#Fracking
is outlawed in Monkton, Vermont, US
#Gaz #Pipeline in #AddisonCounty Vermont, US
is strongly opposed by myself and and large number of Vermonters
In fact so many that (believe me, small town) Monkton, Vermont, US Banned Fracking....
Oh yah, nah nah nah,
you didn't ban the pipelines,
suck it up,
smell the gaz?
Enough of my rants.
Here is a summary of the press I could manages to save. There are hundreds of emails I cannot get to. Gas leaks, land takings, intimidation by corporations, being ignored by politicians, unconcerned with one, this time it happens to be me.
A Great letter to the editor:
from the addison ind. shared by friends of mother earth...
Posted on March 23, 2015 |
By
Vermont’s scenic beauty has always been highly valued both by
Vermonters and by visitors to our lovely state.
In 1968 Vermont banned billboards to prevent the despoiling of
Vermont’s landscape. And when Act 250 was enacted a few years after that, it
included Criterion 8, which prohibits commercial or industrial development that
would create an “undue adverse impact” on the scenic or natural beauty,
aesthetics, historic sites or natural areas.
In 1986, the Environmental Board convened a group of people with
expertise on aesthetics to develop an objective way of evaluating what is an
“undue adverse” impact on aesthetics and scenic and natural beauty.
The result is the “Quechee Analysis.” It has been used to evaluate
aesthetic impacts in dozens of cases by the Environmental Board (EB),
Environmental Court (EC), and Public Service Board (PSB) and upheld by the
Vermont Supreme Court (VSC) over the last three decades.
The Quechee Analysis has two steps. The first is to determine if a
project will cause an adverse effect on aesthetics. If the impact will be
adverse, then the second step involves addressing three questions. The impact
will be undue if any one of the questions is answered in the affirmative.
One of the questions is whether a project would offend the
sensibilities of the average person. If it is so out of character with its
surroundings or significantly diminishes the scenic qualities of the area so as
to be shocking or offensive to the average person, the adverse impact is
considered undue and a project is denied. The EB explained the purpose of this
provision: Criterion 8 was intended to ensure that as development does
occur,?reasonable consideration will be given to the visual impacts on
neighboring landowners, the local community, and on the special scenic resources
of Vermont.
The VSC has consistently upheld the EB and EC decisions on aesthetics
that applied the Quechee Analysis.
When the review of telecommunications towers and large-scale solar
and wind installations was transferred from Act 250 to the PSB, the law required
the PSB to give due consideration to some of Act 250’s criteria, including
Criterion 8 on aesthetics.
In the past, the PSB’s interpretation of the Quechee Analysis was
consistent with that of the EB in ensuring that development did not degrade
Vermont’s scenic views, including those enjoyed by neighbors.
For example, in a 2001 case, the PSB denied a wind tower, ruling that
“because … the Project will be in the direct view of the (neighbors) from their
home and will significantly diminish their enjoyment of the scenic view from
their home … the Project will be offensive and shocking to them and to the
average person in a similar situation.” In denying the project, the PSB
accurately applied the Quechee Analysis as established in legal precedent. The
decision was upheld in 2002 by the Vermont Supreme Court.
But, the PSB no longer considers the interests of neighboring
landowners. Every decision issued by the PSB on solar and wind projects has
dismissed the interests of the neighbors, ruling that because they are most
likely to be affected by the project, they cannot be considered the “average
person.”
The PSB’s finding is especially nonsensical because in order to
participate at all, neighbors must show that they have a particularized interest
that is greater than the interests of the public at large. But then the PSB uses
that particularized interest to ignore the neighbors entirely.
Thus in order to be able to participate in the proceeding, neighbors
must prove that their interests (e.g., views) will be affected, but then because
their views are affected, the PSB says that their interests (e.g., views) should
not be taken into account. They base this absurd reasoning on their made up
notion that a person who is directly affected cannot be the “average person”
that the Quechee Analysis considers.
Although the PSB says that it applies the Quechee Analysis, in fact
the PSB is completely ignoring long-standing legal precedent.
The PSB is also contradicting the EB and its own precedent by ruling
that municipal zoning ordinances do not constitute clear written community
standards for purposes of the Quechee Analysis.
In its zeal to approve every single telecommunications tower and
renewable energy project in the state, the PSB is fabricating its own
interpretations of the law regardless of the standards of the local community
and it is allowing the scenic beauty of Vermont — that was so carefully
protected over so many years — to become degraded.
Vermonters can speak to the House and Senate Natural Resources and
Energy Committees at a public hearing on renewable energy siting on March 24,
from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Statehouse in Montpelier. Please come and let
legislators know that protecting Vermont’s scenic beauty is important and that
communities and neighbors must be a respected part of the process in the
development of new utility infrastructure.
Stephanie Kaplan
Calais
Annette Smith
Danby
Stephanie Kaplan is former counsel for the Environmental Board. Annette
Smith is executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment.
Regulators weigh penalties....huh? How much does a penalty weigh? Pints a pound the world around?
from the digger:
from the addison independent
the governor is grilled for supporting pipeline through addison county
Whaddaya mean, they knew about the costs estimate price of the propsed pipeline?
Regulators review...
a few more...
|
vtdigger.org
|
Vermont's
Public Service Board is considering a $35,000 fine for Vermont Gas
Systems because of the company's handling of major cost overruns
that ...
State
regulators weigh penalty against Vermont
Gas
|
vtdigger.org
|
Eileen
Simollardes, a vice president at Vermont Gas Systems, testified before
the Public Service Board on the company's delayed announcement of
a ...
Ok...That is all I can handle.
Hope for Spring soon...
meg
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