Legalectric

Above is the state of silica sand mining in Minnesota.   Below are the Minnesota Environmental Quality
Board’s “hot off the press” this morning Draft Standards and Criteria:

Tools for Local Govt draft DECEMBER 13_2013

I like the framing of it as “Tools for Local Govt” because it’s clearer that this is something that requires an “opt in” and is not state regulation.  It’s huge, 168 pages, and we’ve only got until 1p on December 18, when the EQB’s silica sand mining subcommittee will be reviewing these draft Standards & Criteria.

Comments: silicasand.eqb@state.mn.us

Comments by snail mail:  Jeff Smyser, Environmental Quality Board, 520 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul, MN 55155-4194

Get to it!!!  And then, show up at the EQB subcommittee meeting (MEETING AGENDA):

Just a week ago public comments on the Hollydale transmission line case closed, the week before that was the public hearing, and just before that was the bizarre meeting with the Dept. of Commerce.  And today?

TODAY WE GET THIS:

Hollydale – Petition to Withdraw Pending Certificate of Need and Route Permit Applications

EEEEEEEEE-HA!

It’ll go to the Commission to tie up the loose ends, but YES!!!  Xcel is withdrawing the application and going away… for a while… so they say:

Oh, and by withdrawing, they are not bound by the law because it specifies applications made by a certain date… then it will not apply!  So they’re getting around it, but they say they are not.  Oh well, I don’t think they’ll try the same trick again.

This past year the Hollydale Law, 2013 Minn. Laws Chapter 57 Section 2, which is
applicable to our currently pending applications, was passed. While the law, as
currently written, would not apply to the new applications, we fully intend to comply with the intention of the law by carrying forward in our new Certificate of Need application all the system alternatives, including distribution alternatives, which were developed during this proceeding. We believe this will allow a robust examination of numerous distribution alternatives and will address the concerns implicated by the Hollydale Law.

and:

Once we develop a more widely accepted solution, we intend to seek the appropriate regulatory approvals.

The down side is that by withdrawing, they are not bound by the law that is limited to applications filed by a certain date, so that law might have to be changed to fence them in.  No problem…

Now the down side is they say they’ll be baaaaaaaaack.  I’d guess they’ll be much more cautious and conscious of what they propose, and for Dog’s sake not be using 2006 information.  DOH!

7 oh-so-young pups, one older pup, 3 adolescents and one 2-3 year old, all from Tennessee and now at foster homes in WI and MN.

7 little poop factories who held it until just seconds after transferring into our crate, and each and every one let loose!!!  Thankfully lots of quilts made that situation manageable!

All of them slept the whole way, barely a sound for hours.  All but Birdo, the lapdog for the trip, he was a dear guy, keeping a watchful eye on the pups, and navigating.  Considering what the weather could have been, it was not bad at all, roads blowy but clear, hammer down!!!  Just the nervous nellies slowing up the process when there wasn’t a passable passing lane…

Here ’tis!

POLYMET ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS

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.