Alcoa sucking water from Bastrop County, Texas

To: Subject: Giddings Tomorrow Rage against the Alcoa Corporate Machine in Giddings, Lee County Texas November 2-3 WE THE PEOPLE CAN STOP ANOTHER 40 plus years of the WORST lignite burning grandfathered polluter in Texas. ALCOA has requested a permit to lignite strip mine 15,000 acres of farms, ranches, homes and wildlife habitat in Bastrop and Lee Counties, less than one hour's drive from the state capitol. Alcoa needs lignite to fuel the utility plants that in turn power its Rockdale, Texas, aluminum smelter, the largest in the U.S. Alcoa's operation is "grandfathered," meaning the plant has never been required to comply with the 1971 Clean Air Act. Area citizens are waging a David-vs.-Goliath fight against the strip mine, and are calling on Alcoa -- which made a record $1 billion in profits last year -- to switch to a cleaner-burning fuel. A grassroots citizens group, Neighbors for Neighbors, has filled an unsuitability petition with the Railroad Commission of Texas asking for portions of the 15,000 acres of rolling ranch and farm land to be declared unsuitable for lignite strip mining. A hearing has been scheduled for November 2 and 3, in Giddings, Texas, at the county courthouse. Alcoa is expected to make a big showing in opposition to the petition. A number of individuals and groups, working independently of Neighbors, are organizing protests in support of the unsuitability petition. Come rage against the ALCOA corporate machine and demand that the Railroad Commission of Texas find the Pittsburgh plan of corporate greed and resource exploitation UNSUITABLE for our next generation of Texans, demand Alcoa leave behind 50's technology and put people ahead of profits. Every man, woman and child can join this effort and fight for the right to have the Democratic process work for WE the People, not WE the Corporation. Help our elected officials understand that they are responsible to the voter not the corporate campaign contributor. Texans have waited since 1971, we cannot afford to continue to sacrifice our clean air for high profit margins. This is the opportunity to demand an end to corporate loopholes at the taxpayer expense and our children's health, insist on compliance with laws already on the books that will protect our air quality. Texas and Texans do not need or want its ranking as the worst polluting state in the nation. Is it any wonder that more children in Texas visit the emergency room for asthma than for any other complaint? Come to Giddings and stop the machine, make and be a part of history. Pass this forward to anyone interested in regulatory agencies demonstrating protection of and responsibility to the people against those that deprive citizens of clean air while exploiting natural resources. The above is in no way produced by or a product of the NFN 501c(3) organization. This is in support of their efforts by those at Ground Zero. For event information [contact mustangwarhorse@juno.com Leave message ; 512-285-3845] or [bcgreens@io.com 512-303-4716] For NFN information visit http://www.neighborsforneighbors.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Carl Manz & Christine Johnson Rt 3, Box 369 Bastrop, TX 78602-9505 e-mail: cbmanz@io.com telephone: 512-303-4716 "The real object of all despotism is revenue." -Thomas Paine "The selfish spirit of commerce knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain." - Thomas Jefferson "Nothing can stop the power of an informed citizenry when it is empowered, organized, and motivated." - Ralph Nader ---------------

Terry, too bad this isnt tied to the two topics dealing with just the sort of problem - one of which you created a long time ago. Oh well... Topic 4 of 40: Gaia: Geological Ecology http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/4 Topic 12 of 40: bioregions - getting to know your unique niche on planet earth http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/12

..Oh yes, On Geo conference, of course...

... of course. Linked.

Thank you!!!

from http://utwatch.com Residents urge Bastrop to can Alcoa road plan By Robert W. Gee AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Tuesday, January 28, 2003 BASTROP -- About 150 people, several wearing anti-Alcoa bumper stickers on their backs, filled a courtroom Monday night to oppose a plan by the aluminum manufacturer to move six roads in the northwest corner of Bastrop County to make way for a strip mine. Opponents of the proposed lignite coal mine, unpopular in this county of new subdivisions and ranchettes, urged county commissioners to vote against the road proposal. No residents spoke in favor of it. Alcoa officials said the plan would provide the county with new, wider roads outside the mine area. The Pennsylvania-based aluminum giant has offered to cover all construction expenses, estimated at million. "Alcoa is asking you to put your stamp of approval on a plan not only to fix what isn't broken, but to actually increase our traffic and transportation headaches, all under the guise of free asphalt," said Michele Gangnes, a member of the board of directors of Neighbors for Neighbors, the principal opposition group to the proposed Three Oaks Mine. Company officials have said the new roads would improve traffic flow. "There really isn't very significant changes," said Jim Hodson, a spokesman for Alcoa in Rockdale. "But those changes will result in better roads than are there." But those who spoke at the hearing Monday night said they feared workers driving to and from the new mine would choke area roads and make them more dangerous. "Tell Alcoa they can keep their asphalt, and we can keep our country roads, our countryside and our clean water," said Martha Boethel, who lives in McDade, near the proposed mine. After the hearing, commissioners voted unanimously to hire an independent engineering firm to investigate safety issues and hazards that could be associated with the potential project. Commissioners did not decide when they will take a final vote on the matter. Alcoa plans to mine 5,661 acres in northern Bastrop and southern Lee counties, a patchwork of tracts that it owns or controls about 25 miles east of Austin. The roads that criss-cross the proposed mine would complicate efforts to mine the coal. But if the county does not give permission to move the roads, Alcoa has said it intends to mine around them. Under a permit approved in September by the Texas Railroad Commission, Alcoa would mine for three years without touching the roads. But company officials have said they believe they are legally entitled to the coal under the roads and plan to mine it. Alcoa has estimated that the roads and their 100-foot buffer zones lie atop 12 million tons of coal worth 0 million. Lawyers representing Alcoa told County Judge Ronnie McDonald last summer that the company was willing to sue the county to win access, according to a county memo. Hodson has denied that company officials threatened to sue the county. Last fall, Bastrop County commissioners sent surveys to county agencies asking how services might be affected if the roads are moved. The results of those surveys have not been made public. Neighbors of the proposed mine -- those who live closest say they stand to lose the most, including a measure of their tranquil rural lifestyle -- say the plan to move the roads isn't in the county's best interest. "We're not just talking about the roads, are we?" said George Wright, 72, who lives adjacent to the proposed mine. "We're talking about pollution. We're talking about wrecking the landscape." The room erupted in applause. At one point, mine opponents unrolled a list of signatures -- representing those opposed to moving the roads, they said -- across the length of the courtroom. The list fell on the laps of a handful of Alcoa representatives sitting in the front row. Mine opponents are also contesting Alcoa's pending permits with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the two remaining hurdles before mining can start. Those agencies are expected to decide about the permits later this year. Alcoa hopes to start mining in the second half of the year, Hodson said. For nearly two years, the question of moving the roads has been a hot-button issue in the fast-growing county, which prefers to envision its future as an attractive bedroom community for Austin rather than home to the state's newest strip mine. The first public hearing on the matter was in August 2001. Strong opposition led to a revised plan that would leave open one county road previously slated for closure. Commissioners stress that they cannot weigh the road proposal on the merits of the strip mine, but only as a transportation issue. The Texas Department of Transportation has said it will not give Alcoa approval to move two state roads in the mine area until the county gives approval to move the county roads. In Lee County, where roughly one-third of Three Oaks Mine would be, commissioners voted unanimously a year and a half ago to let Alcoa move roads. Lee County, closer to the Rockdale smelter, is home to many of Alcoa's employees, and the proposed mine is viewed as an economic opportunity, not an environmental blight. The lignite coal would fuel Alcoa's nearby Rockdale aluminum smelter, considered by environmentalists to be among the state's biggest polluters, for at least 25 years. The existing Sandow Mine, closer to Rockdale, is running out of coal and is scheduled to shut down by 2005. bgee@statesman.com; 445-3643