Thursday, October 31, 2013

Incinerator proposal in Allentown/alternatives/share‏

 All Good Citizens of Allentown, PA,

The incinerator in Allentown was torn down many years ago .  I grew up in Allentown. I am 54 years old and remember when Allentown had an incinerator to burn city garbage. As soon as you crossed the Hamilton Street bridge to the East side you could see the haze and smell the air thick with pollution. The East side is where the smoke almost always drifted. There are some politicians in Allentown who now want to build another one. It is being proposed as a ‘Trash to energy’ plant that will burn waste and create electricity. They are saying it will also create jobs. The company who wants to build this is Delta Thermo Energy


Let’s face facts and and call it what it is and why it will be located on Klines Island near the Hamilton Street Bridge:

Delta Thermo and Mayor Ed Pawlowski say:
The incinerator will reduce ‘tipping fees’ paid to landfill sights to dispose of our trash.  As there will be less trash taken to landfills. I cannot argue this point. But at what cost to the health of those who live downwind of the exhaust smoke stacks? The reason they want to locate this incinerator near the east side is because so many people on the east side need to be so concerned about putting food on the table and paying their rent and have far less time, energy and money to fight politics and something like this  incinerator being forced upon them. The people of the east side are of  a generally lower income than west side Allentown- not lower class. This is unfair.
Also, this incinerator will not truly be making ‘clean energy’ from burning trash. This is a disguise to be able to receive large fees from companies outside of Allentown who will pay to have their toxic wastes trucked in and disposed of so easily. Many toxins will be pumped into the air. Some will be trapped and held by the incinerator’s systems but some will escape.  It is impossible to capture it all. Components such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, dioxins, mercury, etc. will be emitted and travel downwind. Do you want to or want your children to be breathing this even in what ‘they’ consider ‘safe’ amounts? Not me. Glad they are not putting this thing on the west side of Allentown for my own sake but what about the good citizens on the east side? This is an outrage.
There is very little ‘energy’ to capture from burning wet cardboard and banana peels. This is really all about toxic waste disposal for large companies. Why else would they be fighting  so hard against a proposed plan to monitor the exhaust gas emissions from the stacks on a publicly accessed website? Obviously they have something to hide from us.

Delta Thermo says this incinerator will create jobs. Their own records indicate it takes about 17 full time employees to run the system once it is operating. 17 jobs for about 60,000 people’s health issues. 

The mayor of Allentown  (Ed Pawlowski) has sold out to corporate interests.  (Yes, the same mayor who sold off Allentown’s water system just recently) If re-elected to mayor, he will be spending all of next year on a whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania as he announced he is also running for governor. Would you hire an employee who announced ahead of time he is taking time off to look for a better job? NO!  So don’t re-elect him… especially if you don’t want this incinerator.

Michael Donovan (William Michael Donovan)  has been against this incinerator proposal for the last two and a half years. He is also running for mayor of Allentown. Michael is an economics professor at Cedar Crest College. His campaign is focused on community input and community involvement as well as better relations between city government and the school district as he believes the children are our future. Mr. Donovan is running as an Independent because Mayor Ed Pawlowski is also a Democrat. Which caused some political conflict in an election. Michael is a progressive and fiscally responsible Democrat at heart,
 I encourage you to investigate Mr. Donovan’s credentials, philosophy, track record and what he is passionate about.
Please make an informed choice on Election Day this year.  Every vote matters.
And please spread the word…

Here are a few links to help you find more information about Mr. Donovan.

https://www.facebook.com/DonovanForAllentown

https://www.facebook.com/W.Michael.Donovan?fref=ts




Allen Howells
Indigo Design and Massage
Allentown, PA
610. 349. 5109

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