{"id":2886,"date":"2017-01-27T05:43:35","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T05:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mattralston.net\/?p=2886"},"modified":"2017-01-28T22:02:36","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T22:02:36","slug":"aurora-energys-lies-condensed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/politics\/aurora-energys-lies-condensed\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Energy’s Lies Condensed"},"content":{"rendered":"
I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska on the Chena River, a few miles downriver from the Chena Power Plant, which is a coal burning power plant. It is owned by a company called Aurora Energy LLC, which is owned by Usibelli Coal. They are traded on the NYSE. This power plant is destroying the river and exposing the city of Fairbanks to toxins well above EPA limits. This has been proven. Nothing is being done.<\/p>\n
Aurora Energy is a criminal enterprise. They are permitted to pump 20 million gallons of warm water per day into the narrow river. Permitted<\/em> is a generous way of saying this, because they just started doing it, and several years later were issued a permit by the EPA over the objections of the community. They are also disposing of their coal ash in unlined makeshift dump sites all around town. Coal ash is one of the most toxic substances on earth. They claim there’s isn’t. But as you’ll see at the conclusion of this article, they\u00a0are liars. This isn’t my opinion, it’s been proven.<\/p>\n A quick historical recap: Growing up in Fairbanks, the Chena River froze so thick you could drive a semi-truck across it, or a dozen semis. There was something called the Ice Bridge, a shortcut which allowed you to drive across the river in order to cut across town. The Iditarod sled dog race was hosted on the river, and 20,000 people stood on it, and there was no issue.<\/p>\n Now you can splash a rock into the Ice Bridge\u00a0in the dead of winter. It is no more.<\/p>\n The power plant claims this is due to a “naturally occurring thermal plume”, and has little to do with the fact that they’re pumping 20 million gallons of water (and maybe more, nobody’s checking) into the river every day. This water is not tested for heavy metals or other toxic compounds, by the way.<\/p>\n As the river is no longer a corridor from the west side of Fairbanks to downtown for snowmachiners and skiers, there are obviously economic impacts on the city. Aurora Energy is not responsible for\u00a0compensating the community for the loss of enjoyment of the river, and for the adverse affects on the city’s economy, including independently owned bars and restaurants situated on the river.<\/p>\n Aurora Energy is also illegally disposing of coal ash in the city by\u00a0virtue of a few loopholes.\u00a0They classify their ash as “fill”, meaning it can be used in construction projects. This is a clever way to pawn off their ash onto businesses and individuals in Fairbanks without having to worry about properly disposing of it.\u00a0What they cannot get rid of, they have simply began dumping in giant mounds all around town.<\/p>\n