Emissions appalling

H&N 11/19/03

Thanks to those like Susie Gibson our dream retirement may remain a reality.

My husband and I have owned property in Langell Valley for 12 years. After much hard work and sacrifices, we finally were able to qualify for an early retirement in September from the Bay Area and permanently move to the land we have come to love and call home.

We spent all of our vacation time during the past 12 years coming up to check on our property, remodel our home using local businesses, build fences, irrigation ditches and establish our herd of cattle.

We were never notified of the potential of the Cob power plant being built in the pristine valley we worked so hard to retire to, to escape the congestion, smog and pollution of the big city. I attended an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality public hearing last month and was appalled by its own admission that the emissions from this proposed power plant, although high, were to it, acceptable.

We have made many friends within our community and have joined forces to do what it will take to see that this power plant will never become a reality.

Both of us worked for public agencies, I as clerk of their boards, and Warren as a park ranger.

We discovered the officials of these agencies had their minds made up before their public hearings and that public hearings were only conducted to pacify their constituents and remain within the ordinances of their enabling legislations.

I pray the agencies involved with this project will prove to be different. As stated by them, if they determine the power plant is unwelcome in this valley, they will drop their plans and leave the area.

This community says no to the development of a power plant that would diminish the rural aesthetic appeal of this valley, and jeopardize the health and longevity of its inhabitants, so please leave this valley in peace and save us all the time and money that neither side can afford.

Susan and Warren Phillips

Bonanza