Fw: [Energy Cte] Re: Baltimore Incinerator Set for Construction in 2016

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Matilda Banga

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Nov 2, 2015, 10:59:41 PM11/2/15
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Matilda Kamara
Ag. OFA Montgomery County Chapter co-lead
2015 Spring Fellow
phone: 571-405-8621
twitter: @OFAMatildak


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Seth Bush <seth...@sierraclub.org>
To: MD Energy Committee List <mdsierra-e...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2015 1:01 PM
Subject: [Energy Cte] Re: Baltimore Incinerator Set for Construction in 2016

Clarification: The action at MDE will be on Tuesday, DECEMBER 15th at approx 4pm.

Mark your calendars.

More details soon.

Thanks,
Seth

--
Seth Bush
MD Organizing Representative
Sierra Club

3000 Chestnut Ave. | Suite 202 | Baltimore, MD 21211 (map)

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sbush          

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 11:59 AM, Seth Bush <seth...@sierraclub.org> wrote:
Hi all,

Big news regarding the proposal for construction of the largest trash-burning incinerator in the country already polluted South Baltimore.

The proposing company Energy Answers announced this weekend that they intend to move forward with the construction of the plant starting early next year.


This excerpt is what really boils my blood:

"Steam comes out of the stack. It's clean emissions, and it's highly regulated."

Construction of the project was halted in 2014 because company officials didn't buy enough emissions credits to offset expected air pollution, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Cadman said the company has since purchased the proper credits and construction has resumed.

If the "steam" is clean, then what are they offsetting with the emissions credits? Indeed, the incinerator will directly pollute the Curtis Bay community while Energy Answers literally pays to erase that pollution on paper.

This is an injustice, and I hope you will join me and our allies in Baltimore on December 15th at MDE headquarters for an action. If they do what we need them to do--rescind construction permits--by then, we will celebrate. If not, we will make sure they hear our message loud and clear: we demand fair not failed development for Baltimore. Stop the incinerator!

Read on for more details on the campaign, and for now, mark your calendars for 4-6pm, Tuesday, November 15th, Washington Blvd!

In solidarity,
Seth

###

Dear friends,

Back on August 12th Sierra Club joined Free Your Voice, the Environmental Integrity Project, and 16 other groups in sending a letter to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) calling for action. The letter was key because it highlighted the crucial decision that MDE can make to support our health, environment, and economy. Energy Answers has violated their permit and the letter we all signed called upon MDE to enforce the law. Without this critical action, Energy Answers will be allowed to hold back alternative developments at the 97 acre site including solar and re-use businesses.

Since August, we have been gathering video and written testimonies from hundreds of residents in Curtis Bay, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Park and all across Maryland. You can take a look at some of these powerful testimonies here: http://www.unitedworkers.org/stop_the_incinerator
Along with Sierra Club and CCAN we have gathered over a thousand online petitions joining in our call for MDE to enforce the law. We have hosted community meetings on the positive alternatives that we could move forward with on the site EA is being allowed to hold hostage. 

With all this, what has MDE's response been? Silence. We know from our past victories that in order to disrupt the preferential treatment this incinerator project has received since 2009 - that we need to be incredibly persistent and unified in our efforts. And, we need to be ready to take action. 

This is why I am reaching out now. We need to intensify our pressure to ensure that our voices are heard. First, we will be organizing a community delegation to go to MDE headquarters in mid November to present MDE with a notice that we are giving them 30 additional days to take action and enforce the law. If action is not taken within that period, then we will be prepared to demonstrate. 

Then, on Tuesday December 15th (at around 4pm to allow for maximum student participation), we will either be in a position to celebrate (as we did this past April when public entities chose to opt out of their energy contracts with the incinerator) OR we will all stand together at MDE headquarters demanding that they enforce the law. The idea here would be to provide a forum for everyone and every institution who has taken part to have the chance to deliver the message in person.

For now, I am asking you to mark that day (Tuesday December 15th) on your calendar. In the meantime, I am asking you to commit to continuing to work with Free Your Voice to ensure that all the people from our respective networks who have taken the time to work on this issue have the chance to follow though and see it to a conclusion. We know that this is a lot of work - lots of emails, phone calls, flyers, discussion at meetings, etc...but this is the kind of consistent work that has allowed us to raise this critical environmental justice issue into the spotlight and achieve real victories.

Please let me know if you can commit to the following in the lead up to the public action on December 15th.   

1) Coming to the action on the 15th and reaching out to your networks about the issue and the action.

2) Helping share Free Your Voice social media posts in the lead up to the action. 

3) you tell us! what are other ways your group/institution can support? (for example...Ben Franklin High School is working on providing support with transportation!)

Finally, we are still in the process of planning the details of the action. I wanted to reach out to give you the earliest notice possible about the action and will follow up with more info asap. For now, please reply and let me know if you would like to talk further about supporting! 

Best,
Greg Sawtell
Free Your Voice, a human rights committee of United Workers

p.s, all the organizing and power being built by community members in Curtis Bay and Brooklyn is developing into exciting work around community solar and attracting environmentally responsible re-use businesses. Thanks to our collaborations - we are able to dedicate the time it takes to develop these positive visions as we continue the work to defend against the incinerator development. Thank you for your continued support.   

--
Seth Bush
MD Organizing Representative
Sierra Club

3000 Chestnut Ave. | Suite 202 | Baltimore, MD 21211 (map)

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sbush          

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