Legalectric

Oh my, what a pleasant surprise! Yes, it’s “only” temporary at this point while the court collects additional information (info that’s not in the record, i.e., the record is incomplete?).

Federal judge blocks transmission line’s crossing through wildlife refuge for now

It’s not “just” ATC, it’s ATC, ITC, and Dairyland planning this project, and it’s almost completed!

Co-owner utilities react to preliminary injunction ruling in United States District Court on Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project

From their press release:

Alan’s Acute Promyleocytic Leukemia is DONE! They’ve said once it’s gone, it’s GONE, non-recurring. We’re hoping that’s true.

Today, his port was removed, it’s about time. The one above is very different, that one stays in chest, and Alan’s did a “frolic & detour” up into his neck. UGH, it was pretty ugly at first, and took a long time for those bruises to go away — but that tube was always visible. Frankly, it gave me the creeps, both “just” the chest port bump, and it was worse when he had the infusion hardware hanging from it. EEEEEUW!

From May 19, 2023 to TODAY, it’s been a long, long haul, and as of today, it’s over, because the port is GONE.

No more port to put in that IV arsenic, and no more oral ATRA (Vit A derivative), and now all that’s left is to rebuild his immune system. That will be a few months.

This is such a relief.

Need some time to deep breathe, and then dive in to finishing up the financial piece, and that is a DEEP, DEEP, dive.

It’s been old home week, errrrrr, month, for Xcel Energy at the Red Wing City Council. The February 6th meeting was pretty wild, Xcel “decommissioning” the emergency warning sirens and transferring costs to us (!) and their Emergency Plan. Here’s the poop on that meeting. But now, we’ve got more Xcel news. At the February 26th meeting, Xcel dropped in for a presentation on the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and their application for additional casks at Prairie Island filed at the same time with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). I’d given the Council a heads up on both a month ago so they had some time to get acquainted with the subjects.

More Nuclear Waste Casks at PINGP?

February 7th, 2024

Xcel’s new Integrated Resource Plan

February 5th, 2024

Ross Lexvold presented for Xcel, starting with the IRP, going on and on about the process and how “stakeholders” participated. Next time, how about sending the staff a pdf for the packet? They never do it until the last minute, and it’d be helpful.

To watch the meeting, go HERE — he starts ~7.:22

He walked them through a compressed version of the process. And interesting point is that they plan to extend the garbage burner’s permit for 20 years when it expires in 2027 (now, about that air permit?!?!). He also admitted they’d be using natural gas to back up wind and solar, discussed batters more a bit later. Yawn, nothing really exciting. Lexvold expects public meeting on the IRP to be in mid-June, and that our area was going to get a hearing (so we’d best pack the room, eh?).

It’s been accepted as Complete and referred to Office of Administrative Hearings. Comments are open now and there’s a lot of time to get through that pile o’ papers:

Note that he gave them the wrong url to get to the PUC dockets.

To get into a docket, go to the PUC’s eDockets page HERE, and redundantly click on “eDockets” at the bottom, and you’ll get here, as above, and under “search” and “year” plug in “24” and under “Number” plug in “67” and you’ll get all the documents. To view them, click on the number on the far left side:

Refer to this to get into the Prairie Island cask docket, that’s “24” and “68” – easy to remember.

And that’s a little more exciting. Xcel Energy has applied for additional casks for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plan, E002/CN-24-68, filed just moments after the IRP. You can find the REVISED application here:

More Nuclear Waste Casks at PINGP?

It’s a weird application, seems to have been written by committee. The first 7 chapters really SUCK, and then starting with Chapter 8, it’s written more clearly (though there are focus problems in Chapter 9 again). Anyway, here’s what I’d filed Friday around 4p on behalf of Communities United for Responsible Energy:

That was the Initial round of Comments, and there are two more whacks at the apple:

Check the docket to see what all’s been filed, and get to it, there’s only a week!! What to write about? It’s to be a reply in response to the Initial Comments filed in answer to these questions — lots of wiggle room in that last one:

What’s most notable in this application is that they have sufficient storage capacity to last at least to 2033. WHY APPLY NOW? IT’S PREMATURE! They say they’re going to be relicensing for 20 years, the licenses expire in 2033/2034. That’s a decade away. Things are changing dramatically in the energy world, and who knows what will be happening then, what new ideas will be found for generation, how we can better conserve, etc. So that’s important to look at. Now is NOT the time for this.

And on that happy note, I’m done for the day!

The January 22, 2024 Red Wing City Council meeting was jam packed full of goofy ideas. Yesterday, I posted about the limitation of public comment to 3 minutes at the beginning of the meeting in the Public Comment period. Today’s post is about nuclear… as I go critical seeing what they’ve done and are doing.

A lot happened at the Red Wing City Council meeting on January 22, 2024. In addition to cutting public comment opportunities, there were two nuclear items, the first on the CONSENT AGENDA (yes, I’m SHOUTING!) and the second in general business:

Here’s the video of the meeting:

January 22, 2024 Red Wing City Council meeting

Let’s start with the first – 10 F in the Consent Agenda – beginning on the video at 1:07:

In the Staff Report from the Police Captain, Travis Bray, also Emergency Management Director, he states:

And sure enough, there is no emergency plan in the packet, only discussion of it and a signature page.

On the first page of the Staff Report:

The plan does detail certain steps relative to activation of the EOC and certain contacts that
must be made, however department and division heads still retain the responsibility for
determination of the appropriate level of response given the situation along with other demands
on their personnel by other events.

Do department and division heads know enough about all things nuclear to “retain the responsibility for
determination of the appropriate level of response…?” Shouldn’t the NRC and state Emergency Management be the deciders on this, with advice from those on the ground?

The Emergency Plan is to be reviewed and approved each year by:

Travis Bray’s Staff Report gives the Council two alternatives and a recommendation:

… or…

Travis Bray, Police Chief and Emergency Management Director for the City of Red Wing, was one of those to review and approve the plan. He was at the City Council meeting for the other agenda item, but this was on the consent agenda, and it was passed with zero discussion.

Because “[a] copy of the plan may be viewed at the EOC or the City of Red Wing Emergency manager’s office,” you can guess what I’ll be doing someday soon. I’m remembering the horrific/hilarious Emergency Plan for Site P “in Goodhue County,” the dry cask storage facility proposed in Florence Township.

Here’s the NRC on “Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Responsibilities” in nuclear emergency.

Click here for the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (PINGP) Emergency Plan test and Final Action Report from 2016!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And back to the video of the January 22, 2024 meeting:

January 22, 2024 Red Wing City Council meeting

Moving on to Agenda item 11.C.

Xcel Energy wants to “donate” the 33 emergency warning sirens and donate the costs of operation and maintenance to Red Wing. Great idea… Here’s the packet for 11.C with all the details we have:

The Council was told that the Emergency Plan was essentially changed… but wait…

Slide 5 says that Xcel Plans to decommission all outdoor sirens:

Slide 7 notes that “the State of MN has agreed to be the responsible party…”

I have a few very logical questions:

• What jurisdiction currently has responsibility for emergency alerts?
• Cite the NRC regulations for Emergency Warning Systems, including sirens.
• “State of MN has agreed…” Who? What? Where? Why? When? Produce the agreement.
• Were the affected Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant and Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant host communities involved in negotiating this agreement?
• Emergency sirens owned and maintained are a cost of doing business — why are they shifting this cost to us?
• If “donated” they’d get the benefit of being relieved of that cost, PLUS would likely receive a tax deduction for this “donation.”

Chief Bray is supposed to come back to the Council with more information and a recommendation.

Soooooooo, will try to keep an eye out for this. It’s NOT on the March 11, 2024 agenda.

p.s. And again, click here for the Emergency Plan test and Final Action Report from 2016!

Red Wing residents, SPEAK UP!!!

City Council should hear residents’ comments

I’ve been struggling to keep up, what with Mayo visits with Alan’s treatments ending last Tuesday (YEAAA!) and isolation for a few months thereafter; prep for and transmission meetings all over the state; township issues out in the hinterlands on the 6th; and work in general… and it’s true, I have neglected Red Wing city government. Serious error. Wrong time…

In January, the Council passed Resolution 7954, restricting public comment to 3 minutes at the beginning and no comment on specific agenda items as they come up. WHAT?!?!

It’s been brewing for a while. Late 2022, they tried to eliminate virtual meetings, with “my” council member saying “COVID is over,” there’s no need for virtual meetings (statistics and CDC say it isn’t.). That effort failed. Next was an attempt to eliminate virtual commenting, and that was also stopped. Yeah, I resemble that. I’ve seen what “some” are saying about me and my commenting, BY NAME, and I know they don’t like what I’m saying, and I know who you are and why you object. Oh well. Some on the Council object to “someone” making comments on several agenda items, agenda items that really need to be commented on, raising points that I guess make some people uncomfortable. No, you won’t shut me up!

This limit of public participation “started” with a Council Workshop on January 4, 2024. There’s no video, but HERE’S THE RECORDING, starting at 48:40 shortening Ordinance timing, into “Public Hearings” and public comment and no subsequent comment at Council meeting, and then ramping up to the “Public Comment discussion” starting at 1:13. Once more with feeling, here’s the tape:

https://redwingmn.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3339/overview

On to the January 22, 2024 Council meeting. Here’s the packet, start at page 9 of this 37 pdf for the changes for public comment:

Agenda item 11D begins at 1:28:04 — it’s mostly about Public Comment:

https://redwingmn.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3040/media

THIS WAS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. ONCE MORE WITH FEELING — WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? Listen to the recording and then the video, and then you’ll know.

Coming soon, another post on two other issue from that January 22, 2024 meeting.

That was NOT the meeting to miss. Oh well…