Legalectric

Here we go again, more misleading crap on “Carbon Capture and Storage,” as if it’s a happening thing… It’s NOT! Great Plains just announced its “Minnesota Carbon Capture Forum.” From the inbox:

Good grief, do we really need to go through this again? Come on, folks, start with this basic tome. You can’t pump stuff into the earth without consequences.

Great Plains Institute has THIS CARBON CAPTURE PAGE, and declares their folks are “experts.” Last time around they had Mike Gregerson flying around the country, and he probably did learn a thing or two about carbon capture, and now, he’s not one of the “experts.

Great Plains Institute got about $1 million dollars in 2017 to put together a “Carbon Capture Coalition” and promote the notion of carbon capture and storage.

How much since? Who knows, but for sure it’s a lot. Circa 2005-2009 or so, the Joyce Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, and of course the Energy Foundation, put up a lot of money to support coal gasification and promotion of the notion of carbon capture. “Environmental” groups including local Great Plains, Izaak Walton League (I was there when Bill Grant referred to carbon capture and storage as “the way forward for coal,” and his promotion of coal gasification at the Saw Mill Inn), Fresh Energy, MCEA, and nationally, Clean Air Task Force and others…

Joyce Foundation gets $$$$ and gives $$$$

For those of us who have been through Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Project, which as a last minute last ditch effort added “carbon capture” to its doomed project, this talk about carbon capture and storage quite an insult. Excelsior got money for promotion, and what they proposed for the project was a farce, a claim of capturing a small amount of the CO2, and taking it to the plant gate, that’s it! That’s because capturing more than a small amount costs a LOT for the technology, a prohibitive amount, in dollars, and it costs more than you want to know in plant efficiency, just not worth that loss, and keep in mind, that’s just the capture. Where would it go? Not that it was contemplated to go anywhere, but piping it to North Dakota would require yet another pipeline (good luck with that), pumping stations every 75 miles or so, and pumping and monitoring facilities at the end.

And an overview from Overland:

Here’s some of their past follies from 2007, where the toadies on parade went to Grand Rapids, the heart of the Mesaba Project area:

IEDC gets carried away

Electricity 2020 in Grand Rapids

Onward, gotta get on the road… more later…

Crushed, Stacked Cars Fueling Massive Fire At Becker’s Northern Metals Recycling Plant

Look at that plume — is MPCA or ANYONE tracking that plume?

Fire at Becker metal recycling plant continues to burn

From that article: On Tuesday, the city called in a Sherburne County Emergency Management Team, the state’s Pollution Control Agency and the Health Department amid concerns over air quality. Police told residents with respiratory problems who live near the plant to remain indoors or in well-ventilated areas.

Two years ago, when Northern Metals was run out of Minneapolis, I had this to say:

Northern Metals was violating its MPCA permit, it also lit on fire.  Ultimately, it was run out of town.

So now it goes to Becker.  How will it NOT violate its permit there?  Oh, right, MPCA will be so lax about it that violation would be a logical, legal, and physical impossibility.

That’s from this Legalectric post:

Northern Metals rears its ugly head in Becker
April 16th, 2018

And way back circa 2012, Alan Muller posted this:

Muller on Northern Metals
March 26th, 2012

Xcel sold the land in Becker to allow Northern Metals to move… why?

Xcel files a handful of PPA termination & reduction Petitions
July 1st, 2017

From that Legalectric post:

And about the Sherco site and moving part of Northern Metals operation to the Sherco site, and that’s not all they want to do:

17-xxxx+Sherco+Land+Sale+Petition+NSP+063017

The point of this Sherco Petition?

And of course the Public Utilities Commission approved the sale, Northern Metals moved, and surprise, surprise, we have another fire, emissions rolling downwind, downriver, to Minneapolis once again. What did Xcel get out of this deal, $$$ as above, and what else? What did the people of Minneapolis who agreed to a settlement with Northern Metals get? Is Northern Metals continuing misbehavior something anticipated and approved of in the deal? Better check.

Perhaps now is the time to shut Northern Metals down? I can’t imagine they’d require they treat those junked cars any differently given they let them reopen without changes sufficient to prevent ANOTHER fire, so yeah, just shut it down.

Another natural gas pipeline explosion. How big was this pipeline, and under how much pressure? Articles aren’t saying.

Fire prompts I-37 closure near Citgo, traffic diverted to SH 358

I’m too often reminded of my clients who had a 12″ natural gas pipeline through their back yard, ~25′ from their house, right through their neighborhood, and others too, along and near Hwy. 14 in Kasson, it goes through Byron too. Why would any city approve of platting over a natural gas transmission line? SHAME! These local governments are as responsible for this as the pipeline owner.

• Model for Sizing High Consequence Areas Associated With Natural Gas Pipelines
• Safe Separation Distances From Natural Gas Pipelines

Speaking of pipelines… BOOM!
May 26th, 2014

On the road, and catching up, this little ditty landed in the inbox on Friday:

In short, it didn’t issue a Record of Decision, but promises to do so. We shall see.

Here is the EQB’s Letter of Transmittal with the requirements — let’s see that Record of Decision, PUC: