And ADAGE Makes Three

Submitted to Shelton Blog by John Cox

I was talking with one of my co-workers at the lab yesterday. She has 5 kids and lives in downtown Shelton near Lumbermens (Pro-Builder). She has heard about the proposed new Simpson incinerator, and wonders how much of a problem it will be for her and her kids having a new neighborhood incinerator next door. I mentioned that another woman I know (Shawnie Whelan) and her family also live in the same area, and are extremely concerned and active in the county-wide no biomass incinerator movement.

The proposed Simpson biomass incinerator, if built, will shorten the lifespans of all the people who live and/or work in the downtown area. Inevitably, there would be an increase in the occurrence of illnesses that have been directly correlated to increased exposure to toxic biomass incinerator emissions (such as heart disease and respiratory ailments).

The affected population would be, of course, much larger than just those residing in downtown Shelton, but it is easier for most people to understand a problem when the problem is in their faces, literally. My wife, Christine, and I live in Shorecrest, which is directly across from Simpson, separated only by a narrow body of water. Like Shawnie and the others that live even closer, we would not welcome having to look at another smokestack. We would not welcome having to breathe more pollution. We would not welcome the sight of a smokestack continuing to belch pollution during burn bans and the normal winter inversions, knowing that the emissions being sent our way would be even more concentrated at those times. It will not make us feel better to know that an increase in Simpson's profit$ is the primary reason for all of this happening to us and to our community.

We were all initially lead to believe that when the new Simpson incinerator became operational, the old one would be shut down. Many people, including some Adage incinerator opponents, concluded that as the new incinerator was "cleaner", all would be well, and that there would be an overall reduction in emissions from Simpson when the old incinerator was shut down. But Simpson seems to have had a change of heart. At a public meeting several weeks ago, Simpson revealed a new plan. They would keep the old plant operational, but just for "emergencies", which would amount to maybe a couple of weeks per year, so they said.

I see no evidence that the City of Shelton would or could be able to put restrictions on Simpson's use of the old incinerator. The admitted purpose of the new plant is to generate “green” power which could be sold at very high prices to utility companies. The more power sold, the more Simpson would profit. If the old plant continued to operate to provide for Simpson's internal needs, all of the new plant's output could then be sold. Simpson would profit, and we'd pay with our health and lower property values, etc. If the proposed incinerators are built, what I see is both Simpson plants operating all the time...and ADAGE makes three. It's beginning to feel like a Charles Dickens novel around here.

I admit that this is only supposition at this point, but where there is smoke...

And I see lots of smoke.