Friday, April 18, 2008

The Mayor’s Office says

the Midtown Burner Project will go forward

Rybak says he’s not heard enough “public outrage”

to convince him that the Burner is a problem
This is what community members were told
in a meeting with staff from the Mayor's office
on Friday, April 10, 2008.

So, if you thought the Burner was “dead,” think again!!

If Kandiyohi Development Partners (the Midtown Burner project
owners) are able to negotiate a purchase agreement with Xcel Energy
(or any other qualified power company) by Monday June 9, 2008,
THE BURNER PROJECT WILL GO FORWARD.

KDP has been working for some time to negotiate a power purchase
agreement, and now they have only a few weeks left to pull it off.
Don’t you think they will call on their friends with money and influence
to put pressure on Xcel to sign on?

Mayor RT Rybak still supports the Burner.

And his staff are saying that it will be built!
Read on to find out what the Mayor’s staff are saying,
and what you can do to educate the Mayor and others
on what you think about the Burner
Staff at the Mayor's office claim that neighborhood opposition to the Burner is weak --
despite the fact that more than 700 residents have signed statements in opposition to
the project, which have been delivered to the Mayor's office. Some residents have sent e-
mails to the Mayor and, instead of receiving a response from the Mayor, they got a reply from
Kim Havey at Kandiyohi Development Partners. Do you think this is a coincidence?

Staff at the Mayor's office also claim that emissions from the Burner will be no more
problematic than exhaust emissions from 24 cars over the course of a year. This is a
myth, and it’s a great example of how people can mistake a "sound byte" for the truth. If
the Mayor’s staff dig deeper, they will find that while the Burner emissions and exhaust from 24
cars may be comparable by weight, the content is decidedly different.

A deeper analysis of the “24 cars” argument shows that:

 In addition to nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water (the major components of typical car
exhaust), the Burner will also be adding alarming amounts of sulfur, lead, benzene,
chlorine, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde, manganese, styrene, toluene, arsenic,
cadmium and mercury in addition to extremely fine particulate matter (nanoparticles,
also known as “soot”) to the air that we all breathe.
 Carbon dioxide, while not harmful to breathe and naturally occurring in our air, is a
“greenhouse gas.” The total carbon dioxide emissions from the Midtown Burner will be
equivalent to that produced by over 30,000 cars!
 Cars also create toxic fumes including carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and
nitrous oxides -- but the amount is less than 1% of a car’s emissions. The Burner will
create all of these three "volatile organic compounds" (are similar to the unburned
hydrocarbons from cars), but they make up a much larger proportion of the Burner’s
emissions. A calculation adjusting for the proportion of these emissions shows that:
o carbon monoxide: Burner emissions = 3,400 cars/year
o volatile organic compounds: Burner emissions = 7,800 cars/year
o nitrous oxide: Burner emissions = 29,000 cars/year

The Mayor claims he hasn’t heard enough

public outrage about the Burner.
Has he heard your opinion?
Are you outraged that you may be forced to breathe more sulfur, lead, benzene, chlorine,
hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde, manganese, styrene, toluene, arsenic, cadmium, mercury,
carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitrous oxide, and nano particles (soot)?

Are you outraged that the Mayor seems to be ignoring the messages from more than 700
people in the community?

Are you outraged by the fact that elected officials who should be looking out for your interests
are still supporting the Midtown Burner?
 IF YOU’RE OUTRAGED,
IT'S TIME TO LET THE MAYOR AND OTHERS KNOW!

please also send us copies of your correspondence and any response you get:

Minneapolis Residents for Clean Air

(612) 326-3308
mpls.residentsforcleanair@gmail.com
For more background info, articles, and talking points on this issue:
http://mplsresidentsforcleanair.blogspot.com/

Call, write, or e-mail:

Mayor RT Rybak
City Hall, Room 331
350 South Fifth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415
(612) 673-2100
rt@minneapolis.org

David Sparby
President, Xcel Energy, Inc.
414 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis MN 55401
Mr. Sparby’s policy assistant, Ms. Barb Bridgeman (612) 330-5901

Scott Wilenski
Vice President for Regulartory and Governmental Affairs, Xcel Energy, Inc.
414 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis MN 55401
Mr. Wilensky’s policy assistant, Ms. Ann Johnson (612) 330-6403

Commissioner Peter McLaughlin

is on record as opposing the Burner – urge him to say that to Dave Sparby and Steve Wilenski
from Xcel!
A2400 Government Center
300 South Sixth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55487
612-348-3085
commissioner.mclaughlin@co.hennepin.mn.us

Your Council Member

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/
Cam Gordon, Gary Schiff, and Robert Lillegren are on record as opposing the Burner – urge
them to say that to Dave Sparby and Steve Wilenski from Xcel!
Your State Senator
http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html
If your State Senator opposes the Burner, urge her/him to say that to Dave Sparby and Steve
Wilenski from Xcel!

Your State Representative

http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html
If your State Representative opposes the Burner, urge her/him to say that to Dave Sparby and
Steve Wilenski from Xcel!

Your Neighborhood Organization

http://www.nrp.org/r2/Neighborhoods/Summary/NbhdSummary.html
If your neighborhood organization opposes the Burner, urge them to say that to Dave Sparby
and Steve Wilenski from Xcel!

Representative Keith Ellison

1130 Longworth Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2305
(202) 225-4755 or (612) 522-1212
http://ellison.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87

Senator Norm Coleman

320 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5641
Web Form: coleman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Co...

Senator Amy Klobuchar

302 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3244
Web Form: klobuchar.senate.gov/emailamy.cfm

THANK YOU FOR TAKING ACTION

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Jullonne Glad
Juliet Thompson
Betsy Sohn

on behalf of Minneapolis Residents for Clean Air

an ad hoc group of community volunteers holding elected officials accountable