The actions taken by Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt and his son, Governor Matt Blunt, to rectify odor problems in Carthage caused by Renewable Environmental Services (RES) don't seem to have done any good at all in the long run.
The company has been issued warnings, says it will do better and is putting in new equipment, then a few days later, the odor returns, more warnings are issued, and more new equipment is promised.
It appears the only positive to come out of the situation is that the public-spirited RES officials are willing to shut down the plant's odors long enough for the city to hold such events as the Maple Leaf Festival and Carthage Senior High School Graduation.
I doubt if Moark is going to provide any such gifts for Neosho. In the Moark situation, officials again have the promise of new, improved equipment from people who have been serial environmental violators in the past. Complaints will be registered, threats will be made, then officials will promise they will take care of the situation, put in new equipment to remove odor and everything will be o. k.
The people in the Carthage and Neosho areas deserve much better from the public officials whose job it is to protect the environment.
For the latest on the RES situation, read the article from today's Joplin Globe.
I too, am concerned about the mixed messages that seem to permeate the air in Carthage, especially downwind from Renewable Environmental Solutions LLC (RES). You know what they say, if it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, and acts like a pig, it's probably a pig. I am worried about the MOARK project for the same reason that I'm worried about RES. MOARK and RES have both been cited for polluting, they both have taken an arrogant and unresponsive attitude, the entire communities have been negatively affected, and there is ongoing litigation against them. In the case of MOARK, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources(MDNR) says YES, and in the case of RES, MDNR says, yea it stinks, but not bad enough to register in the stink-o-meter. There is a blog documenting the RES story, whostinks.blogspot.com. Is there one for the MOARK?
ReplyDeleteRandy, I'm not sure that RES is a good blueprint for anything, except the recipe for something that has been described as a 'dead, rotting carcass smell - intensified'.
Mr. Turner, you have alluded to a problem much bigger and more devastating than stink. I am referring to water contaimination. There are groups that have been concerned about water contamination, forming watershed districts, steam teams, coalitions, etc. There is a blog, cleanupspringriver.blogspot.com that has made an attempt at communicating the many, many issues related to the Spring River watershed. Thank you for bringing up the MOARK situation. There are initiatives ongoing involving EPA Region 6, EPA Region 7, USGS, USACE, FWS, OKCC, ODEQ, OKWC, MDNR, MDC, MOAG, KDHE, KDWP, the Cherokee, Eastern Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa and Wyandotte Tribes, trying to deal with cleaning up Spring River and its tributaries. It is unbelieveble that the MDNR grants MOARK permits to build more chicken houses, when the residents of Neosho and Newton County see, taste and smell the polluting, nasty and environmentally degrading activity of MOARK.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it make sense for MDNR to talk with their colleagues in the other organizations, departments, agencies and commissions that are trying to do something positive (like clean up the water), before giving to a known contaminator, the green light to try it again. What ever happened to the option, NO! NO! No!
The MDNR Comments in Draft Missouri State Operating Permits - MOARK Productions, Inc., dated Nov. 1, 2005, made numerous references to other Departments, Commissions, and Agencies, by suggesting the public contact them if there is a problem, because it is out of their hands or out of their jurisdiction.
That is a total Cop Out! Why can't MDNR make the "Right" decision, based on the all of the evidence, all of the public testimony, all the historical violations, and the 'big' picture kind of stuff, instead of turning their head and back on the people who have to live in it, to smell it and taste the polution that MOARK generates.