Editor:
I have lived in Blue Lake since 1957. I have asthma and get sick every time Ultrapower has another accident.
The pollution is bad enough. With that pollution, what would my home be worth? Where could I go? I am 56 years old.
Ultrapower has lied to Blue Lake right from the start. They cite Westley without mentioning the $20 million worth of safety equipment there. Nobody lives within three miles of the Westley plant. The nearest town is 10 miles away. Why?
All Ultrapower plans to do is add lime. Their electrostatic precipitator that they brag about so much has always been there. It doesn't work at all for the first 45 minutes of a burn, or prevent the hours of ash fallout at the end when they shut down for malfunctions. That's why we have pollution problems now.
At the beginning and end of each separate burn during the three-month trial, Blue Lake children will be exposed just as if someone shoveled lime onto an open, uncontrolled tire fire.
Many plants in California have tried adding small amounts of shredded tires to a wood burning facility like we have here, yet none are doing it now. Why not?
Do you trust Ultrapower to succeed when all the others have already failed? Why?
This valley is too precious to let Big Money from Colorado come in and bully us into letting them dirty it up worse than they're already doing. Let them burn tires in their own backyard.
Gayle Margaret Dodge, Blue Lake
Editor:
I would like to take exception to the letter by George Clark of Eureka (March) who claims that Yakima fails to produce a recyclable catalog. He missed the point.
I was assured by Yakima that its catalogs are recyclable and they took the time to explain the complex procedure to me. They do not advertise this in the catalog, I was told, because they "don't want to be affiliated with the Green political party."
According to the Arcata Community Recycling Center, it has accepted glossy paper since October 1995. The toxicity and complexity of recycling glossy paper requires a special process that is not available in many communities, especially rural areas and in countries outside the U.S. In fact, it has taken Americans many decades to simply learn to bundle their newsprint and separate their plastics Nos.1-6 for recycling. Since then, U.S. corporations have dictated many new requirements of sorting the wastes that they created.
Most Americans fail to make any connection between the products they buy and the environmental and political consequences of their purchase. As we begin to demand safer and simpler alternatives, the public is finding itself faced with a political war waged by the very companies our business has made profitable.
George Clark, Arcata
Editor's note: Yes, there are two George Clarks.
Editor:
Regarding the Journal's March article by Lisa Ladd-Wilson, "A scramble for Hauser's seat": I think reporters should check further for facts before they print someone else's allegations.
Many voters are very interested in a candidate's position on abortion. Among the Republicans running for the 1st District Assembly seat, Steve Henricksen is the only pro-life candidate. Both Margie Handley and Bonnie Neely are pro-abortion-killing.
I felt compelled to write this letter because of an entirely erroneous statement about the candidates in the March edition, "Neely breaks with the party line over abortion rights - which she favors - and many so-called 'women's issues.' Handley, she charges, is aligned with the anti-abortion movement."
I hope no pro-life voters were mislead by that article. ...
Hope A. McNeil, Eureka
Editor:
Educate yourself about the potentially largest housing development in Arcata in many years - the proposed Janes Creek West Simpson Annexation on the Arcata Bottoms.
A public meeting is scheduled at the Veterans Hall, 14th and J streets, Arcata on April 2 at 7:30 p.m. This meeting is put on by residents who are concerned about this project. Be informed.
Julianne Bettini, Arcata
Editor:
The new format of the calendar section is beautiful and clear - and about the best I have ever seen in a publication! Thank you!
Susan Deschenes, Arcata
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