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Here is what I got so far…
Newark: $345,000 legal fees
Newark: $12,000 environmental consultant’s analysis
New Castle County: $20,000 in study fees on the proposal
As for union threats:
Newark had a proposal to get rid of its alderman court.
University of Delaware had a proposal to strip $3 million away in funding.
But those were threats and never came about….
But…. the point is, that because the The Data Center tried to sneak one past the citizens of this state, particularly the municipality of Newark (remember the Mayoral election?)… there will now be less money going into the Newark economy. Something now will not be happen, that very well could have been…
And that is such a tragic waste. Far more than the copious amounts of lost profits now, NOT, coming from the brownfields of Chrysler…
But, now, we can make room for another project there, one which will do all the same great things, without raising the cancer rates or noise levels among its potential new neighbors….
Take aways.
One: morality won one… Bottom line was that it was totally immoral for the University of Delaware to contribute to the deaths of minors, geezers, and everyone else.
Two: it was a private decision. Not subject to political pressure…
Three: Dumb ideas are dumb ideas. Those who said “WTF” at the very first, did the work to pull back the apple skin and discover it was really an onion underneath deserve the credit. As the pro-TDC ad on WDEL fondly puts forth: the truth will explain everything.
Four: It exposed the difference between Jack Markell and Ruth Ann Minner when it comes to the state taking sides between the 1% and the 99%… Ruth Ann Minner’s legacy may now be seen in a different light…
Five: This was a Wall Street capital venture and nothing else. The people pushing it were used, and we have to be circumspect of everything these same: Markell, the Construction Industry, and Construction unions say now… It is not to the point of pulling support for the prevailing wage yet.. stress yet, but support for doing so has now mushroomed over the past 2 months, because of this… It will take everything they got, to fight it next year… and they may lose.
Six: “More Jobs” are not a good enough reason to do destructive things…. We are better than that. Finding the right thing first, then putting people to work, is the better idea.
Seven: This administration believes in sneaking things past the public….. The list is long: Privatizing Wilmington’s Port, Charter School Enhancements, Common Core, Smarter Balanced Assessments, rail cars in Delaware, Cash Management Board, Gutting the Coastal Zone Act, support developers over neighboring citizens,… and the TDC.
THe first proposal is never what is really going to happen.
Eight: Citizens do make a difference… A good nation (state, community, whatever,) is dependent on activism.
Nine: We all need to be part of the Star Campus Project going forward…. We need consensus, Not SURPRISE! IT’S DONE! CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT NOW!!!
It lost the ground it was to be built upon. Completely outside the political spectrum, the University of Delaware decided in its own best interest, that the data center was too much of a problem.
It pulled the lease.
The data center can still go forward…. It just now needs another piece of ground…. But for now though, Newark residents will not die an earlier death.
That is something worth celebrating….
It is time to look forward into building a fusion reaction research center in that same spot…. courtesy of everyone’s friend, the Federal Government….
Did you know that Bloom Energy was operating beyond the scope of its DNREC permit? It took prying citizens’ eyes to discover this… DNREC says “oops” it didn’t know… I don’t think Bloom Energy has commented yet… But are we to assume that across this entire state, no one knew what the permit levels were, or that this plant was over-exceeding them?
The issue lies with their excessive use of natural gas. They are purchasing more than the permit allows… Not a big problem except that of course this extra purchase gets passed on to Delaware’s Delmarva rate payers in the form of extra charges on their monthly bill.
But what if the issue instead was pollution? Such as spewing out more radon than allowed. Or more mercury than allowed? Or more cadmium than allowed? Who would know? Someone? Ahhh, but who would say?
One very damning reason why the TDC cannot, and should not be allowed to continue in Newark…
For example, would you ever trust the entire state’s financial assets to a stock broker who was fined by the SEC for illegal actions? Oh, but wait. Excuse me. In this state we do… Not only do we trust this one person with all of our Treasury, who was fined over $900,000 by the SEC (he sits on the Cash Management Board), but when he whines over the idea of any transparency coming to the Cash Management Board, the governor and his movers in Legislature, remove the Treasurer from being able to watch over this Criminal running his hands through our state’s money?
So…. Can we trust this administration’s promises when they say they will keep a tight rein on the Data Center Project’s pollution?
What a silly question I just asked… When it comes to this administration, we already have our answer….
Although support for the TDC power plant may look like a chance to support jobs, the reality it that it is an environmental disaster.
When you support a disaster, you eventually lose….
Labor Unions will lose public support if this TDC center goes through…. Withholding the environmental dangers from the public may work short term and get approval, …
But once built, and when ash particles the size of golf-balls begin to fall on Newark, Stanton, Elsmere, Wilmington and Claymont, the public will ask,,, how on earth could this have been approved?
The truth will come out at that point, that bad people sneaked it through using bad ways…..
You will eventually lose prevailing wage if this TDC goes through…. The public will turn on you. I almost turned on you before I calmed down. Economics are a strong suit. But one’s life trumps economics. The environmental consequences of this TDC are gigantic. Everyone who gets cancer will blame you… Anything they can do to hurt you will become their dying wish, if you know what I mean….
What to do….
- Support a data center without a power plant.
- Support building a data center in a rural area close by so we get the same jobs… 20 miles into Cecil County or east of Middletown would do the trick.
- Support something else being built on the same location…. One that has no environmental impact.
Putting your loyalty and support behind the Data Center, is like putting your loyalty and support behind a candidate who unknown to you committed child abuse 25 years ago… At some future point, you lose all your investment…… and are left to fight a defensive war to keep more from being taken away by business groups…..
You did not know this would turn on you. But it has, and will get worse…. Now is the time to sneak out of the back of the crowd while no one is really looking or counting…..
Signed: Your most ardent supporter.
K
If you have money, you can buy an ad… There is nothing wrong with that. And, you can say whatever you want on any issue ad, even if it is not true…. There may be something morally wrong with that, but it is certainly not illegal… It is protected under free speech….
So if I were to try to get a view across that benefits me, I would buy an ad that lies and says my way is a great way, and possibly demean others who had different views….
This ad begins by saying they will refute the lies told by people living in Newark, those neighbors of the new power plant who don’t want a one spewing carcinogens over top of their properties…
A clock starts and game show music begins to play….
Lie one… Power plants can safely be built in residential areas….
They cite Princeton New Jersey as having a power plant within its city…. As you can see, it is a 14.6 MW facility… Delaware will put in a 248 MW facility… What is the difference? I’ll show you. Imagine each X below represents 100 people getting cancer from carcinogens these plants put out through their smokestacks…….
Princeton New Jersey X
Newark Delaware XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You tell me…. are they the same? (Being all male, the perpetrators of the TDC probably think size doesn’t matter. Every female knows differently.)
Lie two…. This efficient gas driven turbine power plant is safe because compared to coal, it has less pollution…..
The latter part is true. Gas does have fewer emissions than coal…. But the argument glosses over one very important factor which is visible by keeping he argument as is, but simply changing the topic…. As in: it’s ok for your daughter to sleep around with 4 different guys each week because prostitutes sleep with 28 guys or more every week…
What the hell kinda parent are you?
We are not talking about putting coal into Newark… We are talking about putting a gigantic gas fired turbine into Newark (see X’s above) … Coal is not even part of the equation… It is a distraction… What is at stake, is this:…. having nothing polluting our air RIGHT NOW…. versus to having a gigantic gas turbine spewing carcinogens 24/7 at full capacity for the next 75 years….
And if you remember…the EPA report showed that more people get cancer from gas turbines than coal fired ones… Really? Yes, really. Simply because gas turbines are located in high density areas, and no one…. lives right next to a coal fired power plant… Just like more trees fall on houses in cities, than they do in the middle of forests…..
No big deal? I would think not.
Lie Number 3…. The Sound is no louder than that of traffic..…
They play two clips…. That is actually true. Listen to those clips and think of that sound continuous 24/7…. while you are sitting in your pool. while you are entertaining guests, while you are catching a few zzzzz’s. or at 3:30 in the am when you can’t sleep…… I mean when chirping birds can wake you out of a deep slumber at 4:30 am, what do you think I-95 running down your street will sound like? I mean, have you ever stood on an overpass across a major highway? You have to shout to be heard…..
And this they say… is not a problem….
That is because they are some ad agency being paid a lot of money to try to influence people and have no incentive to tell the truth. They get paid more if the data center goes in…. and get little or nothing if it does not… They have a vested interest in making you think what they want… Not what is best for you….
The announcer then says time (60 secs.) is up and steers you to their website so they can track you and continue to send you more misinformation….. As with all ads, it is not what they say that is most of the problem… it is what they don’t say….
Their report on the level of carcinogens which they are required by law to do… shows that many carcinogens will rain down on Newark… if this plant goes through… Far, far, far more than are falling on Newark now…..
In Washington State, there is a chart showing cancer frequency rates among its towns… One town is off the charts… It has a similar sized gas turbine near its residential area….
75 years is an awfully long time…… Any other business other than a power plant, would give all the benefits… with none of the problems…. And the power plant could then be built in some rural area, with none of the problems this one will give here.
It is all about precision. When they say this power plant is good, they don’t say this power plant is good here… When other say this power plant is bad, they aren’t saying all power plants like this are bad….
It is just that campus of the University of Delaware, 200 yds from families’ houses in the town of Newark, is not the best place in the world to build a 248 MW gas fired CHP power plant….
That will never change, no matter how many ads get run on WDEL…….
Steve Newton, one of Delaware’s ablest analysts, issued the warning early in the year… I have since been on the lookout for what he called…. I believe…. The Great Distractor”….
This is a outrage so great, it dominates all discussion, to the extent no controversy can exist beyond it… It gets covered in the News Journal. It is the sole subject for weeks on end on the talk shows… etc…
Even bloggers take up the outrage, so inflamed are they and smelling blood, all want some credit for a kill….
Meanwhile, real bills that transfer the building blocks put in place over centuries of public schooling , get pulled and shuffled over to private enterprise….
Bluntly put, the rich get richer by picking all our pockets while we focus on the bar fight taking place on the floor directly in front of us, little realizing the entertainment is completely staged for our own fleecing…..
Yesterday the same topic dominated both the morning show, and afternoon show on WDEL…. Jonathan Starkey’s piece in the News Journal had done its part…..
There was considerable buzz; legislators were being called up on air, and duly pitching their outrage to get their name out in front of the voters….
The controversy is over the unclaimed property issue… Basically everyone is upset over how the government can claim unused gift cards… Yes, if you listened… that is what the entire controversy boiled down to. , The Republicans think they have an issue. The Government is taking private property because…. they can….
So let us pop this “distractor” and get back to reality… All this controversy is about who should own unclaimed property… Two people see a dollar bill in the road… Who should get it? Why does one have more right over it than the other? Should corporations be allowed to keep money that is not theirs? If I find a wallet with $500, should I keep it and spend it on me? Or should I turn it in to the police, and if no one comes and claims it, they then get to use the proceeds in their service to all….
Obviously, the latter is the more fair. I certainly have no right to that wallet, except by some made-up rule …. finders-keepers. Who does that money belong to? It belonged to someone, one of those who are protected by the police, and who are an individual just like me… Who is more likely to get an inquiry requesting whether anyone turned in a wallet with $500? A random stranger (me)? Or the police?….
Again, it is obvious to which one society would benefit having ownership of that dollar found in the street….. And the amounts of money are paltry… dollar bills for the most part….
Oh, but the outrage!! The Outrage! The outrage…..
“Look, Buzz, an alien…… Ha, made you look…… ”
There are some rather serious crises currently nibbling the foundation of the Markell and Democratic party.. Primarily they are two fold. The economic folly of cutting taxes on the top 1% of Delawareans, who should be funding the state with their windfall capital gains earnings, and that folly’s impact on stifling job growth…. and the crises of building charter schools for “Friends of Jack Markell” by dismantling the public schools that have carried Delaware to prominence up to this point……
They almost need this distraction… In a very bad way….
- Meanwhile they they insist on pushing forward the TDC, to the detriment of all those 30,000 Newarkians who will soon be breathing cancerous particles 24/7….
- Meanwhile they insist on pushing a Charter School agenda forward when next year’s charter schools can only muster 40% capacity.
- Meanwhile they insist on pushing Common Core, by now a completely debunked curriculum, that was so obviously created to summarily give one educational-material corporation an advantage over all others….
- Meanwhile, Delaware’s budget shortfall grows as the economy suffers under too low taxes and way too few government jobs.
- Meanwhile, Delaware is seeing global warming increase all costs statewide, while those wealthy who were to blame for it, get to keep a majority of their earnings off of it, tax free…
- Meanwhile, Delaware is giving far to much of our precious few resources to corporations who repeatedly, had always failed to deliver any return for our investment….
- Meanwhile, Delaware is destroying the 39th best teaching school in America, the educational department of the University of Delaware, to water it down to the abysmal Common Core standards…..
What this administrations sorely needs….
Is ” A Great Distractor”……. “Look, Buzz, an alien!”
Instead we should be watching out for……..
- House Bill # 334
- HB #333
- SB #210
- Looking forward to the necessary modifications to SB 51 and HB 165.
- And the fact that during these 8 years… Delaware’s children in poverty…. DOUBLED!
- Meanwhile, our cronyism allows our top income earners, to pay little or nothing in taxes……
That last one…… is the real outrage.…. one future generations will hold us accountable for decades to come………
Meanwhile
On Rick Jensen today this occurred. Ask him for the podcast… More later….
This was totally inspired by Nancy’s commentary on last night’s public meeting…… I’m curious. Does it fit? Like a glove?
Ken Grant, formerly with the Caesar Rodney Institute, a Koch Brothers’ mouthpiece, is now spokesperson for the TDC (The “Data” Center)… Granted, one would think also a former employee of AnalTech, would be technically more anal about throwing around facts. At least one would expect a lot less bluster…
Here is his take in the News Journal….
If you should choose to read it, you will find it to be mostly a lambasting of Newarks’ citizens and very little defense of the Data Center… Very little. Reminds one of when Caesar Rodney declared global warming was a hoax. It would attack all the scientific knowledge in the world, because it found one glacier out of 400,000 that was growing…. Of course in the readers head would pop this question… But what about the other 399,999? But the Caesar Rodney Institute was simply too unconcerned with 399,999 other pieces of evidence to even care…
Anyway… back to what he said….
He said: there are 4000 CHP’s scattered across the US… Here is the data sheet he pulled up to write his piece….. (pdf)
Here are his 4000 units. Here is what he doesn’t show…
Any little business that has a generator that also produces heat is included in his file. Even the original presentation made to the Newark zoning commission, that the data center would need an auxiliary power source like one might find on an IKEA, is included on the map…. I think it would be safe to assume that were such a small power plant going in at the Data Center, there would be no controversy as we speak…
The problem is the size… Ken Grant in his op-ed makes no mention of his size… The difference in size is like you took the penises of 5 horses, sewed them together and then attached that to a person… Saying he has a penis, so does every male… is disingenuous and dishonest… You are technically correct he has a penis… But …. who would want him in an arranged marriage with their daughter?
It may be true there are 8 people in Manhattan with penises. Bet none of them spew 10 horse testicle’s full of discharge, do they?
The one he touts in Austin is 52-75 MW. The award winning Texas A and M, is a paltry 60MW. Delaware will host a 248 MW generator.
Size does matter….
Let us talk water….. At minimum, the Christina River flows 6 cubic feet per second. The data center will use ~34.7 gallons per second (~3 million gal/day). There are 7.48 gallons per cubic foot. Rounding out the conversion, the data center will use 4.64 cubic feet per second of water flow out of the 6 cubic feet per second one usually finds every August. Obviously 1.36 cubic feet are left to fulfill all the needs downstream… The flow levels back in 2003 would leave dry river bed.
That is just not right. And Ken Grant (of course) makes no mention of that….
Let us talk air quality. Currently there is no radon in the air over Newark and Northern Delaware. There will be a lot. Radon as you know, kills. Currently there are no particles raining down on Newark Proper. These particles cause cancer… There will be a lot.. So these people that Ken Grant dismisses will be wheezing, coughing, hacking, and spitting up blood.
It is estimated that now after facts have matriculated into the community of Newark proper, that 98% of its residents are against the power plant. One is certain, that as these health facts get matriculated as well, that would be a guaranteed total…. For who wants to die a needless painful death?
So when Ken Grant calls 98% of Newark’s citizens who are sincerely worried about dying prematurely, ” a small group of very sincere but very wrong people”, perhaps he is correct in his assumption but just needs to turn that designation… the other way around…..
It is very tiny minority of the the Koch Brothers’ minions who deserve the ridicule and derision, not normal hard working Americans, who loved Newark so much, they bought a home here…..
kavips 
