Plainridge's Past Conduct Needs To Be Considered!

The past conduct of Plainridge has been particularly problematic and needs to seriously be considered during this process.

Please attend the Plainville Planning Board meeting MONDAY, AUGUST 5TH and raise your concerns.

If you live in Plainville or a surrounding community, it's important to recognize that the future EXPANSION of Plainridge into a Full-Blown Casino without amenities was discussed openly during an Educational Forum conducted by the Gaming Commission. 
Plainville Town Manager, Joe Fernandes attended that hearing, yet no provisions for future EXPANSION are incuded with the AGREEMENT. There are numerous other issues not included in the agreement as well - including WATER and WASTEWATER that will cost ratepayers dearly.

Plainville was told they lacked water and would be forced to buy water from Rhode Island. Suddenly, they have enough water?

There are too many unanswered questions, including those below that folks need to stand up and ask in a public forum.

NoPlainvilleRacino

• A letter from Plainville resident to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission about their upcoming decision as to the fitness of Plainridge to operate a gaming facility:
  
  Dear Commissioner Crosby,
  
  As you are making your decision about whether to allow Plainridge to move ahead in the application process or be disqualified because of concerns about the toleration of Mr. Piontowski's "cash withdrawals," I hope you consider these facts, as well:
  
  • Plainridge was in violation of the Massachusetts charitable gaming laws for more than a decade with their so-called "Plainridge Raffle." The Attorney General has recently concluded the investigation about the raffle, and Plainridge has agreed not to repeat their offense. Why the AGO has seen fit to treat the matter with such laissez faire is beyond me, especially when Plainridge — with their many lawyers always at the ready — must have known they were breaking the law. Moreover, while the AGO has found that no charitable monies were misspent, they ignored the fact that Plainridge used the raffle to ingratiate themselves to a town in which they have lobbied for expanded gambling almost since they opened the track. Plainridge received a great deal from running illegal charitable gaming — they garnered the goodwill and loyalty of residents who were not aware that laws were being broken on their behalf.
  
  The AGO refuses to give me anything in writing about the case. Perhaps they'll be more forthcoming for you.
  
  • As you know, Plainridge sued Thomas Keen, a resident of Plainville and a co-founder of No Plainville Racino, for defamation due to an anonymous posting on the group's Facebook page. Mr. Keen successfully defended himself in court, and Plainridge dropped their subsequent appeal, citing "more important matters" (around the time they were ridding themselves of Mr. Piontkowski).
  
  • In response to an inquiry about the projected length of blasting at the track earlier this year, residents who live on Harness Path (abutting Plainridge) were told that Plainridge is in possession of a 1999 Mutual Non-Interference Agreement between Francis Daddario and GTWO, LLC that could mean a serious lawsuit if anyone living on Harness Path dares to speak up against anything going on or anything that they fear might go on at Plainridge. The Mutual Non-Interference Agreement is a matter of pubic record (Norfolk Registry of Deeds, BK 13350, PG 416, recorded 99 Apr -2) and is attached here.
  
  The agreement says that the parties are "not to object to any such future development plans of the other by any of the following means: oral or written opposition to governmental permits, approvals, and or rezoning, at or in connection with hearings, town meetings, administrative proceedings and/or administrative or judicial appeals." The threat to use this Agreement against the residents of Harness Path to keep them from speaking at "hearings, town meetings, etc." when they live so close and are among the most affected from the addition of slots is a serious one, indeed, and should be considered when weighing the fitness of Plainridge to operate a gaming facility in our town.
  
  Respectfully,
  Mary-Ann Greanier

This & That

Noam Chomsky Quotes

"My personal feeling is that citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self-defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control, and to lay the basis for more meaningful democracy."

Noam Chomsky - Necessary Illusions

I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists shared I Acknowledge Apartheid Exists's photo.

The Everlasting GOP Stoppers

From Conservatives Are Destroying Our Future

One Million Strong Against Mitt Romney in 2012 shared Forward Progressives's photo.

1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling shared DirtyOilSands.org's photo.

Breaking: big parts of Fort McMurray, the town at ground zero for giant tar sands tailings ponds, are under water right now. Very bad news for the regions rivers and lakes.

Stay tuned for more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2013/06/11/edmonton-fort-mcmurray-flooding.html

 

 

Breaking: big parts of Ft McMurray, ground zero for giant tar sands tailings ponds, are under water right now. Stay tuned for more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2013/06/11/edmonton-fort-mcmurray-flooding.html

Progressives That Kick Conservative Ass shared Being Liberal's photo.

(B) I wish!

(M) We would definitely support this.

Posted on the Being Liberal fan page.

 

Occupy New Hampshire shared Anonymous ART of Revolution's photo.

NS

 

 

 

Don't Frack New York shared Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy's photo.

NYS receives a "F"ailing grade in Environmental Protection.
This really means they fail to to protect public health as well.
Thanks Environmental Advocates of New York for writing the Report Card.

"

Enviros give [NY] state Senate a failing grade"
If the Senate Fails Environmental Studies they also Fail to protect Public Health (and the public in general)
Read the article: http://bit.ly/14tpGHY

 

 

Not our concern?

This is where a lot of our food comes from!

 

 

Environmental Action shared 350.org's photo.

I know what would save even more money— Let's end subsidies to coal companies entirely.

You can't make this stuff up.

India Coal, the world's largest coal company, is putting solar on its facilities, from mines to power stations, to cut their uti...lities bills.

This is powerful testimony that the age of coal is coming to an end -- SHARE if you're ready to see this dirty industry ended forever.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/worlds-biggest-coal-company-turns-to-solar-to-save-energy-costs-31634

 

 

 

The Sierra Club

FRACKING NIGHTMARE: This fracking company used up all the local water. So it's trucking in 1 million gallons. "The water use for these types of wells in Michigan is unprecedented."

 

Fracking Creates Water Scarcity Issues in Michigan

June 5, 2013

respectmyplanet.org Friends of the Au Gres–Rifle Watershed

Concerns about the impact to local groundwater by massive water use—on a scale never before seen in Michigan fracking operations—are coming to a head, as the plan for Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. to use 8.4 million gallons of water to fracture a single well has been stymied by a lack of water on site.

Instead, the company is trucking water—nearly 1 million gallons of it in just one week—from the City of Kalkaska’s water system to meet its needs. This one fracking operation today is using more water than Kalkaska is using for all its needs over the same time period.

The Westerman 1-29 HD1 gas/oil well, located on Wood Road in Rapid River Township, Kalkaska County, originally permitted to Chevron Michigan, LLC, is now being operated by Encana.

Westerman gas/oil well, Kalkaska County, MI. Photo courtesy of Respect My Planet.

The permit issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) authorized one water well on the site. The estimated water required for the gas/oil well was 8.4 million gallons. That compares to about 10,000 gallons used to complete or “stimulate” wells in the traditional way—a massive increase in consumptive water use by the fracking industry compared to the past.

 

The Michigan Water Assessment Withdrawal Tool (WWAT) estimated that 900 gallons per minute could be removed safely from the site and would cause no adverse resource impact. As it turns out, there isn’t enough water available on the site to provide 900 gallons per minute, let alone be safely removed.

 

An additional eight water wells were drilled on the site but apparently they did not produce either. Starting on May 31, water began being removed from the Kalkaska municipal water system to frack the gas/oil well.

 

Water truck filling at municipal fire hydrant in Kalkaska, MI. Photo courtesy of Respect My Planet.

 

The municipal withdrawal did not come close to supplying the water necessary to complete the Westerman well, so on Saturday, another water well was drilled off site in the surrounding field.

 

Drilling new water well off site. Photo courtesy of Respect My Planet.

 

That water well also failed to produce sufficient water and trucks running around the clock continued to haul more than 900,000 gallons of water from the Kalkaska municipal system over the weekend. At last report on June 4, the water was still being trucked to the well site from the municipal water supply.

 

“If the citizens of Michigan knew corporations were destroying hundreds of millions of gallons of Michigan water—water that is supposedly protected by government for use by all of us—they would be opposing this new kind of completion technique,” stated Paul Brady, a local resident and leading contributor of respectmyplanet.org. “These deep shale unconventional wells are using massive amounts of water without adequate testing and solid data on aquifer capacity.”

 

Brady noted that the new fracking methods permanently remove water from Michigan’s watersheds. It is polluted with chemicals, shoved deep into the ground and never returned to the water cycle.

 

Encana has stated in shareholder presentations that up to 500 wells are planned for Michigan. Five new wells were permitted in Excelsior Township last week that estimate using 152,000,000 gallons of water. Eight more permit applications are pending.

 

The water use for these types of wells in Michigan is unprecedented. There is no gas or oil play in the U.S. that is using this much water per well.

 

The Michigan DEQ has taken some steps recently to try and deal with the astounding amounts of water destroyed by modern fracking. But as of today, the primary tools that they are using to determine the adverse impact to our water are inadequate to even judge how much water is available in any given location (as demonstrated by the Westerman well situation), never mind how much can be safely removed. Michigan has no groundwater maps of this area; state officials don’t know how much water withdrawal our aquifers in Kalkaska County can support.

 

However, there is a way to find this out: Do a pump aquifer yield test. State officials should require this testing whenever withdrawals of this magnitude are proposed for any reason, not just oil and gas exploration.

 

“This is not about the gas and oil industry,” says Brady. “We wholeheartedly support the Michigan oil and gas worker: They are our neighbors, family and friends here in Kalkaska. We are confident local oil and gas workers value the water as much as we do.”

 

Elected officials often remind us that water is by far our most precious resource. They need to step in and ensure that such massive quantities are not misused in this manner, and that unsustainable well drilling is not allowed.

Visit EcoWatch’s FRACKING page for more related news on this topic.

 

Sign the petition today, telling President Obama to enact an immediate fracking moratorium:

 

 

 

http://ecowatch.com/2013/fracking-water-scarcity-issues-imichigan/

 

The Everlasting GOP Stoppers

via Occupy the NRA:

"He had a fascination with guns, along with a troubled past, but in America, land of easy access to guns, that means little, apparently. Groups like the National Association for Gun Rights actually have the motto "Firearms Everywhere and Anywhere." They oppose ANY restrictions on the 2nd Amendment, thus enabling killers like the one in California."

See the story about the Santa Monica shooter here: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-monica-gunman-had-fascination-with-guns-friend-says-20130609,0,4286367.story

 

 

Meme GOP added a new photo.

 

 

 

Too Informed To Vote Republican

Good one from Teabonics

Posted on Too Informed To Vote Republican

~raz