ENCINA: MAYDAY!!! MAYDAY!!!

 

To my friends at Encina that stop by regularly: Your game plan is as old as the hills. 

And as predictable. 

As I watch your latest moves unfold, I feel as if I'm leafing through an NFL playbook from the 1940's. 

   

   

Respectfully, I am once again highly recommending that you walk away from your proposed plastics-recycling plant along the Susquehanna River near Northumberland, PA. 

If by high noon on this coming Friday, May 5th, I do not see a notice online in every Northumberland County newspaper that you have decided - for whatever reason you decide to make up - to scrap plans for this recycling plant, I will have no choice but to enlist the services of one of the brightest and most relentlessly ruthless environmental activists on the face of this little blue dot in the cosmos.

The thought of taking this action has me, pardon the seasonal metaphor, wetting my plants.  

The clock is ticking, and the next move is yours. 

   

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Earth Day 2023

     

When I breathe my last, after thoughts of my family flash before my eyes, the fact that - in the valley of my birth - the Susquehanna River still runs free will remain as one of my proudest accomplishments in life.  

Experience is the greatest of teachers, repeat: experience is the greatest of teachers, and having lived through over a decade of fighting the pipedream of a ~12 term U.S. Congressman to dam the Susquehanna, I can honestly say: 

Been there...done that. 

This planet is all we've got. What are you doing to protect it? 

   

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ENCINA: PREMATURE EMANCIPATION?!?!?!?

    

You know...there's a cure for that, along with your multiple grammatical errors, blatant miscues and other, umm, premature issuances. 

Hire some experienced & competent staff!

Speaking of killing: Ditch this project before it's too late. You know how Rupert Murdoch is feeling this morning? It'll be equally embarrassing for Encina unless you walk away now. 

Seriously...just make something up. You seem to have that down pat. 

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WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAMMING...

   

I posted the commentary below elsewhere this morning. I held off for ~48 hours for a variety of reasons, the least of which was not wanting the guys with the dark glasses and earbuds knocking at my front door...or to raise the ire of the mindless lemmings out there. 

      *****

I had a long ride ahead of me Monday morning and, unfortunately, the news cycle was dominated by yet another mass shooting; this time at a bank in Louisville KY. I listened to the event as it unfolded from when it first hit the airwaves before 10a until the first scheduled update/press conference at ~3p.  At best, it was disturbing.

As I anticipated, it was only a matter of minutes before those scripted talking points asking for "thoughts and prayers" and offering "now is not the time" were uttered by folks stepping up to the microphone.

The 2nd Amendment was ratified in December 1791. As a lifelong student of history, I know that - in 1791 - fresh in the memories of all the men that ratified the Bill of Rights were the French & Indian War, the Battle of Wyoming, the winter at Valley Forge, the Revolutionary War...and what it was like to be fighting the armies of several foreign countries with boots on the ground in North America.

I wonder how many children, teachers, moms, dads, grandparents - and folks looking forward to retirement - have to be slaughtered in schools, at work, and in places of worship before our elected "leaders" grow a pair and say 'enough'? As one of the folks talking about the event on Monday offered: 'They're not concerned about doing the right thing, they're concerned about losing their jobs in the next election.' I say vote them all out.

Here are just a few of our fellow Americans that we've lost in the past two weeks...

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The teacher pictured directly above - Dr. Katherine Koonce, 60 - ended a Zoom call when she heard the first shot and ran toward the shooter. She was shot and killed. I rarely tear up these days...but I do every time I look into her eyes. If only our elected 'leaders' had a minuscule fraction of her courage and resolve.

R.I.P., Katherine.  You will not be forgotten.

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ENCINA: "IT'S A LIE"

 

I caught this recent article from a Google Alert I have in place for anything with "Encina" in the title or text. 

Chemist questions Encina's recycling process | News | dailyitem.com

   If you take a few minutes to read the article, you'll understand my choice of the title for this post. If you don't have the time or the interest, here it is: 

"Encina says there are not going to be any air emissions from their facility.

“There is no other way for me to say it,” Mason said. “It’s a lie. If you are burning something there are going to be air emissions.”

As I've addressed previously, Encina has a little bit of a challenge when it comes to both proofreading and answering questions truthfully. It'll be interesting to see if Encina has any response to the points raised in this article by a chemist who appears to have expertise in both plastics and the recycling processes that Encina will be using. 

As it always does...time will tell. 

   

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ENCINA: Translation Please

           

Regarding their proposed plastics-recycling plant along the Susquehanna River, I snagged this recent Q&A post directly from ENCINA's website. The redlining is my add-on. 

Specifically, I was interested in what they had to say regarding the required archaeological study. Without further adieu:

I believe "Additionally" would have been a more appropriate opening to their response on this subject, as would a consistent spelling of archaeological. 

Not knowing what the heck a "resource exchange study" is, I looked it up using both Bing & Google and came up empty using those exact words, both in open and bracketed searches. I did, however, come up with this result on both:

"Resource exchange theory (RET) is the result of work by Foa and Foa in 1971 as a means for explaining reciprocal social interactions of humans. The core tenet of RET is that people exchange six distinct categories of resources: love, status, information, money, goods and services [6– 8] (see Table 1)."

Now, in this day and age of, umm, social enlightenment, I acknowledge there are a lot of beyond traditional partnerships out there. However, transparency and blatant obfuscation are - at best - bedfellows that just don't mingle...right up there with oil and water or matter and antimatter. Both are very messy, at best. 

I also spent some time this morning on PHMC's Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey (PASS) website. Again, in the time I had available, I could find no references to "resource exchange study". So, as of right now, this is what I think it means:

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   Some guy, gal or per$on of intere$t with a shovel and a degree found in a box of Cracker Jacks is going to do a quick walkaround the proposed site in Point Township, scratch up some dirt in a few spots, take a few photos, lick their index finger and hold it aloft to determine the direction and speed of the prevailing winds and declare the "resource exchange study" complete and submit the same declaring that - in the past ~14,000 years or so - there is no evidence of any significant and/or important human activity along one of the most ancient rivers on earth and that the Susquehannock, the Iroquois, the Nanticoke, the Lenni Lenape, the Tuscarora and any other Native Americans never set foot on this land.

Wow. Nary a rhyolite point or coprolite to be found. 

Go figure...

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Anyway, I'll be visiting the proposed site along Rte. 11 next week to experience, firsthand, what the area looks, smells, sounds and feels like. I have no doubt whatsoever that my NA ancestors will guide me. Until then my advice to ENCINA is:

• Do a much better job proofreading, and

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ENCINA: Back Out Now

Many years ago, while wrapping up my campaign against the proposed inflatable dam on the Susquehanna, a leading environmentalist in PA reached out to me and asked if I had heard about the Marcellus Shale play and fracking. 

I had not, so (s)he sent me a few informational links to get me started. Once I read those, I dove in deeper. When I felt I had a pretty good idea of the potential threat fracking posed, but before I took any actions on or offline, I reached out to two individuals that I (and others) considered to be experts on the topic: Dr. Terry Engelder of PSU and one of my former college professors -a geologist - who held a position entitled "Global..." at the time. The former responded fairly quickly and - not to my surprise - answered both of my questions exactly as anticipated. The latter also responded quickly and put me in touch with someone in Washington, DC who was considered to be an expert on the Marcellus Shale formation and the entire hydraulic fracturing process.  

After that and a little more research, I jumped into the fracking fray and never looked back.  

At the moment, I am in the data-gathering mode once again. I've recently met with a PhD who specializes in water chemistry/quality, and I've had multiple conversations with folks who are more familiar with the Point Township area and the local take on issues facing the Susquehanna should the Encina recycling plant become operational. I've also talked to the local Chief of Police about coordinating a "protest" on Earth Day near where the proposed plant would be built.  

Working in positions of responsibility (VP/Director) for some of the largest corporations and law firms in the country over the decades, I have learned the absolute value and importance of getting your facts straight and your ducks in a row. I have also seen the pitfalls and consequences when you didn't. And, through all of my environmental endeavors and escapades spanning several decades, I know - better than most - the difference between telegraphing your punches and floating a trial balloon...or two.    

Next up: A road trip along Rte. 11. 

Back to work...

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Experts "R" Us...Not

   

Although I am always willing to listen and learn, I am at the point in my life that I can usually tell - within a matter of a minute or so - whether someone truly knows the subject on which they speak or if they are either making stuff up on the fly...or lying. 

The obtuseness of some of the responses from Encina regarding their proposed plastics-recycling plant on the Susquehanna makes me believe it's a little bit of both. 

They need to get their house in order and stop using untethered rookies as spokespersons. 

And perhaps modern paraphrasing, but true nonetheless. 

   

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Said The Spider to the Fly...

ABCD...

LJA,

Thank you folks,

You made my day.

I was wondering when either my blog-traffic software or LinkedIn profile would start pinging away. It took less than a week for both to kick in, the latter being visited by an engineering firm in TX a day or so ago. 

An inconsequential midge in the ointment...or the mastoDon in the room? 

I truly enjoy challenges. 

Profile this. 

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FATHER...Father, The sleeper has awakened

     

When I breathe my last, after fondly embracing the memories of my family and friends, my final flashback will be remembering that - for as long as I lived - the Susquehanna River flowed freely through the valley of my birth. After two decades of twisting arms and spewing fabricated facts using any soapbox available, a 13-term U.S. Congressman and his cast of cronies who wanted to dam the river near Wilkes-Barre PA were defeated by, as one of my fellow bloggers put it many years ago... The Power of One.

   

Here we are 15 years later, and the Susquehanna River is facing yet another significant environmental threat further downstream. As I always do, I am spending my time learning as much as possible about the project, the processes involved, and the players behind the facade. Their pockets are deep, but not unlimited. 

   

So far, their playbook and talking points are a carbon copy of just about everything I've seen and heard over the years. More jobs. Higher paying jobs. Tax revenue. Environmentally safe. We care about and want to be part of the community. Blah. blah. blah. 

   

Stale, at best, or to quote Spock from The Wrath of Kahn: 

"Two dimensional thinking..." 

   

I've been here before. I know what it takes. I just have to decide whether it's worth my while to jump in once again.  Looking at a calendar...Earth Day is right around the corner. 

   

April 22nd will be my Rubicon moment. 

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