State Rep. John Kowalko Stands Up For Newark Residents' Rights!

 (from Kavips 240MW plant emissions)

John Kowalko sent this along (asking I wait to post it until the News Journal published) ~ Delaware Voice: Newark residents not against gaining new jobs

As the representative for more than 20,000 people in the greater Newark area I am obligated to respond, on their behalf, to The News Journal’s recent edi­torial titled the “Sluggish economy in need of better cooperation.”

In my opinion the editorial board seems to have strained the boundaries of intellectual honesty when it implies that the legitimate concerns of the residents in the Newark area regarding the power plant proposal for the STAR Campus are “damaging the state’s rep­utation as an attractive place to bring business.”

The editorial board goes so far as to attempt to define the authenticity of the proposal as harmless to the residents’ concerns while failing to enun­ciate many of the key circum­stances and communications failures that have contributed to this controversy.

Quite frankly, it is disin­genuous to imply that the “pro­tests against this proposal and seemingly every other job­creation proposal that has come along in recent months” is to blame for a sluggish eco­nomic recovery.

There has been a woeful lack of dialogue with inclusion of the community in the plan­ning of this project with short shrift given to the rights and concerns of the residents as well.

This situation cannot be summed up in the simple state­ment that “the state has to stop saying no to jobs.”

The residents of Newark are not saying no to jobs and they have never said no to jobs although they have publicly expressed skepticism as to the accuracy of the projections that the Data Center has made.

To blame a group of resi­dents for the lack of jobs state­wide is convenient but ignores the reality of the post-reces­sion age.

The truth of the matter is that these “job creating” prop­ositions have been developed and agreed to without the in­clusion and knowledge of the community.

In fact the community be­came aware almost two years after the fact.

It became involved because it is an engaged community and has learned many of the untruths presented with no help from the various parties involved.

This suggests a pervasive attitude of indifference and disregard for the rights and opinions of taxpayers and a dismissive tone to regarding allowing them to engage in the conversation prior to rather than after the fact.

The inference of the editori­al board and the administration that the Newark homeowners and taxpayers should be held accountable for impeding job opportunities because of their legitimate concerns is myopic and baseless.

It appears that this dialogue disregards the rights of home­owners and residents of given areas to have any say in mea­suring their quality of life, property values or health threats to their families against business opportunities.

These families seem to be considered some sort of sub­jugated class of people with no more rights than tenant farm­ers, who are allowed only to cultivate their neighborhoods at the whim and pleasure of the business community and the administration.

My neighbors and constitu­ents expect me to represent their interests and doing so requires that I respond to your editorial and challenge its “factual” reflections.

Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark, represents the 25th House District.

With the comment rescues ~ 

Mary-Lee Lutz wrote ~ 

Rep. Kowalko, it seems to me that the community objections came to the fore simply because they were not consulted on the plans from the git-go. I have yet to read any of the facts they have presented to the developers which might advance their own case. I also have yet to read any of the alternatives they have proposed which would allay their concerns. I only read "don't build it here." I don't even hear "don't build it"… only "don't build it here."

Must a person come to the meetings to learn what it is that the communities are so concerned about? Would that person know any more if they did? Since you are the representative for these communities, I would expect you to state one or two of the facts the people have learned on their own and why these facts are such a concern. I would also expect you, or perhaps better a company representative, to lay out the other side of the story.

You claim that residents fear for the loss of their property value, their quality of life, and their health. All are certainly legitimate concerns. But without any reasons for their concerns I am left with the conclusion that all of this is nothing more than NIMBY.

So I said ~  

Ms. Lutz, no doubt is it past time for concerned Newarkers to submit a comprehensive DE Voice column but there is plenty of information online for curious people like you. Start with the UD Faculty Senate meeting video-recorded HERE http://www.nonewarkpowerplant.org/2013/10/18/ud-faculty-senate-open-meeting/ and look at other posts on that website. Also google my blog: Delaware Way TDC University of Delaware. 

David Carter also responded to Ms. Lutz ~

Perhaps a few excerpts from the Faculty senate meeting will help you.

Here is one from a resident on community concerns:

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=zx9i-5GA8v4
Here is one from a faculty member on pollution and the vapor cloud:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9xp1jcQ5rE
Here is one about how Newark City Council was mislead on rezoning the property:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSCLDwxNbOE

I would recommend you watch the full two hour faculty senate presentation to learn some of the issues (which was shared by Nancy Willing), but thought this might help get you started if time is limited.

There is also some clear documentation about many other misleading statements, such as the actual number of jobs that will be created. While these things may be simple mistakes in a changing project, public transparency is critical to ensure damages are minimal. It does not appear that TDC, the University, or the Government have been willing to transparent about this issue, and this is often the cause of many unanticipated negative consequences for project such as this proposal.

I am not a Newark resident, but a citizen deeply concerned about public policy and how to avoid really bad public decisions (for which this power plant decision may very well turn out to be, although I like the data center part of the project).

I hope this gets you started understanding the true nature of the problem.

And I added this ~

Willett Kempton wrote a fact-filled DE Voice column on the subject a few weeks ago you must have missed. Please take a look for it, And also this from local blogger Kavips:
Here is a science report you can try and debunk
http://kavips.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/in-newark-de-every-day-will-be-a-white-christmas-downwind-that-is/#respond

How much pollution spits out of a 240 Megawatt Gas Turbine. By coincidence GE ran tests on one in 2002.

Here is a list of elements that escape out of the smokestack and fall upon the houses and yards surrounding the Industrial area……

Aluminum
Arsenic
Calcium
Chlorine
Cobalt
Chromium
Copper
Iron
Potassium
Magnesium
Sodium
Nickel
Lead
Sulfur
Silicone
Titanium
Radium
Vanadium
Zinc

And these following ions

SO4
NO3
NH4
Cl
OC
EC

~*~