Legalectric

Degasify… degasify… degasify… degasify… Bakken crude must be degasified before it’s put into tankers and goes down the track!  What’s so hard about that to understand?

Yesterday, the DOT issued a letter of agreements with the Association of American Railroads:

DOT and AAR Letter – Feb 21 2014

The majority of which is blather that is make work feel good nothingness, the only thing with some quantifiable demonstrable meat to it is:

Nowhere do they address a requirement to degasify the crude before it is loaded, and it’s that gas in the crude that is so explosive.  HELLO!  When are they going to deal with the issue?

Here’s the DOT letter regarding degasifying:

1_2_14 DOT Rail_Safety_Alert

And here’s the part that addresses degasifying the crude before transport:

Come on, DOT, how hard is that to understand?  Bakken crude must be degasified before it goes rolling down the track.

The Keystone XL pipeline has been hit with a significant problem, and a MAJOR victory for landowners in Nebraska!  Here’s the Court’s decision:

Keystone XL Eminent Domain decision — LB-1161-Court-Order-Feb-19-2014

The Nutshell version:

This is David Williams.  He is NOT an attorney.  Pay attention — do not be taken in, as so many have.  But if you have, know you’re in good company, just ask Redd Foxx, Mickey Rooney, Lou Gossett, Nancy Wilson, et al.  Redd Foxx said, “I think the man needs help.”  Given the level of denial I’ve seen, yes, I think the man needs help.  Straighten up and fly right?  It’s long over due.

Those who may have hired him to do legal work should have it reviewed by an attorney licensed in Minnesota to assure that it’s up to snuff. Many people he’s been associated with have put a lot of time and intense effort into issues of concern, and they should have the peace of mind that their work and hard won gains are secure and not at risk because of his misrepresentations of his status as an attorney.

David Welford Williams, of Lanesboro, Minnesota, entered an Alford plea and was convicted of Unauthorized Practice of Law on December 17, 2013. There were three separate cases at issue, one originating with his contacts to the Lake of the Woods County District Court, another regarding National Trout Center, and another with a firm in the metro where he was representing himself as an attorney.  That’s just three weeks ago, after being investigated beginning around June 2010, on the charge he was convicted of the instance investigated began in May, 2011, and being interviewed in the investigation in July 2011 according to the article.  It took more than two years… What disturbs me the most about this is that after he knew he was under investigation, after he was charged, after he knew he was under scrutiny, he was still representing himself as a “retired lawyer,” sending emails as “lawyer” and hiring out for legal work.  He knew he was under investigation at the time that we talked about his not being licensed in Minnesota.

Fillmore County District Court File 23-CR-13-347

Reports in the press:

Man ordered to stop portraying himself as attorney – Post Bulletin

Lanesboro man accused of acting as attorney – Post Bulletin

Fillmore County Journal-8-30-2013 (formatting issues)

Williams is a familiar face in Minnesota, particularly regarding silica sand mining, particularly for working on the Fillmore County silica sand mining ordinance.  This summer, when people I know, particularly two former clients, were working with him, I was curious what sort of law he practiced, googled, as I do with all attorneys I’m dealing with, and found nothing.  NADA.  So I went to the MARS site, attorney registration, and nothing.  No David Williams there.  EH?  So I did some more googling, and ended up in California, at the State Bar’s site, where it said he was first “suspended,” and then “resigned, charges pending.”  Oh my…

Next, I emailed him and asked what’s up with that.  He called, we played phone tag, and when we finally connected, he denied he was practicing law without a license, that he’s just a lil’ ol’ retired lawyer, nope, not practicing law, no way, no how…  D-E-N-I-A-L.  I would have felt differently, not at all on alert, but for the info on the California site, and he admitted that he was the same David Welford Williams, Jr., that had been licensed in California.  So I did some more googling, up came info about a couple of workshops, and just recently, an application to the MPCA surfaced:

David Williams “retired lawyer” – 11/18/2013 Application for Silica Sand Rulemaking Committee

David Williams “attorney” – Experts teach townships about zoning to control sand – Republican Eagle

David Williams “attorney” – “Ain’t No Local Control. . . Without Controls”..

What I didn’t know, until today, was that two years and two months prior to our conversation, TWO YEARS AND TWO MONTHS, on May 10, 2011, he was charged in Fillmore County with Unauthorized Practice Law, and the matter was pending as we spoke, pending as he denied.  Really… I had no idea.  My bullshit detector went off, but I sure didn’t know charges were pending.  Wow… suffice it to say, I’m blown away.

Here are the specifics in the California file:

Supreme Court of California Order 9-23-1981_Suspension_Violation of Penal Code 470 (forgery)

Oh, great…

But wait, that’s not all, it gets worse:

Supreme Court of California Order 4-20-1983_Resignation with Disciplinary Proceedings Pending

And then there another matter, related to a civil case where he entered into a stipulation that he would pay to the tune of $113,055, which he didn’t pay, and which was paid by the state Client Security Fund:

Supreme Court of California Order 7-7-1983_4 Claims at Client Security Fund

Here’s a more colorful episode, check the quotes from Redd Foxx and the bit about the $9,769.60 “final payment on the 3.52 carat diamond ring” and charges he apparently ducked on that:

A blurb about his arrest:

And sentencing on the forgeries, including five years probation, restitution, and community service:

And here’s the real poop from a very pissed off Redd Foxx (click for larger version):

From Carmen McRae:

I’ll be five years next month that I’ve been working on the Goodhue Wind Project, or as Goodhue County notes, New Era Wind Farm, LLC f/k/a AWA Goodhue Wind, LLC, f/k/a Goodhue Wind, LLC.

This photo was taken by Marie McNamara in the Goodhue Wind Project footprint, can you spell E-A-G-L-E-S?

It was the project from hell, with SO many problems, built of cards and arrogant misrepresentations, bought and dropped like a hot potato by T. Boone Pickens, and finally, operating out of a P.O. Box:

We learned Monday that the County was going to take up the project.  Goodhue Wind Truth had requested the County Resolution supporting the project from 2008 be rescinded way back in October, after the PUC had terminated the project permits, and had requested time to speak to the County board.  Turns out there was a lot more that had to be done, and that included the County Development Agreement, and multiple conditional use permits.  So that makes sense to take the time to do it right and get it ALL done.  BUT, we got no notice, no information about what agreement had been reached.  It was the last agenda item.  They agreed to make the County Attorney/Board legal memo public, and when I asked if there were copies for the public, “NO!” and Commissioner Ron Allen laughed.  Yeah, to you and yours too… anyway, then they approved it.

Five years Goodhue Wind Truth struggled with this, and were proven ahead of the curve at every juncture.

Look at what the county had agreed to, this is why another agreement was necessary to get out of it:

And the county is probably taking quite a hit:

There needs to be a “lessons learned” session after this mess… the lesson I take from it is the necessity of intervention in county permitting, costly but the only way to keep on top of it.

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There’s a new tar-sands pipeline proposed to run across Northern Minnesota, the “Sandpiper” pipeline.

Doesn’t that name make you feel better?  Yeah, didn’t think so.

Now that I’ve got your attention, check out the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission docket.  Go to the “Search Dockets” page, and search for 13-473.  Thus far, it isn’t far, it’s at the “Notice Plan” stage, which means that the company filed a Notice Plan, which states how they’ll give notice to affected local governments, landowners, etc., that the PUC reviewed it, and approved it, with some changes.

Notice Plan – Sandpiper Pipeline

And the PUC did approve the Notice Plan, with a few changes:

PUC Order – Notice Plan

But wait, there are already quite a few pipelines through Minnesota (click for larger version), and these do not include the upgrade of Line 67, one of those lines shown below, to 570,000 barrels/day from 450,000 barrels/day (PUC Docket 13-153):

And I don’t see that MinnCan tar sands pipeline on that “system” map — perhaps only the Enbridge system:

So back to the Enbridge Sandpiper.  Where is it proposed to go?

And why do they need it? It’s not really stated in the Notice Plan, but here’s what they’re saying in letters they propose as notice:

Yup, that’s right!  They “need” it… well, because they want it… they “need” it because they want it because they “need” it because they want it, but remember, this is a Certificate of Need docket, where they have to prove they NEED it!  The burden of proof is on them.