ORCAA INVESTIGATES OUR COMPLAINTS?

Submitted to Shelton Blog by John Cox

Here's a synopsis of ORCAA's "investigation" of our complaints about the air quality in Shelton:

Investigator 1: Hey! You smell anything?
Investigator 2: Nah, I don't smell nothing.
Investigator 1: Ok, let's go.

I'm not kidding. That was the extent of the investigation responding to my (and others') complaints about the odor and color of the air in downtown Shelton.

This was relayed to me during a recent phone conversation with Robert Moody, the Compliance Supervisor at ORCAA, who called in response to my complaints about air quality in Shelton.

When I suggested to Mr. Moody that smelling the air wasn't a very scientific method of determining if there was a pollution problem, he informed me that the human sense of smell was very sensitive detecting for certain odors. I mentioned that I wasn't convinced about the validity of this method.

I then asked Mr. Moody about what it would take to have ORCAA take measurements of the pollution levels in the downtown area. He didn't seem to know. I asked when was the last time measurements were taken in downtown Shelton. He didn't know. I asked what we needed to do to get ORCAA to install monitors, for at least a short period of time, to obtain some real information about what is happening here. He didn't know.

This was quite an eye opener for me. This is how ORCAA operates? This is how ORCAA protects the environment? How can ORCAA issue permits when they don't even know the levels of the pollutants in the air that are already existent here? It appears to this citizen that maybe ORCAA really doesn't give the slightest damn about what is happening in Shelton. It appears that the intent is not to protect us, but mesmerise us with pseudo-scientific hocus pocus while helping Adage and Simpson and Nippon and anybody else that can pull political strings to set up shop.

Something is VERY wrong here. It really stinks.

Contact:
Robert Moody, Compliance Supervisor
360-539-7610 x106
robert.moody[at]orcaa.org, email me

SHELTON BLOG UPDATE RE: No Biomass Incinerator March 12/7/10
Ten people showed up at 3:00 pm to peacefully march from Harrison Ave. to the ORCAA offices in the pouring rain in Olympia today, in a demonstration organized by Olympia Rising Tide. Fran McNair, ORCAA Executive Director, was disinclined to discuss biomass incinerator issues.

Cartoon by Claude