker acts?
Our St. Augustine government embarrasses us all: illegal dumping in the Old City Reservoir (risking the health of untrained employees); wasteful spending ($22 million "White Elephant Parking Garage"); and suppressing free speech. It detracts from the beauty, history and image of our town.
Michael Dukakis said, "the fish rots from the head." City managers/staff are often surly, during commission meetings actually laughing and talking on cell phones when citizens and commissioners are speaking. Where are their manners?
Our city manager and city attorney sit with their backs to the public, never shown on-camera on cable-TV, speaking without being identified by name. Employees live in fear of retaliation if they speak the truth about Harriss and his reign of ruin.
Meanwhile, our county officials are more protective and vigilant to protect free speech rights, expanding public comment rights and clarifying First Amendment rights on county property (Amphitheater/Farmer's Market, Fairground and World Golf Village Convention Center).
Virtually all-white, all-male City Hall officialdom is isolated and an anachronism.
Every time St. Augustine City Commissioners violate First Amendment rights, a part of the soul of our city dies. Our Nation's Oldest City and its history and beauty are worth saving. We need greater transparency and accountability. See Clean Up City of St. Augustine, www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com for pollution and other scandals and solutions.
Get involved. Run for office. Support reformers. Vote. Write. Speak out.
We need a "clean sweep" - "a new broom sweeps clean." Why not display a broom in your car/pickup/lawn/porch? Prove wrong those naysayers who complain, "you can't fight City Hall."
Ask questions. Demand answers. This is advanced citizenship. Smile. It's 2008.
Ed Slavin is former legal counsel for constitutional rights with Government Accountability Project; worked for three U.S. senators (Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart and Jim Sasser); clerked for Chief Judge Nahum Litt of the U.S. Department of Labor; and wrote a biography of President Jimmy Carter for young readers (forward by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
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Guest Column: Press must get tough on city leaders
Guest Column: Press must get tough on city leaders
DAVID BRIAN WALLACE
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 01/14/07
We sincerely appreciate improvements in the St. Augustine Record and hope it continues to improve. Increased news coverage is deserved of lawbreaking by city of St. Augustine officials.
St. Augustine city government's lawbreaking continued three days before Christmas. City Commission broke the Sunshine law (again) by voting Dec. 22 to ban venders from the Plaza de la Constitucion and to hire Ron Brown as permanent city attorney. The special meeting notice said it was solely to enact tax breaks for low-income elderly. St. Augustine city officials cared not for public rights to notice and an opportunity to speak.
City commissioners violated the Sunshine law on Oct. 13 when they hired Ron Brown as temporary city attorney, with no advance notice. City officials must be investigated by grand jurors.
Why do city officials always have to be picking on someone, and holding illegal meetings? Are disgruntled city officials only happy when they are making someone else unhappy? Do they think their "gotcha" government wins friends?
Our city government created the homelessness problem. Remember the buskers, artists, entertainers and musicians along St. George Street? Though buskers were popular with tourists, our misguided City Manager, William B. Harriss, and Commission (Commissioner Susan Burk dissenting), banned buskers from St. George Street. The city promised they could use the public market in the Plaza. Now panhandlers have replaced St. George Street buskers. Venders are being kicked out of the Plaza.
Homelessness is a predictable result of governments neglecting responsibilities and corporations' shipping our jobs overseas ñ Lou Dobbs' "Race to the Bottom."
We need investigative reporting, not government and corporate apologists.
Too often, press and politicians forget they work for the people.
Legislating against buskers, musicians, artists, entertainers, the homeless and venders will not make anyone happier or wealthier.
"Blaming the victims" of poverty is a wretched excuse for public policy or journalism.
The Record must continue to improve its coverage during 2007, shining the searchlight of investigative reporting, empowered by Florida's Sunshine law, on corrupt, dysfunctional local organizations.
St. Augustine city officials must be held accountable by the people, prosecutors, the courts and Gov. Charlie Crist (who has created an office of Government Openness, which sounds promising). Let's persist in exposing wrongdoing and demanding that public meetings and records be open and understood, eliminating wasteful spending.
Like good diplomats, we must not take "no" for an answer. City of St. Augustine pollution, Sunshine and open records violations must be remedied/stopped. Dumping the contents of St. Augustine's old city dump into the Old City Reservoir was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg in local governments' involvement in environmental crimes. We must investigate and prosecute environmental crimes (including bald eagle nest-tree cutters, clear-cutters, polluters and wetland-destroyers).
Let's solve environmental and historic preservation problems creatively, graciously.
Let's ask Congress and the president to enact a "St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore" for everyone. I agree with Ed Slavin's idea, first shared at the Nov. 13, 2006, City Commission meeting. There's no principled reason for St. Augustine not to share federal park dollars spent liberally elsewhere. St. Augustine deserves an actual "National Park" (not just the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas, both "National Monuments").
The National Park Service (NPS) is America's most trusted, favorite federal agency, with long experience/expertise.
Let's combine historic city streets, the Anastasia State Park and Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (formerly Guana River State Park), Red House Bluff, and other local history/nature into one world-class tourist destination, administered by NPS, inspired by Cape Cod, New Bedford and Philadelphia national parks/seashores. Let's preserve history/nature and culture, earning more national and international tourists' time (not just daytrips from nearby neighbors).
We're blessed with an opportunity of a lifetime: voters' righteous revulsion against wholesale history/nature destruction (and current real estate market). Let's unite our diverse community, working to preserve what makes St. Augustine and St. Johns County great, unique, enjoyable. Future generations will thank us and praise our leaders' vision. St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore:
Let's get it done. It's up to us.
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© The St. Augustine Record
DAVID BRIAN WALLACE
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 01/14/07
We sincerely appreciate improvements in the St. Augustine Record and hope it continues to improve. Increased news coverage is deserved of lawbreaking by city of St. Augustine officials.
St. Augustine city government's lawbreaking continued three days before Christmas. City Commission broke the Sunshine law (again) by voting Dec. 22 to ban venders from the Plaza de la Constitucion and to hire Ron Brown as permanent city attorney. The special meeting notice said it was solely to enact tax breaks for low-income elderly. St. Augustine city officials cared not for public rights to notice and an opportunity to speak.
City commissioners violated the Sunshine law on Oct. 13 when they hired Ron Brown as temporary city attorney, with no advance notice. City officials must be investigated by grand jurors.
Why do city officials always have to be picking on someone, and holding illegal meetings? Are disgruntled city officials only happy when they are making someone else unhappy? Do they think their "gotcha" government wins friends?
Our city government created the homelessness problem. Remember the buskers, artists, entertainers and musicians along St. George Street? Though buskers were popular with tourists, our misguided City Manager, William B. Harriss, and Commission (Commissioner Susan Burk dissenting), banned buskers from St. George Street. The city promised they could use the public market in the Plaza. Now panhandlers have replaced St. George Street buskers. Venders are being kicked out of the Plaza.
Homelessness is a predictable result of governments neglecting responsibilities and corporations' shipping our jobs overseas ñ Lou Dobbs' "Race to the Bottom."
We need investigative reporting, not government and corporate apologists.
Too often, press and politicians forget they work for the people.
Legislating against buskers, musicians, artists, entertainers, the homeless and venders will not make anyone happier or wealthier.
"Blaming the victims" of poverty is a wretched excuse for public policy or journalism.
The Record must continue to improve its coverage during 2007, shining the searchlight of investigative reporting, empowered by Florida's Sunshine law, on corrupt, dysfunctional local organizations.
St. Augustine city officials must be held accountable by the people, prosecutors, the courts and Gov. Charlie Crist (who has created an office of Government Openness, which sounds promising). Let's persist in exposing wrongdoing and demanding that public meetings and records be open and understood, eliminating wasteful spending.
Like good diplomats, we must not take "no" for an answer. City of St. Augustine pollution, Sunshine and open records violations must be remedied/stopped. Dumping the contents of St. Augustine's old city dump into the Old City Reservoir was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg in local governments' involvement in environmental crimes. We must investigate and prosecute environmental crimes (including bald eagle nest-tree cutters, clear-cutters, polluters and wetland-destroyers).
Let's solve environmental and historic preservation problems creatively, graciously.
Let's ask Congress and the president to enact a "St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore" for everyone. I agree with Ed Slavin's idea, first shared at the Nov. 13, 2006, City Commission meeting. There's no principled reason for St. Augustine not to share federal park dollars spent liberally elsewhere. St. Augustine deserves an actual "National Park" (not just the Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas, both "National Monuments").
The National Park Service (NPS) is America's most trusted, favorite federal agency, with long experience/expertise.
Let's combine historic city streets, the Anastasia State Park and Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (formerly Guana River State Park), Red House Bluff, and other local history/nature into one world-class tourist destination, administered by NPS, inspired by Cape Cod, New Bedford and Philadelphia national parks/seashores. Let's preserve history/nature and culture, earning more national and international tourists' time (not just daytrips from nearby neighbors).
We're blessed with an opportunity of a lifetime: voters' righteous revulsion against wholesale history/nature destruction (and current real estate market). Let's unite our diverse community, working to preserve what makes St. Augustine and St. Johns County great, unique, enjoyable. Future generations will thank us and praise our leaders' vision. St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore:
Let's get it done. It's up to us.
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© The St. Augustine Record
Persistence of citizens prevails in dumping order
Persistence of citizens prevails in dumping order
By ED SLAVIN
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 05/25/08
I am proud to live in our Nation's Oldest (European-founded) City because of our citizens' character and diversity. Thanks to you, on May 12, City Commissioners unanimously approved a consent decree with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP): It guarantees that solid waste illegally dumped in our Old City Reservoir will be disposed of properly in a Class I landfill -- it will not be returned to our historic African-American community of Lincolnville. Commissioners unanimously voted Nov. 13 to support Commissioner Errol Jones' ill-advised motion to send waste back to Lincolnville.
On May 12, commissioners heard and heeded hundreds who turned out at the St. Paul's A.M.E. Church on Dec. 13 and January 10, supporting the seven community activists who asked FDEP to stop Lincolnville dumping (Judith and Anthony Seraphin, Diane and Gerald Mills, Dr. Dwight Hines, David Thundershield Queen and me).
The people have won yet another round against City Hall. Your victory bodes well for what our community can do to observe 11,000 years of history (450th anniversary of St. Augustine and 500th anniversary of Spanish Florida).
As Dana Ste. Claire rightly urged, we must celebrate diversity. We need a St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Highway, about which County Commissioners may schedule a straw ballot vote.
I agree with former Mayor George Gardner, who rightly blasted the lack of energy and creativity in our city's Heritage Tourism Department.
Our City Hall needs a clean sweep.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead said it best, "A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again."
Mead also said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead visited Oak Ridge, Tenn., and exposed its provincialism, not knowing secrecy perpetrated a massive environmental crime.
Twenty-five years ago, on May 17, 1983, our small weekly newspaper (Appalachian Observer) won declassification of the largest mercury pollution event in world history. Our federal government in Oak Ridge, emitted 4.2 million pounds of mercury into creeks, groundwater and workers' lungs and brains -- more than was dumped in Minimata, Japan.
Oak Ridge's pollution scandal started scrutiny of the entire U.S. nuclear weapons complex -- a cleanup still ongoing.
Then-Rep. Al Gore held an investigative hearing in Oak Ridge on July 11, 1983, swearing in witnesses (a nuclear complex first). I called for criminal prosecution of mercury-dumping Union Carbide and Department of Energy officials.
For decades, Oak Ridge residents were afraid to speak out. As a result, government environmental crimes were never punished.
Contrast that with the free, independent spirit of today's St. Augustinians, who swiftly achieved significant results against one of the worst abuses of power anywhere.
Like Oak Ridge's mindless, maniacal mercury-dumpers, St. Augustine's city manager was never reprimanded for dumping solid waste in the Old City Reservoir -- William Harriss got a pass (and a plaque) in the midst of a pending criminal investigation.
Unanswered questions remain 27 months after St. Augustine dumping was reported. Other local dumps await investigation/cleanup. (To report pollution, call the National Response Center, 1-800-424-8802). The illegal city dump at the south end of Riberia Street awaits a consent decree and cleanup. Our search for truth continues.
With your help and prayers, our city will become a much better place for all of our citizens.
As we sang at St. Paul's on Jan. 10, "we shall overcome."
Ed Slavin earned a degree in diplomacy from Georgetown University and a law degree from Memphis State University; he was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize by Oak Ridge District Attorney Jim Ramsey in 1983.
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© The St. Augustine Record
By ED SLAVIN
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 05/25/08
I am proud to live in our Nation's Oldest (European-founded) City because of our citizens' character and diversity. Thanks to you, on May 12, City Commissioners unanimously approved a consent decree with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP): It guarantees that solid waste illegally dumped in our Old City Reservoir will be disposed of properly in a Class I landfill -- it will not be returned to our historic African-American community of Lincolnville. Commissioners unanimously voted Nov. 13 to support Commissioner Errol Jones' ill-advised motion to send waste back to Lincolnville.
On May 12, commissioners heard and heeded hundreds who turned out at the St. Paul's A.M.E. Church on Dec. 13 and January 10, supporting the seven community activists who asked FDEP to stop Lincolnville dumping (Judith and Anthony Seraphin, Diane and Gerald Mills, Dr. Dwight Hines, David Thundershield Queen and me).
The people have won yet another round against City Hall. Your victory bodes well for what our community can do to observe 11,000 years of history (450th anniversary of St. Augustine and 500th anniversary of Spanish Florida).
As Dana Ste. Claire rightly urged, we must celebrate diversity. We need a St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Highway, about which County Commissioners may schedule a straw ballot vote.
I agree with former Mayor George Gardner, who rightly blasted the lack of energy and creativity in our city's Heritage Tourism Department.
Our City Hall needs a clean sweep.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead said it best, "A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again."
Mead also said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead visited Oak Ridge, Tenn., and exposed its provincialism, not knowing secrecy perpetrated a massive environmental crime.
Twenty-five years ago, on May 17, 1983, our small weekly newspaper (Appalachian Observer) won declassification of the largest mercury pollution event in world history. Our federal government in Oak Ridge, emitted 4.2 million pounds of mercury into creeks, groundwater and workers' lungs and brains -- more than was dumped in Minimata, Japan.
Oak Ridge's pollution scandal started scrutiny of the entire U.S. nuclear weapons complex -- a cleanup still ongoing.
Then-Rep. Al Gore held an investigative hearing in Oak Ridge on July 11, 1983, swearing in witnesses (a nuclear complex first). I called for criminal prosecution of mercury-dumping Union Carbide and Department of Energy officials.
For decades, Oak Ridge residents were afraid to speak out. As a result, government environmental crimes were never punished.
Contrast that with the free, independent spirit of today's St. Augustinians, who swiftly achieved significant results against one of the worst abuses of power anywhere.
Like Oak Ridge's mindless, maniacal mercury-dumpers, St. Augustine's city manager was never reprimanded for dumping solid waste in the Old City Reservoir -- William Harriss got a pass (and a plaque) in the midst of a pending criminal investigation.
Unanswered questions remain 27 months after St. Augustine dumping was reported. Other local dumps await investigation/cleanup. (To report pollution, call the National Response Center, 1-800-424-8802). The illegal city dump at the south end of Riberia Street awaits a consent decree and cleanup. Our search for truth continues.
With your help and prayers, our city will become a much better place for all of our citizens.
As we sang at St. Paul's on Jan. 10, "we shall overcome."
Ed Slavin earned a degree in diplomacy from Georgetown University and a law degree from Memphis State University; he was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize by Oak Ridge District Attorney Jim Ramsey in 1983.
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Still No Reply or Photograph from PHILLIP J. MAYS, the "LIFELONG REPUBLICAN" SUPPORTED BY WASTE MANAGEMENT, KAREN STERN, MARK MINER, SHOAR & PERRY
There's still no reply from or photograph from PHILLIP J. MAYS, the "LIFELONG REPUBLICAN" supported by the likes of WASTE MANAGEMENT, ex-Commissioner KAREN STERN, her pet goober MARK MINER, Sheriff DAVID SHOAR, ex-Sheriff NEIL PERRY, among other Republican poohbahs.
It seems that the Republican Executive Committee's "endorsement" of MAYS may have been without precedent or notice to its members.
What's a little parliamentary procedure among friends? St. Johns County Repug thugs know no ethics. They know no boundaries. They want every single office in every single government entity -- they're prepared to lie, cheat, steal elections, consolidate governments and do everything else for authoritarian mind-numbing control.
Plug-ugly St. Johns County Repug-thugs are control freaks, authoritarians and miscreants. These know-nothings like to tell Democrats what to think, keep our news out of newspapers, tell us where we can campaign (even on government property). They like to steal our signs and steal our votes. We St. Johns County Democrats remember 2000 and 2004 and 2008 and what local crooks did in terms of intimidating minority voters -- you will never get away with it again, and we look forward to the Justice Department Civil Rights Division and the FBI investigating all of your crimes, works and pomps.
When you ripoff consumers together, ripoff taxpayers together, kill wetlands together, clearcut forests together, discriminate together, and push your way around St. Johns County, being Republican means "never having to say you're sorry."
Which is why we do not wait with baited breath for Governor Crist to apologize for PHILIP J. MAYS' amateurish appointment to replace Commissioner TOM MANUEL, even on a temporary basis. Even the forms used by Governor CRIST suggest Amateur Hour -- this is evidence of a political patronage regime and not a meriocrracy.
Justice William O. Douglas Compared TVA to Arrogant Soviet-Style Central Planning Bodies
Like our City of St. Augustine, TVA is a criminal polluter and must be investigated, with malefactors prosecuted.
When governments pollute, they must be held to a higher standard than corporations --not a lower one. As I told then-Rep. Al Gore in my July 11, 1983 testimony, pollution by American governments would "make our Founding Fathers sick at heart."
Our faceless, reckless, feckless bureaucrats with our City of St. Augustine put 40,000 cubic yards of solid waste in our Old City Reservoir and wanted to bring the crud back to Lincolnville. We caught them. We kept after them (for pert near three years). We stopped them. The state fined them. The crud will soon be removed and sent to a Class I landfill.
Our faceless, reckless, feckless bureaucrats with our City of St. Augustine illegally dumped sewage effluent in saltwater marshes. We found the evidence on county GIS mamps. We reported them and stopped them.
TVA put over 5,400,000 gallons of coal waste in rivers and people's backyards, destroying homes, lives and a subdivision.
The unlined coal waste ponds reckless TVA kept full of poisons near populated areas were mishandled -- let me repeat that -- the ponds were unlined.
Having seen TVA up close and personally since 1977, when I worked on energy issues for Senator James R. Sasser, let me say this and understand it well: TVA is like a Monopolist Gomer and and a Communist Goober running the world's largest electric utility.
Justice William O. Douglas compared TVA to arrogant Soviet-style central planning bodies. I agree. I quoted those words before the TVA Board in Knoxville, even as it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1983. I covered TVA first as freelance investigative reporter/undergraduate and then as editor of the Appalachian Observer. Seeing TVA's damage to communities and the Appalachian mountains (irresponsible stripmining), I never believed TVA's propaganda -- TVA has betrayed its New Deal roots.
Under Republicans, TVA grew into a monster that virtually created stripmining with its pressures on small businesses.
TVA contributed to the milieum in which coal operators practiced price-fixing. How? By abusing its monopsony power as a large purchaser of coal.
TVA looked the other way at coal quality fraud (layerloading) at the Kingston powerplant.
TVA ignored the walking conflict of interest posed by longtime Senator HOWARD HENRY BAKER, JR., for which the Kington powerplant should be renamed in tribute to his hubris. Baker's family land was being mined and the coal burned at Kingston. But tatterdemalion, tedious TVA lawyers said there was no conflict of interest because Baker owned the land, not the mining companies.
I have been to TVA's Kingston plant during the 1970s when, with a Fund for Investigative Journalism Grant at age 21, U investigated price-fixing and quality fraud by TVA, provided information to the FBI and GAO, helping stop coal quality fraud that cost ratepayers some $300,000,000 from 1951-1981.
At its Kingston plant, TVA never had ASTM-recommended sampling gear, preferring to use a bucket and a shovel to take coal from the middle of layer-loaded coal trucks bearing low-quality coal.
Now TVA is found to have had no plastic liners in its ponds.
Homes are destroyed. Waters are polluted. Land is ruined. Dogs were killed.
We're lucky that people weren't killed, as in the Buffalo Creek Disaster in West Virginia, where a coal waste dam collapsed and killed more than 100 people.
The part-time TVA BOard (consisting of bankers and Republicans) is a perverse model of failure. TVA's effort to ape all things corporate is a perverse model of failure.
TVA's intolerance of employee dissent in the workplace (whistleblowers) could kill.
A federal grand jury must investigate TVA misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, waste, fraud, abuse and reckless indifference to the value of the beautiful natural environment of Tennessee, where polluters like TVA run riot.
I won my first trial against TVA for terminating the same nuclear whistlblower who won the first nuclear whistleblower case against TVA. Like an elephant, TVA never forgets. Well, neither do I. The same mendacious mediocre management structures that were there 30 years ago are there now -- the Kingston powerplant pollution scandal is living proof.
And someone needs to go to a federal prison for it.
Reuters: TVA Pollution Has Elevated Levels of Mercury and Lead in Waters Near Kingston Coal-Fired Powerplant
By Timothy Gardner
NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Preliminary water tests from rivers near a huge coal ash spill in Tennessee show elevated levels of pollutants such as mercury and lead, a environmental group said on Friday.
"We're concerned that the water poses a greater risk to residents in the area than has been revealed so far," said Matt Wasson, a program director at Appalachian Voices, a environmental group that coordinated the testing of the water with scientists from Appalachian State University.
An earthen dike collapsed on December 22 at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston coal-fired power plant, spilling coal ash across as much as 400 acres (162 hectares). The ash, left from decades of coal burning, had been stored in a sludge pond. The spill extended into a waterway, blocked a road, and ruined three homes, according to the TVA.
Fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, is known to contain small amounts of heavy metals and other pollutants dangerous to human health. In 2000 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decided that the ash would not be managed as a hazardous waste.
The environmental group's tests, which took place on December 27, showed higher levels of the pollutants of arsenic, mercury and lead than reported by the TVA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Arsenic levels from the Kingston power plant canal, for example, tested at nearly 300 times the allowable limits in drinking water. A sample from two miles downstream revealed arsenic at about 30 times the limit.
"Although these results are preliminary, we want to release them because of the public health concern and because we believe the TVA and EPA aren't being candid," Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., chair of the Waterkeeper Alliance, said in a release.
Wasson said the TVA and EPA have not revealed exactly where tests they reported took place and that some of them took place upstream from the spill, where heavy contamination would not be expected.
The TVA, which is spraying the spilled ash with straw and seed to minimize dust and erosion, has said on its Web site that preliminary testing at the Kingston water treatment plant has shown levels of metals that are below limits for drinking water. Other tests on rivers near the site showed safe levels, it said.
Appalachian Voices said it has not completed tests on drinking water yet, in part because it takes time for contaminants in surface water to filter down into ground water supplies.
Wasson said hunters and fishermen could also be at long-term risk from consuming fish and birds from near the spill. Pollutants can accumulate in fish and birds that eat smaller animals living among contaminants to the point where they are dangerous to eat.
The EPA and TVA did not immediately return phone calls about whether they would release more details about tests. (Editing by Christian Wiessner)
FOX NEWS: EPA Finds Elevated Arsenic Levels in Water Near Coal Ash Spill
EPA Finds Elevated Arsenic Levels in Water Near Coal Ash Spill
Friday , January 02, 2009
KINGSTON, Tenn. —
The Environmental Protection Agency has released data showing levels of arsenic more than 100 times safe levels in the water after a coal ash spill that flooded an East Tennessee neighborhood.
The EPA has said that sediment and water samples from near the spill were above federal maximum levels for contaminants. The data released Friday showed total arsenic levels in one water sample was 149 times the maximum level.
Laura Niles, an EPA spokeswoman, says the municipal drinking water is still safe because these metals are filtered out during the water treatment process.
A retention pond burst at the Kingston Steam Plant on Dec. 22, spreading more than a billion gallons of fly ash mixed with water over roughly 300 acres of Roane County and into a river. The deluge destroyed three homes and damaged 42 parcels of land, but there were no serious injuries.
"Press Action" -- TVA PROPAGANDA WORKS
Thursday, January 01, 2009
TVA Manages Easy PR Victory in Kingston Coal Ash Disaster
The Tennessee Valley Authority gets high marks for preventing the Kingston coal ash disaster from cascading into a public relations nightmare.
The massive spill had all of the hallmarks of a public relations catastrophe: a billion gallons of toxic sludge breaks free from a 40-acre retaining pond near the Kingston coal-fired power plant, covering approximately 400 acres of Roane County, Tenn., destroying homes, killing fish and damaging wildlife habitat in its wake.
But with the help of indifferent local, state and federal government officials, as well as a complacent local and national news media, TVA’s crisis management team succeeded in keeping the disaster off the front pages of newspapers and generally out of the public consciousness. In particular, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen helped to downplay the incident by staying clear of the site and letting TVA control the message.
Bredesen waited nine days after the Dec. 22 spill to make his first visit to the disaster site. If the Democratic governor had toured the site in the hours after the spill and informed the public about the initial steps his administration planned to take in response to the disaster, he would have certainly drawn greater media attention to the incident. His appearance at the site would have forced news media outlets to allocate additional reporters and staffers to cover the disaster.
Instead, TVA officials and spokespeople were the primary points of contact for reporters. Also, in the first days after the spill, TVA was doing all of the testing of local water sources to determine levels of contamination from the coal ash.
When asked during a Dec. 31 press briefing why it took him nine days to visit the site, Bredesen said he wanted to stay out of the way of emergency personnel. “Look, let the first responders, let the people that are doing this kind of stuff deal with it. In this particular case there was not a loss of life and no injuries. I just wanted it to move along pretty far so we could have an intelligent conversation with TVA,” he said.
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has scheduled a Jan. 8 hearing to examine the coal ash spill. The committee has oversight of TVA. During the hearing, some of the committee members may express shock that such an incident could happen. The tone could be angry at times. And TVA CEO Tom Kilgore may face a few tough questions.
But in the end, the committee hearing will likely turn into a one-day news event, with Kilgore telling the senators that TVA plans to take the necessary steps, on a voluntary basis, to ensure such a disaster never happens again at any of the federal power administration’s seven coal-fired power plants.
On the House side, no hearings have been scheduled. U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., a Knoxville Republican who serves on the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment said in a statement, “This has been a terrible tragedy for the people of Roane County whose homes and property were affected. I’m sure TVA will meet its full responsibilities and obligations.” Duncan already is viewing the spill as a “tragedy,” rather than an event that TVA could have prevented and one that it should have prevented if it had been following all of its responsibilities and obligations prior to the spill.
Unlike the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, it doesn’t appear that anyone associated with TVA will face criminal charges for the coal ash spill. Also, it remains unclear if TVA will face any criminal fines at the state or federal levels.
Greenpeace has called for a criminal investigation into the disaster, while local residents are questioning whether TVA could have been more proactive in preventing the spill.
“I kind of wondered, ‘How high can it go?’” said Jeff Spurgeon, who owns a waterfront house on a cove contaminated by the spill, referring to the pile of ash next to the Kingston power plant. “Accidents happen, but I think this could have been prevented.”
In a Jan. 1 article, Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Fausset noted the disaster carries a hint of irony for longtime residents. “If there was a concern about ecological threats, it came from a few miles south, where the TVA operates a nuclear plant [the Watts Bar nuclear plant]; or a few miles northeast around the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, where a cleanup of nuclear arms production sites has dragged on for years,” Fausett wrote.
TVA Manages Easy PR Victory in Kingston Coal Ash Disaster
The Tennessee Valley Authority gets high marks for preventing the Kingston coal ash disaster from cascading into a public relations nightmare.
The massive spill had all of the hallmarks of a public relations catastrophe: a billion gallons of toxic sludge breaks free from a 40-acre retaining pond near the Kingston coal-fired power plant, covering approximately 400 acres of Roane County, Tenn., destroying homes, killing fish and damaging wildlife habitat in its wake.
But with the help of indifferent local, state and federal government officials, as well as a complacent local and national news media, TVA’s crisis management team succeeded in keeping the disaster off the front pages of newspapers and generally out of the public consciousness. In particular, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen helped to downplay the incident by staying clear of the site and letting TVA control the message.
Bredesen waited nine days after the Dec. 22 spill to make his first visit to the disaster site. If the Democratic governor had toured the site in the hours after the spill and informed the public about the initial steps his administration planned to take in response to the disaster, he would have certainly drawn greater media attention to the incident. His appearance at the site would have forced news media outlets to allocate additional reporters and staffers to cover the disaster.
Instead, TVA officials and spokespeople were the primary points of contact for reporters. Also, in the first days after the spill, TVA was doing all of the testing of local water sources to determine levels of contamination from the coal ash.
When asked during a Dec. 31 press briefing why it took him nine days to visit the site, Bredesen said he wanted to stay out of the way of emergency personnel. “Look, let the first responders, let the people that are doing this kind of stuff deal with it. In this particular case there was not a loss of life and no injuries. I just wanted it to move along pretty far so we could have an intelligent conversation with TVA,” he said.
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has scheduled a Jan. 8 hearing to examine the coal ash spill. The committee has oversight of TVA. During the hearing, some of the committee members may express shock that such an incident could happen. The tone could be angry at times. And TVA CEO Tom Kilgore may face a few tough questions.
But in the end, the committee hearing will likely turn into a one-day news event, with Kilgore telling the senators that TVA plans to take the necessary steps, on a voluntary basis, to ensure such a disaster never happens again at any of the federal power administration’s seven coal-fired power plants.
On the House side, no hearings have been scheduled. U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., a Knoxville Republican who serves on the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment said in a statement, “This has been a terrible tragedy for the people of Roane County whose homes and property were affected. I’m sure TVA will meet its full responsibilities and obligations.” Duncan already is viewing the spill as a “tragedy,” rather than an event that TVA could have prevented and one that it should have prevented if it had been following all of its responsibilities and obligations prior to the spill.
Unlike the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, it doesn’t appear that anyone associated with TVA will face criminal charges for the coal ash spill. Also, it remains unclear if TVA will face any criminal fines at the state or federal levels.
Greenpeace has called for a criminal investigation into the disaster, while local residents are questioning whether TVA could have been more proactive in preventing the spill.
“I kind of wondered, ‘How high can it go?’” said Jeff Spurgeon, who owns a waterfront house on a cove contaminated by the spill, referring to the pile of ash next to the Kingston power plant. “Accidents happen, but I think this could have been prevented.”
In a Jan. 1 article, Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Fausset noted the disaster carries a hint of irony for longtime residents. “If there was a concern about ecological threats, it came from a few miles south, where the TVA operates a nuclear plant [the Watts Bar nuclear plant]; or a few miles northeast around the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, where a cleanup of nuclear arms production sites has dragged on for years,” Fausett wrote.
WHAT THE WRECKORD WOULD NOT TELL YOU, DEAR READERS: Here's How to File Complaint Against Any Unscrupulous Realtors for Failing to Disclose Noisy Plant
http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/re/complaint.html
DBPR
Division of Real Estate
The Division of Real Estate administers the provisions of Chapter 475, Florida Statutes, relating to real estate sales associates, brokers, and real estate appraisers who hold Florida real estate and/or appraisal licenses. The enforcement process begins at the inspection/audit level when periodic and routine reviews of business and office activities determine compliance with Florida law. Real Estate investigators are authorized to issue notices of noncompliance or citations with fines if minor violations are discovered. Other violations are documented for evaluation and possible prosecution.
The Bureau of Enforcement ensures compliance with the provisions of the law and attendant administrative rules by conducting investigations to determine whether any person has violated or is about to violate the provisions of the law. These investigations are initiated as a result of inspections, audits, consumer complaints, and inquiries, or upon the recommendation of the Florida Real Estate Commission or the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board. Inspections, audits, and investigations are conducted from ten (10) regional offices throughout the state.
All complaints must be submitted in writing to:
Attention: Consumer Complaints Section
DBPR - Division of Real Estate
400 West Robinson Street, Suite N801
Orlando, FL 32801-1757
The complaint should clearly identify the subject of the complaint and the allegations. Copies of all pertinent documents concerning the allegation must be included with the complaint (i.e. contracts, closing documents, disclosures, checks front and back, etc.). If the complaint is opened for investigation, the subject will be made aware of the allegations, provided with a copy of the complaint that initiated the investigation, and requested to respond to the allegations; unless the nature of the complaint merits a confidential investigation. Please use form RE-2200-1, the Uniform Complaint Form.
Please send only one copy of your complaint. Sending duplicates could cause a delay in the processing of your complaint. More information can be found under FAQs.
Pursuant to Chapter 455, Florida Statutes, the complaint and all information obtained pursuant to the investigation is confidential until 10 days after probable cause is found to exist. Investigations differ in complexity and duration, so providing a definite time of completion is not possible. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter.
The Bureau of Unlicensed Activity is responsible for coordinating unlicensed activity stings and sweeps through the Regional Program Administrators, as well as providing information to consumers and other regulators regarding the dangers of using unlicensed individuals.
Toll-free Complaint Line
DBPR has a toll-free number for unlicensed activity complaints. Consumers may now report unlicensed activity toll-free at 1.866.532.1440.
DBPR
Division of Real Estate
The Division of Real Estate administers the provisions of Chapter 475, Florida Statutes, relating to real estate sales associates, brokers, and real estate appraisers who hold Florida real estate and/or appraisal licenses. The enforcement process begins at the inspection/audit level when periodic and routine reviews of business and office activities determine compliance with Florida law. Real Estate investigators are authorized to issue notices of noncompliance or citations with fines if minor violations are discovered. Other violations are documented for evaluation and possible prosecution.
The Bureau of Enforcement ensures compliance with the provisions of the law and attendant administrative rules by conducting investigations to determine whether any person has violated or is about to violate the provisions of the law. These investigations are initiated as a result of inspections, audits, consumer complaints, and inquiries, or upon the recommendation of the Florida Real Estate Commission or the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board. Inspections, audits, and investigations are conducted from ten (10) regional offices throughout the state.
All complaints must be submitted in writing to:
Attention: Consumer Complaints Section
DBPR - Division of Real Estate
400 West Robinson Street, Suite N801
Orlando, FL 32801-1757
The complaint should clearly identify the subject of the complaint and the allegations. Copies of all pertinent documents concerning the allegation must be included with the complaint (i.e. contracts, closing documents, disclosures, checks front and back, etc.). If the complaint is opened for investigation, the subject will be made aware of the allegations, provided with a copy of the complaint that initiated the investigation, and requested to respond to the allegations; unless the nature of the complaint merits a confidential investigation. Please use form RE-2200-1, the Uniform Complaint Form.
Please send only one copy of your complaint. Sending duplicates could cause a delay in the processing of your complaint. More information can be found under FAQs.
Pursuant to Chapter 455, Florida Statutes, the complaint and all information obtained pursuant to the investigation is confidential until 10 days after probable cause is found to exist. Investigations differ in complexity and duration, so providing a definite time of completion is not possible. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter.
The Bureau of Unlicensed Activity is responsible for coordinating unlicensed activity stings and sweeps through the Regional Program Administrators, as well as providing information to consumers and other regulators regarding the dangers of using unlicensed individuals.
Toll-free Complaint Line
DBPR has a toll-free number for unlicensed activity complaints. Consumers may now report unlicensed activity toll-free at 1.866.532.1440.
Wreckord Editorial Gets It Wrong (Again)
The Wreckord editorial (below), misstates its errant nonsense conclusion that "
We also remind (sic) the residents that it is not (sic) a Realtor's fault (sic) if they feel they relocated to the wrong place. Who makes a big purchase such as a house without checking out the neighborhood on their own, talking to other residents, driving all roads around their potential home?"
To what group of uninformed goobers does the editorial-writer think they're talking?
How dare they misinform homeowners about the state of the law. People misled by Realtors have the right to sue for fraud. People misled by Realtors have the right to file Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) complaints. One FREC investigator told me several years ago that St. Johns County was the worst of the 15 counties in which he investigates cases, noting that Realtors here are mean-spirited and retaliatory.
Perhaps it was fear of Realtors' retaliation that led the Record to say "it's not a Realtor's fault." Shame on you, St. Augustine Wreckord, for being nothing more than a tool and a fool for tree-killing, wetland-filling, land-scalping, cash-toting "developers." The least you could do is inform consumers where to file complaints. Being run by hypocritical, self-righteous Republicans, you don't want to empower the people, so you feed them fertilizer and keep them in the dark (like mushrooms). THat's why the Wreckord is in a tailspin, with little news these days.l
As to Hydro, it seems like all four County Commissioners voted correctly. The company is a "green" business with hundreds of jobs for locals involved in recycling aluminum. Hydro has worked with neighbors, hearing their concerns and working to reduce the noise. We need jobs outside of tourism to grow our economy.
Reform Commissioner J. Kenneth Bryan was absolutely right in talking about unscrupulous Realtors, of which there are more than a few in St. Johns County.
The Wreckord's supercilious defense of Realtors who may have sold homes near an industrial plant without disclosures shows that the Wreckord has not changed all that much since it was owned by the grandfather of PIERRE THOMPSON, who cut down an eagle-nest tree on Octoer 8 2001, with his company pleading guilty to federal crimes in 2008. Nor has the Wreckord changed that much since it was owned by railroads.
Nor has the Wreckord changed that much since 1964 -- when the Wreckord published the names and addresses of innocent school children who were the first African-Americans in local public schools, gave advance announcement of KKK meetings, defended segregationists and covered up KKK/police riots).
Nor has the Wreckord changed that much since 2000, when it defended abusive commercial landowners who got their way in ejecting artists and entertainers from St. George Street, resulting in the dull, boring, lifeless, tasteless display of t-shirt marketing in the place of what was once a vibrant cityscape, with buskers.
2008 was a year when the Wreckord quoted (without scientific data), a Jeb Bush appointee as claiming there was no damage to our saltwater marsh from our City's pollution. They call this unscientific technique "junk science," "drylabbing" or "warm fuzzies" in the scientific and engineer fields. Here in St. Augustine, without rigorous investigative reporting and low expectations taught in local schools, public officials can say darn near anything and get away with it, never checked or questioned by the Wreckord.
2008 was a year during which the St. Augustine Wreckord was not above firing a cartoonist as a result of its publisher being poltroonish in the face of pressures from the thin-skinned School Superintendent, JOSEPH JOYNER, and power-hungry apparatchiks (including PHILIP McDANIEL, a/k/a "PHIL THE SHILL"), who did not like a cartoon mocking generic school administrators (not even bearing a caption or resemblance anyone from St. Johns County).
2008 was a year during which the Wreckord was guilty, guilty, guilty -- guilty of making up or ignoring facts to support its editorial positions, including its endorsement of ancien regime candidates and its claim that Congressman JOHN LUIGI MICA's head-butting was somehow deserved by the poor cameramaman MICA assaulted (a claim knocked into a cocked hat by Folio Weekly Editor Anne Schindler's column, giving readers key details about the videotaped assault, which the Wreckord's news story got correctly but which its editorial writer intentionally head-butted or ignored).
2009 could be the year that the Wreckord goes bankrupt, belly-up, kaput. That would be a shame -- we need a local newspaper. But we don't need one that mocks the altogether legitimate concerns of Commissioner Bryan about unscrupulous Realtors, doing so with a patronizing, arrogant, know-it-all, unkind, uncouth and unscholarly tone. Wise up, Wreckord -- you're hanging over hell's fire by a thread.
We don't need newspapers that lie and coverup for those who do, whether they be City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, Realtors, or other pathological liars.
The Hydro crack about not blaming Realtors exemplifies the Wreckord's baby-talking substitute for thoughts --- it has more in common with Pravda and Isvestia than an American newspaper. When one-party REpublican misrule gets a pat on the head (as it did when the Wreckord endorsed Phil Mays), we have the specter of journalists becoming accomplices who merely cower to power, lickspittles before the mediocrities like ROBERT MICHAEL GRAUBARD and other "developers."
It's time for the Newspaper Guild to start a union organizing drive in Florida, starting with the Wreckord. Never again must good and decent journalists be ordered to suppress the news (or write stupid stuff) by Richy Rich & cronies with no experience in journalism (other than computers and ad-selling).
It's time for real journalists everywhere to "just say no" to interference to tell Publisher Philistines to "go back to the ad planet where they belong," and stop molesting news and editorial writers to take dives for their crummy friends.
Sam Rayburn put it best when he told Lyndon Johnson -- "Lyndon, never tell anyone to go to hell unless you can send them there." Given the Wreckord's shaky economic status (documented by Folio Weekly in 2008), Wreckord writers and Wreckord readers are definitely in a position to tell the Wreckord Publisher to go to hell -- we deserve better coverage and no more galactically stupid, babytalking propaganda from City Hall, County Commission and Chamber of Commerce.
We also remind (sic) the residents that it is not (sic) a Realtor's fault (sic) if they feel they relocated to the wrong place. Who makes a big purchase such as a house without checking out the neighborhood on their own, talking to other residents, driving all roads around their potential home?"
To what group of uninformed goobers does the editorial-writer think they're talking?
How dare they misinform homeowners about the state of the law. People misled by Realtors have the right to sue for fraud. People misled by Realtors have the right to file Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) complaints. One FREC investigator told me several years ago that St. Johns County was the worst of the 15 counties in which he investigates cases, noting that Realtors here are mean-spirited and retaliatory.
Perhaps it was fear of Realtors' retaliation that led the Record to say "it's not a Realtor's fault." Shame on you, St. Augustine Wreckord, for being nothing more than a tool and a fool for tree-killing, wetland-filling, land-scalping, cash-toting "developers." The least you could do is inform consumers where to file complaints. Being run by hypocritical, self-righteous Republicans, you don't want to empower the people, so you feed them fertilizer and keep them in the dark (like mushrooms). THat's why the Wreckord is in a tailspin, with little news these days.l
As to Hydro, it seems like all four County Commissioners voted correctly. The company is a "green" business with hundreds of jobs for locals involved in recycling aluminum. Hydro has worked with neighbors, hearing their concerns and working to reduce the noise. We need jobs outside of tourism to grow our economy.
Reform Commissioner J. Kenneth Bryan was absolutely right in talking about unscrupulous Realtors, of which there are more than a few in St. Johns County.
The Wreckord's supercilious defense of Realtors who may have sold homes near an industrial plant without disclosures shows that the Wreckord has not changed all that much since it was owned by the grandfather of PIERRE THOMPSON, who cut down an eagle-nest tree on Octoer 8 2001, with his company pleading guilty to federal crimes in 2008. Nor has the Wreckord changed that much since it was owned by railroads.
Nor has the Wreckord changed that much since 1964 -- when the Wreckord published the names and addresses of innocent school children who were the first African-Americans in local public schools, gave advance announcement of KKK meetings, defended segregationists and covered up KKK/police riots).
Nor has the Wreckord changed that much since 2000, when it defended abusive commercial landowners who got their way in ejecting artists and entertainers from St. George Street, resulting in the dull, boring, lifeless, tasteless display of t-shirt marketing in the place of what was once a vibrant cityscape, with buskers.
2008 was a year when the Wreckord quoted (without scientific data), a Jeb Bush appointee as claiming there was no damage to our saltwater marsh from our City's pollution. They call this unscientific technique "junk science," "drylabbing" or "warm fuzzies" in the scientific and engineer fields. Here in St. Augustine, without rigorous investigative reporting and low expectations taught in local schools, public officials can say darn near anything and get away with it, never checked or questioned by the Wreckord.
2008 was a year during which the St. Augustine Wreckord was not above firing a cartoonist as a result of its publisher being poltroonish in the face of pressures from the thin-skinned School Superintendent, JOSEPH JOYNER, and power-hungry apparatchiks (including PHILIP McDANIEL, a/k/a "PHIL THE SHILL"), who did not like a cartoon mocking generic school administrators (not even bearing a caption or resemblance anyone from St. Johns County).
2008 was a year during which the Wreckord was guilty, guilty, guilty -- guilty of making up or ignoring facts to support its editorial positions, including its endorsement of ancien regime candidates and its claim that Congressman JOHN LUIGI MICA's head-butting was somehow deserved by the poor cameramaman MICA assaulted (a claim knocked into a cocked hat by Folio Weekly Editor Anne Schindler's column, giving readers key details about the videotaped assault, which the Wreckord's news story got correctly but which its editorial writer intentionally head-butted or ignored).
2009 could be the year that the Wreckord goes bankrupt, belly-up, kaput. That would be a shame -- we need a local newspaper. But we don't need one that mocks the altogether legitimate concerns of Commissioner Bryan about unscrupulous Realtors, doing so with a patronizing, arrogant, know-it-all, unkind, uncouth and unscholarly tone. Wise up, Wreckord -- you're hanging over hell's fire by a thread.
We don't need newspapers that lie and coverup for those who do, whether they be City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, Realtors, or other pathological liars.
The Hydro crack about not blaming Realtors exemplifies the Wreckord's baby-talking substitute for thoughts --- it has more in common with Pravda and Isvestia than an American newspaper. When one-party REpublican misrule gets a pat on the head (as it did when the Wreckord endorsed Phil Mays), we have the specter of journalists becoming accomplices who merely cower to power, lickspittles before the mediocrities like ROBERT MICHAEL GRAUBARD and other "developers."
It's time for the Newspaper Guild to start a union organizing drive in Florida, starting with the Wreckord. Never again must good and decent journalists be ordered to suppress the news (or write stupid stuff) by Richy Rich & cronies with no experience in journalism (other than computers and ad-selling).
It's time for real journalists everywhere to "just say no" to interference to tell Publisher Philistines to "go back to the ad planet where they belong," and stop molesting news and editorial writers to take dives for their crummy friends.
Sam Rayburn put it best when he told Lyndon Johnson -- "Lyndon, never tell anyone to go to hell unless you can send them there." Given the Wreckord's shaky economic status (documented by Folio Weekly in 2008), Wreckord writers and Wreckord readers are definitely in a position to tell the Wreckord Publisher to go to hell -- we deserve better coverage and no more galactically stupid, babytalking propaganda from City Hall, County Commission and Chamber of Commerce.
Editorial: Hydro, neighbors must work together
Editorial: Hydro, neighbors must work together
Publication Date: 12/19/08
St. Johns County Commissioners tackled a tough issue Tuesday -- whether Hydro Aluminum could proceed with its planned unit development designation for its 104-acre site. The commission, after a four-hour public hearing, voted 4-0 to approve the rezoning.
Many nearby residents in St. Augustine Shores wanted the commission to deny Hydro's request.
Hydro's main spokesman, Matthew Dionne, vice president and general manager, Southeast Region, Hydro Aluminum North America. He said Hydro was as responsive as it could be to the residents' complaints. In some cases, Hydro was able to resolve complaints once they isolated the noise drawing the complaints. But Dionne said it will not be able to reduce all noise associated with the operation.
Working together is going to be a challenge Hydro and the residents have to work out. We encourage Hydro to continue to be as responsive and sensitive to the residents as it have been through the rezoning application period.
We encourage residents to call Hydro, be persistent, so that problems can be resolved as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
We also remind the residents that it is not a Realtor's fault if they feel they relocated to the wrong place. Who makes a big purchase such as a house without checking out the neighborhood on their own, talking to other residents, driving all roads around their potential home?
This expansion is important to the county's economy. Hydro's payroll is $20 million annually and it pays $1.86 million a year in taxes. We can't afford to lose Hydro.
We trust Hydro will continue its commitment to the residents. The County Commission and the nearby residents will hold Hydro to that commitment.
Traffic light's delayed
Regarding Thursday's editorial, "New traffic light in good spot," the new traffic signal at King Street and Malaga Street/Sebastian Harbour Drive will not be operational by Christmas after all, according to Monica Reifeiss, who is project spokesman. She said she learned Thursday that, because of the upcoming holidays the signal will not be fully operational until Jan. 5. However, starting this Monday, the light will go to the red/yellow flashing configuration. The light will flash yellow for King Street drivers, meaning caution, and red, meaning a full stop before proceeding through the intersection, for drivers on Malaga Street/Sebastian Harbor Drive.
J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc. of Jacksonville is doing the job for $1.1 million. It includes a host of safety and drainage repairs, too.
What's a wait of a couple more weeks when we know the outcome is a safer intersection?
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121908/opinions_1219_047.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Publication Date: 12/19/08
St. Johns County Commissioners tackled a tough issue Tuesday -- whether Hydro Aluminum could proceed with its planned unit development designation for its 104-acre site. The commission, after a four-hour public hearing, voted 4-0 to approve the rezoning.
Many nearby residents in St. Augustine Shores wanted the commission to deny Hydro's request.
Hydro's main spokesman, Matthew Dionne, vice president and general manager, Southeast Region, Hydro Aluminum North America. He said Hydro was as responsive as it could be to the residents' complaints. In some cases, Hydro was able to resolve complaints once they isolated the noise drawing the complaints. But Dionne said it will not be able to reduce all noise associated with the operation.
Working together is going to be a challenge Hydro and the residents have to work out. We encourage Hydro to continue to be as responsive and sensitive to the residents as it have been through the rezoning application period.
We encourage residents to call Hydro, be persistent, so that problems can be resolved as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
We also remind the residents that it is not a Realtor's fault if they feel they relocated to the wrong place. Who makes a big purchase such as a house without checking out the neighborhood on their own, talking to other residents, driving all roads around their potential home?
This expansion is important to the county's economy. Hydro's payroll is $20 million annually and it pays $1.86 million a year in taxes. We can't afford to lose Hydro.
We trust Hydro will continue its commitment to the residents. The County Commission and the nearby residents will hold Hydro to that commitment.
Traffic light's delayed
Regarding Thursday's editorial, "New traffic light in good spot," the new traffic signal at King Street and Malaga Street/Sebastian Harbour Drive will not be operational by Christmas after all, according to Monica Reifeiss, who is project spokesman. She said she learned Thursday that, because of the upcoming holidays the signal will not be fully operational until Jan. 5. However, starting this Monday, the light will go to the red/yellow flashing configuration. The light will flash yellow for King Street drivers, meaning caution, and red, meaning a full stop before proceeding through the intersection, for drivers on Malaga Street/Sebastian Harbor Drive.
J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc. of Jacksonville is doing the job for $1.1 million. It includes a host of safety and drainage repairs, too.
What's a wait of a couple more weeks when we know the outcome is a safer intersection?
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121908/opinions_1219_047.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Hydro OK'd for expansion
Hydro OK'd for expansion
Neighborhood against rezoning for aluminum processing plant
By MARCIA LANE
marcia.lane@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/17/08
A "No to Hydro" sign abandoned in an audience chair was all that remained of the protest over Hydro-Aluminum's request for a planned unit development designation after Tuesday's St. Johns County Commission meeting.
Protestors, including residents from the Shores, Tuscany and Winding Creek, lost as commissioners voted 4-0 for the rezoning of the 104 acres.
Chances are protesters won't go away, but they aren't likely to hire a lawyer and fight in the courts, said Jerry Zinn.
"All we can do is continue to try and work with Hydro. For four years we've worked with them, slowly making questionable progress," said Zinn, a Shores resident who was one of the main spokesmen for the protesters.
Residents were hoping to make their points with commissioners as they explained their concerns about the plant. Those concerns include round-the-clock noise, environmental and health issues, security, traffic and dropping property values.
Commissioners listened to their side and that of the aluminum processing plant for nearly four hours before casting their vote on rezoning the property for Open Rural (OR) and Industrial Warehouse (IW) designations to PUD.
Hydro brought in a busload of workers clad in identical powder blue shirts to show the economic impact of the plant. Local businessmen, contractors and representatives of community groups the company supports added their pleas, emphasizing the company's financial importance and civic value to the community.
"We're trying to do what's in the best interest of the overall community and county," District 3 Commissioner Mark Miner said as he made the motion to approve the PUD. Miner, who only recently took office, was facing his first tough decision as the plant and the potential voters are in his district.
District 2 Commissioner Ron Sanchez said if the commission didn't back the plant it would be seen by all businesses considering moving to the area as a negative.
He, along with some other commissioners, took swipes at past county commissions for decisions that led to some of the problems the issue brought out.
"You have to question why there wasn't a large buffer zone required for the development," Sanchez said, calling it a "bad situation for everyone."
Land planner Karen Taylor with Hydro reminded commissioners the plant zoning became nonconforming because of changes by the county to the comp plan and land use. The PUD changing the zoning of the 104 acres off Roehrs Road takes care of that issue, allows for expansion of the plant and offers a 20-year plan for the plant.
When the Planning & Zoning Agency heard the issue in November, they voted 5-2 to approve the application. Dissenting voters raised concerns about the relationship of industrial adjacent to residential and establishing an industrial corridor in an inappropriate area.
The company has seen a drop in workforce from a previous high of about 500 due to worsening economy. The 20-year expansion plan calls for adding 85,000 square feet to the existing plant and, over the years, more than 160,000 square feet of offices.
The work force could grow to 600 as the economy improves and demand for the company's aluminum product increases. That will also increase the amount of traffic and work at the plant.
Hydro officials have tried to address residents' complaints, said Hydro Vice President and General Manager Matt Dionne.
That included developing buffer zones, putting up walls to cut down on the sound, moving the scrap pile away from residences and stopping delivery of metals from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Switching from wet paint to dry paint will produce fewer chemicals in the air, and moving some of the work indoors will cut down on noise, Dionne said.
Some things won't change, he warned. The firm must continue to operate its foundry round the clock, and the noise won't go away completely.
"The sound of crashing metal will never disappear," Dionne said, adding the company will continue to work on reducing noise decibels.
------------
Joan and Dan Mrozek loved St. Augustine, so the decision to move here from New York wasn't hard.
They bought a $400,000 home in the Tuscany subdivision last year.
Then they found out the noise from Hydro-Aluminum was so bad they couldn't open their windows.
They blame the real estate agent who sold them the house.
"No real estate agent will tell you there's a factory there," Dan Mrozek said. "They're hungry to sell these houses ... it's a very dishonest approach."
They didn't know the neighbors to ask and didn't see the plant when they were looking at the property.
"And the sign (for Hydro-Aluminum) is so small you'd never see it," observed his wife, Joan Mrozek.
Their house faces the plant.
When she opened her door one morning at 5 after hearing the noise, "Literally my lungs contracted because of the foul air," she said.
"Nobody's going to buy the house. We're going to be stuck," he said.
Joseph Racano has lived at his house for five years. He says the heavy trucks keep his sons from playing in the yard, and he's concerned about potential health hazards because of the plant. He, too, can't open his windows.
While he agrees homeowners need to do due diligence before buying, "I also believes in disclosure (by agents)," he said.
Several homeowners said the plant was "completely different" in scale and production before Hydro bought it.
Home owners at Tuesday's St. Johns County Commission meeting were upset with Hydro, but they were equally upset with real estate salespeople who didn't tell them about the plant.
They got sympathy from at least one commissioner.
District 5 Commissioner Ken Bryan, before voting for the plant rezoning, said he had gotten a pile of letters and e-mails.
Among the stories he heard were from homeowners who dealt with "unscrupulous (agents) who sell without full disclosure. ... That's the kind of thing we've got to try and address in the future."
Bryan said he expects to see more such problems in the future.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121708/news_1217_018.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Neighborhood against rezoning for aluminum processing plant
By MARCIA LANE
marcia.lane@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/17/08
A "No to Hydro" sign abandoned in an audience chair was all that remained of the protest over Hydro-Aluminum's request for a planned unit development designation after Tuesday's St. Johns County Commission meeting.
Protestors, including residents from the Shores, Tuscany and Winding Creek, lost as commissioners voted 4-0 for the rezoning of the 104 acres.
Chances are protesters won't go away, but they aren't likely to hire a lawyer and fight in the courts, said Jerry Zinn.
"All we can do is continue to try and work with Hydro. For four years we've worked with them, slowly making questionable progress," said Zinn, a Shores resident who was one of the main spokesmen for the protesters.
Residents were hoping to make their points with commissioners as they explained their concerns about the plant. Those concerns include round-the-clock noise, environmental and health issues, security, traffic and dropping property values.
Commissioners listened to their side and that of the aluminum processing plant for nearly four hours before casting their vote on rezoning the property for Open Rural (OR) and Industrial Warehouse (IW) designations to PUD.
Hydro brought in a busload of workers clad in identical powder blue shirts to show the economic impact of the plant. Local businessmen, contractors and representatives of community groups the company supports added their pleas, emphasizing the company's financial importance and civic value to the community.
"We're trying to do what's in the best interest of the overall community and county," District 3 Commissioner Mark Miner said as he made the motion to approve the PUD. Miner, who only recently took office, was facing his first tough decision as the plant and the potential voters are in his district.
District 2 Commissioner Ron Sanchez said if the commission didn't back the plant it would be seen by all businesses considering moving to the area as a negative.
He, along with some other commissioners, took swipes at past county commissions for decisions that led to some of the problems the issue brought out.
"You have to question why there wasn't a large buffer zone required for the development," Sanchez said, calling it a "bad situation for everyone."
Land planner Karen Taylor with Hydro reminded commissioners the plant zoning became nonconforming because of changes by the county to the comp plan and land use. The PUD changing the zoning of the 104 acres off Roehrs Road takes care of that issue, allows for expansion of the plant and offers a 20-year plan for the plant.
When the Planning & Zoning Agency heard the issue in November, they voted 5-2 to approve the application. Dissenting voters raised concerns about the relationship of industrial adjacent to residential and establishing an industrial corridor in an inappropriate area.
The company has seen a drop in workforce from a previous high of about 500 due to worsening economy. The 20-year expansion plan calls for adding 85,000 square feet to the existing plant and, over the years, more than 160,000 square feet of offices.
The work force could grow to 600 as the economy improves and demand for the company's aluminum product increases. That will also increase the amount of traffic and work at the plant.
Hydro officials have tried to address residents' complaints, said Hydro Vice President and General Manager Matt Dionne.
That included developing buffer zones, putting up walls to cut down on the sound, moving the scrap pile away from residences and stopping delivery of metals from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Switching from wet paint to dry paint will produce fewer chemicals in the air, and moving some of the work indoors will cut down on noise, Dionne said.
Some things won't change, he warned. The firm must continue to operate its foundry round the clock, and the noise won't go away completely.
"The sound of crashing metal will never disappear," Dionne said, adding the company will continue to work on reducing noise decibels.
------------
Joan and Dan Mrozek loved St. Augustine, so the decision to move here from New York wasn't hard.
They bought a $400,000 home in the Tuscany subdivision last year.
Then they found out the noise from Hydro-Aluminum was so bad they couldn't open their windows.
They blame the real estate agent who sold them the house.
"No real estate agent will tell you there's a factory there," Dan Mrozek said. "They're hungry to sell these houses ... it's a very dishonest approach."
They didn't know the neighbors to ask and didn't see the plant when they were looking at the property.
"And the sign (for Hydro-Aluminum) is so small you'd never see it," observed his wife, Joan Mrozek.
Their house faces the plant.
When she opened her door one morning at 5 after hearing the noise, "Literally my lungs contracted because of the foul air," she said.
"Nobody's going to buy the house. We're going to be stuck," he said.
Joseph Racano has lived at his house for five years. He says the heavy trucks keep his sons from playing in the yard, and he's concerned about potential health hazards because of the plant. He, too, can't open his windows.
While he agrees homeowners need to do due diligence before buying, "I also believes in disclosure (by agents)," he said.
Several homeowners said the plant was "completely different" in scale and production before Hydro bought it.
Home owners at Tuesday's St. Johns County Commission meeting were upset with Hydro, but they were equally upset with real estate salespeople who didn't tell them about the plant.
They got sympathy from at least one commissioner.
District 5 Commissioner Ken Bryan, before voting for the plant rezoning, said he had gotten a pile of letters and e-mails.
Among the stories he heard were from homeowners who dealt with "unscrupulous (agents) who sell without full disclosure. ... That's the kind of thing we've got to try and address in the future."
Bryan said he expects to see more such problems in the future.
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© The St. Augustine Record
Guest Column: Hydro responds to critics of plan
Guest Column: Hydro responds to critics of plan
MATTHEW DIONNE
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/14/08
The aluminum manufacturing facility on Riviera Boulevard has been a cornerstone of St. Augustine's economy for more than 30 years. Since Hydro North America acquired it in 2002, the facility has seen more than $30 million in improvements and established itself as a good corporate citizen in St. Johns County.
Hydro has been working with elected officials and local business leaders for more than a year on a Planned Unit Development (PUD), a form of zoning common in establishing residential subdivisions and shopping centers. This public process will conclude on Dec. 16 with a hearing before the County Commission (set for 1:30 p.m.)
Interested St. Augustine residents should have all the facts concerning this process and how it will benefit all the parties involved. Hydro has kept area residents informed throughout this process, including holding its own public meeting. Unfortunately, many details have been omitted, misstated or misinterpreted by others. Accurate facts, however, are essential to facilitate the public's understanding of the PUD process.
The PUD establishes a growth plan for a period of up to 20 years. It defines certain restrictions, such as building height and density of land development, which will protect Hydro's residential neighbors. The facility at Riviera Boulevard encompasses approximately 150 acres, 40 of which are currently developed. The building covers more than 334,000 square feet. While the PUD will allow Hydro to update its facilities, it will not expand the company's property boundaries, nor will it grant Hydro any extraordinary rights or exemptions.
A land planner assisted Hydro with creating a master development plan, including land-use designations and buffer zones. Hydro has established conservation areas (like the old compound on Riviera Boulevard) and buffer zones, to protect against future development near property boundaries. It also conducted and reported traffic studies to demonstrate compliance to local ordinances.
A PUD will also allow Hydro to manage and adapt its facilities to accommodate its day-to-day operations, ensuring that the company continues contributing to St. Johns County well into the future. These contributions are significant as Hydro is one of the largest industrial manufacturers in the county.
Hydro currently employs 326 people, more than half of whom live in St. Johns County. The company's average payroll, more than $20 million annually, flows into the local economy through the purchases of everyday life, such as groceries, gas, rent, movie tickets and such.
Hydro pays more than $1.86 million per year in taxes, including payroll, property and other taxes. It spends more than $8.3 million to purchase goods and services from local St. Johns County and regional-based companies. This includes everything from fuel to office supplies. And just since 2007, Hydro has spent approximately $6 million on facility enhancements and safety improvements.
Hydro has developed a Web site -- www.hydro.com/sta -- dedicated to its St. Augustine PUD application so that neighbors and residents can get the full facts about this process and our facility.
This PUD will help Hydro remain a corporate leader in St. Johns County, providing jobs to area residents and revenue to local businesses and the county in these most difficult economic times.
*
Matthew Dionne is vice president and general manager, Hydro Aluminum North American Inc.
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http://staugustine.com/stories/121408/opinions_1214_057.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
MATTHEW DIONNE
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/14/08
The aluminum manufacturing facility on Riviera Boulevard has been a cornerstone of St. Augustine's economy for more than 30 years. Since Hydro North America acquired it in 2002, the facility has seen more than $30 million in improvements and established itself as a good corporate citizen in St. Johns County.
Hydro has been working with elected officials and local business leaders for more than a year on a Planned Unit Development (PUD), a form of zoning common in establishing residential subdivisions and shopping centers. This public process will conclude on Dec. 16 with a hearing before the County Commission (set for 1:30 p.m.)
Interested St. Augustine residents should have all the facts concerning this process and how it will benefit all the parties involved. Hydro has kept area residents informed throughout this process, including holding its own public meeting. Unfortunately, many details have been omitted, misstated or misinterpreted by others. Accurate facts, however, are essential to facilitate the public's understanding of the PUD process.
The PUD establishes a growth plan for a period of up to 20 years. It defines certain restrictions, such as building height and density of land development, which will protect Hydro's residential neighbors. The facility at Riviera Boulevard encompasses approximately 150 acres, 40 of which are currently developed. The building covers more than 334,000 square feet. While the PUD will allow Hydro to update its facilities, it will not expand the company's property boundaries, nor will it grant Hydro any extraordinary rights or exemptions.
A land planner assisted Hydro with creating a master development plan, including land-use designations and buffer zones. Hydro has established conservation areas (like the old compound on Riviera Boulevard) and buffer zones, to protect against future development near property boundaries. It also conducted and reported traffic studies to demonstrate compliance to local ordinances.
A PUD will also allow Hydro to manage and adapt its facilities to accommodate its day-to-day operations, ensuring that the company continues contributing to St. Johns County well into the future. These contributions are significant as Hydro is one of the largest industrial manufacturers in the county.
Hydro currently employs 326 people, more than half of whom live in St. Johns County. The company's average payroll, more than $20 million annually, flows into the local economy through the purchases of everyday life, such as groceries, gas, rent, movie tickets and such.
Hydro pays more than $1.86 million per year in taxes, including payroll, property and other taxes. It spends more than $8.3 million to purchase goods and services from local St. Johns County and regional-based companies. This includes everything from fuel to office supplies. And just since 2007, Hydro has spent approximately $6 million on facility enhancements and safety improvements.
Hydro has developed a Web site -- www.hydro.com/sta -- dedicated to its St. Augustine PUD application so that neighbors and residents can get the full facts about this process and our facility.
This PUD will help Hydro remain a corporate leader in St. Johns County, providing jobs to area residents and revenue to local businesses and the county in these most difficult economic times.
*
Matthew Dionne is vice president and general manager, Hydro Aluminum North American Inc.
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© The St. Augustine Record
Guest Column: Objects to Record's editorial on Hydro
Guest Column: Objects to Record's editorial on Hydro
LYNN BOORAS
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/21/08
My husband and I purchased a home on Merida Road in St. Augustine Shores this past spring, and we are very happy there.
I just have to respond to Friday's editorial, "Hydro, neighbors must work together," concerning the rezoning of Hydro Aluminum and its impact on parts of the Shores. I attended the St. Johns County Commission meeting Tuesday concerning this issue.
What I mostly came away with was a sense of relief at having personally dodged this problem. Apparently our house is far enough away from the plant that we are not aware of the noise on a regular basis. Now we will be listening for it. Who knows how that might change in the future.
I thought that traffic noise from U.S. 1 would be our biggest problem.
It made me want to scream when I read in the paper that it's the homeowner's problem that they bought a house without scrutinizing the neighborhood well enough. Give me a break. That (Hydro) sign on U.S. 1 is so small that we lived here for months before we noticed it. No Realtor in their right mind would make a point of it in this economy.
Most people think that the entire purpose of zoning is to avoid just the problem that we are experiencing. Why should we have to assume that the county doesn't care about that, and be on the alert ourselves? I've lived in a lot of places and have never seen such a close proximity of industrial and residential zoning. I'm sorry, but the word "stupid" comes to mind.
I don't blame Hydro Aluminum. If I were them, I'd want to be as unobtrusive as possible, too. They were here before these new residences. The louder people complain the more important it is for them to get their right to be there and expand down on paper. The situation will only get more tense for them when this residentially zoned area is completely built out.
I find it amazing that the fact that the local government zoned the areas so close to this factory as residential is often glossed over. In your editorial, the fact that the government needs the taxes that Hydro Aluminum pays seems like your biggest concern. It sounds to me like you're saying that zoning should be based primarily on monetary issues, and if a few homeowners have to get hosed in the process that's just too bad.
I hope that's not true, and that we have all learned something from this.
Thanks for allowing me to vent.
I really enjoy and appreciate your newspaper.
*
Lynn Booras and her husband moved to St. Lucie County in Florida from Iowa in 2003 when their children were finished with school. They decided to leave South Florida because it became more crowded than they liked. They have lived in St. Augustine for one year. "The St. Augustine area has more of a small-town feeling. We love the beaches and natural
LYNN BOORAS
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/21/08
My husband and I purchased a home on Merida Road in St. Augustine Shores this past spring, and we are very happy there.
I just have to respond to Friday's editorial, "Hydro, neighbors must work together," concerning the rezoning of Hydro Aluminum and its impact on parts of the Shores. I attended the St. Johns County Commission meeting Tuesday concerning this issue.
What I mostly came away with was a sense of relief at having personally dodged this problem. Apparently our house is far enough away from the plant that we are not aware of the noise on a regular basis. Now we will be listening for it. Who knows how that might change in the future.
I thought that traffic noise from U.S. 1 would be our biggest problem.
It made me want to scream when I read in the paper that it's the homeowner's problem that they bought a house without scrutinizing the neighborhood well enough. Give me a break. That (Hydro) sign on U.S. 1 is so small that we lived here for months before we noticed it. No Realtor in their right mind would make a point of it in this economy.
Most people think that the entire purpose of zoning is to avoid just the problem that we are experiencing. Why should we have to assume that the county doesn't care about that, and be on the alert ourselves? I've lived in a lot of places and have never seen such a close proximity of industrial and residential zoning. I'm sorry, but the word "stupid" comes to mind.
I don't blame Hydro Aluminum. If I were them, I'd want to be as unobtrusive as possible, too. They were here before these new residences. The louder people complain the more important it is for them to get their right to be there and expand down on paper. The situation will only get more tense for them when this residentially zoned area is completely built out.
I find it amazing that the fact that the local government zoned the areas so close to this factory as residential is often glossed over. In your editorial, the fact that the government needs the taxes that Hydro Aluminum pays seems like your biggest concern. It sounds to me like you're saying that zoning should be based primarily on monetary issues, and if a few homeowners have to get hosed in the process that's just too bad.
I hope that's not true, and that we have all learned something from this.
Thanks for allowing me to vent.
I really enjoy and appreciate your newspaper.
*
Lynn Booras and her husband moved to St. Lucie County in Florida from Iowa in 2003 when their children were finished with school. They decided to leave South Florida because it became more crowded than they liked. They have lived in St. Augustine for one year. "The St. Augustine area has more of a small-town feeling. We love the beaches and natural
Letter: PZA decision ignored Hydro's noise
Letter: PZA decision ignored Hydro's noise
Tom Phillips
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 11/21/08
Editor: Each member of the St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency emphatically agreed that the situation with Hydro Aluminum operating within a residential plan at the St. Augustine Shores was "just a mess." They all lamented the carelessness of past planners and commissioners which allowed this to happen.
The major problem is noise; periodic crashes of aluminum scrap onto concrete or metal floors at any time of night or day, exceeding county noise code.
Then, the agency approved, on a 5-2 vote, Hydro's request to expand its physical footprint by 85 percent and personnel employment by 71 percent, in order to significantly increase production. Two members voted down the proposal because, to begin with, this operation was incompatible with a residential zone.
Of the other five, one said, "They were there first (the factory), so that's that." The other four basically concurred that, "Since they're already there, why not?" In other words, "What's a little more noise?"
Not one of these members asked the factory representatives if, along with the anticipated increase in production, there would be an accompanying increase in noise. Not one.
Tom Phillips
St. Augustine
(Phillips says he represents CAN-IT, a group of more than 100 residents of the Tuscany development in St. Augustine Shores.)
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© The St. Augustine Record
Tom Phillips
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 11/21/08
Editor: Each member of the St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency emphatically agreed that the situation with Hydro Aluminum operating within a residential plan at the St. Augustine Shores was "just a mess." They all lamented the carelessness of past planners and commissioners which allowed this to happen.
The major problem is noise; periodic crashes of aluminum scrap onto concrete or metal floors at any time of night or day, exceeding county noise code.
Then, the agency approved, on a 5-2 vote, Hydro's request to expand its physical footprint by 85 percent and personnel employment by 71 percent, in order to significantly increase production. Two members voted down the proposal because, to begin with, this operation was incompatible with a residential zone.
Of the other five, one said, "They were there first (the factory), so that's that." The other four basically concurred that, "Since they're already there, why not?" In other words, "What's a little more noise?"
Not one of these members asked the factory representatives if, along with the anticipated increase in production, there would be an accompanying increase in noise. Not one.
Tom Phillips
St. Augustine
(Phillips says he represents CAN-IT, a group of more than 100 residents of the Tuscany development in St. Augustine Shores.)
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/112108/opinions_1121_028.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
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