Probably the first thing to point out about this meeting was that FONSI president Jon Barton was passing out pro ORC buttons for supporters of the strip mining project. As you may recall, Barton, berated LNG opponents for wearing no LNG t-shirts and buttons in a FONSI newsletter.
Martin Abst of DEQ made it clear he firmly believes the processing practices ORC will employ will have minimal impact on air quality on the surrounding neighborhood that includes two schools. At one point, Abst used the word “ecstatic”, before choking it back. Admitting he was not an expert on mining, when I pressed him he confirmed that his confidence in the processes was based entirely on information provided to him by the applicant, ORC.
Abst seemed to believe that his expression of confidence should allay any fears the public has about the air quality. Jody McCaffree pointed out, without enforcement of conditions and regulations there is no real safety and the underfunded agency may not have any teeth. ORC management hail from another strip mining operation, Iluka Resources, that had many non compliance issues with their conditional permits.
Present at the meeting was a representative of The Sentient Group, the money behind ORC. Sentient spoke up to say they would not fund an operation that risked litigation by violating permit conditions… did Sentient invest in Iluka I wonder? As an investment firm, once vested in a project that goes sideways, recovering the money may be most important.
We have learned with the BP oil spill that caps on damages limit liability to a company despite the horrific effects on the economy and environment. Paying a few fines may be cheaper than complying… starting the steel construction without a permit or certified third party inspector is a good example.
Also brought up at the meeting were concerns for light and noise pollution from the plant expected to run 24 hours a day 340 days a year.
