Rezoning Poll Results

At tonights city council work session Mr. Bobby Chandler of North Island Development announced that they would withdraw their current rezoning application which requests that the old Scottsboro aluminum Plant be rezoned from R1 to M2, Heavy Manufacturing. Mr. Chandler stated that he would withdraw the M2 zoning request and resubmit the application to request the old manufacturing area be zoned M1, light manufacturing.

>

Poll Results: Do you favor zoning of the old aluminum Plant site from R1, Residential to M2, Heavy Manufacturing? Yes-53--60 1/4%; No-26--29 1/2%; favor M1 zoning-9--10 1/4%; total votes 88. New poll initiated, R1 or M1.

Scottsboro City Council Work Session

1) Methane Gas at the Landfill. Presentation by Mr. Blizzard and representative from CDG Engineers and Associates concerning capturing and selling the Methane Gas generated from the landfill site. Estimated costs of collection of the methane was estimated at $736K with an estimated 10 year revenue of $1.2 million. Grants would be available for this project to include corporations paying for the project and sharing revenue with the city. 2) Annual Audit Briefing. Auditors from Birmingham announced they were in town to conduct the annual city audit. 3) Jim Olyniec made presentation on City Walking and Biking Trail plans. Stated that approximate costs of $15K would be necessary for an environmental study for the portions of the trail crossing Roseberry Creek. Another $100K was estimated for "green-way" costs. Grant money would be available for this project. Total estimated costs were stated to be $3.5 million. 4) Dan Berry and Jim Olyniec made presentation concerning Tennis Courts Project costs, total estimated costs for project was estimated at $373-418K. Council President Keith Smith suggested that the unused portions of the outdoor basketball courts could possibly be utilized to save costs. Mr. Olyneic stated he would do some measurements to determine if tennis courts would fit into the space suggested. 5) Larry Roughton of the local TVA Health and Safety Committee made presentation requesting a traffic light be placed at Crawford Rd. and Veterans Dr. due to safety concerns. 6) One time pay raise for city retirees discussion. 7) Discussion concerning budget amendment for Planning Department for travel and training for Building Inspector to attend International Building Codes Conference, cost of $1200. 8) Presentation by Police Chief Ralph Dawe concerning change orders for Police Department renovation. a. Move Emergency Power Generator. b. Hire Civil Engineer for outside site work for grounds and parking areas. 9) Presentation, discussion and review of the following Board Vacancies and Appointments: Water Sewer and Gas Board, City Medical Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Historic Preservation Committee, Architectural Review Board. 9) Short presentation by City Attorney concerning review of Animal Control Ordinance revision. 10) 4 citizens spoke concerning the pending zoning of the old Scottsboro Aluminum Mill Site. It was announced by Mr. Bobby Chandler, co-property owner of the old Scottsboro Aluminum property, that he would reapply for zoning of the area in question to M1 and withdraw the request for M2 zoning. The City Attorney stated another rezoning application would have to be submitted. 11) Citizen Presentation. Mr. Bob Starkey made presentation stating that he had a possible solution to the problem of rezoning of the old aluminum plant. He stated that he has property available adjacent to the old plant site. Mr. Starkey's property is not in the city limits therefore not zoned. 12) Reports: a. Reminder of the upcoming election on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008. b. Defibrillators are being considered for placement into all City Buildings.

Wording in Mayors Poll

My apologies for the wording in the Scottsboro Mayors poll. Ignore the word "as" after the word "for." I noticed after the poll was posted and votes made, which was very rapidly, "as" was still in place and I can't change the poll wording after votes are placed and I do not want to cancel the poll. There are 3 choices in the poll for your choice as Mayor for Scottsboro, Mr. Deason, Mr. Potter and none of the above.

Limited Appearance Letters to the NRC, Financial and Nuclear Waste Issues

>>>>>>>>>>>>>The Answer, Sustainable Energy Solutions

The following is a Limited Appearance Letter forwarded to the NRC by an Attorney from Cookville, Tn. More reasons why the TVA must not proceed with the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant project. This is an important Limited Appearance Letter and deals with important financial issues of the TVA as well as waste storage issues.

>

Limited Appearance Bellefonte Nuclear Plants Units 3 and 4

Docket No. 52-014--COL and 52-15-COL

Honorable Paul Bollwerk,

I am an attorney licensed in Tennessee and several other jurisdictions. I am a member of the Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, a distributor in the upper Cumberland of electricity produced (or purchased) by TVA.My wife and I participate in TVA's "Generation Partners" and return to the grid some of the electricity produced by the 4 kW solar PV array which I have installed on the roof of my home in Jackson County.We have studied TVA since the time the new Board first proposed a Strategic Plan which completely omitted any reference top electrical efficiency, conservation and the generation of power from renewable sources.We respectfully direct the presiding officer's attention to the July 16, 2008 testimony of Dr. Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Action Fund Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. We ask that a copy of this statement be included in the record of these proceedings. An electronic copy can be found at http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/pdf/romm_testimony.pdf. I have attempted a preliminary review of the NRC's draft Environmental Impact Statement. Unfortunately large portions of that document as posted on the internet are not available for public review. This certainly violates the instruction to allow informed public input found in the National Environmental Policy Act and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations.A critical omission is any documentation by TVA of a reliable forward projection on energy demand that would justify the proposed Bellefonte nuclear plants. TVA's rates are steadily rising and are to be increased again by 10 to 20 percent on October 1, 2008. These rate increases have lead to reduced demand. TVA is to lose 4 to 5 % of the base demand when the USEC gaseous diffusion nuclear fuel processing facility in Paducah is scheduled to cease operations in 2012 as an industrial customer of TVA. In any event, TVA should not be allowed to make a new and financially very risky multi-million dollar re-entry into nuclear plant construction in order to provide subsidized power to a few industrial direct customers while putting the repayment costs and risks on all of the other users of TVA power. TVA faces prohibitively high costs for construction and does not have the financial strength to complete this project. The federal financing bank will not loan federal funds to TVA for nuclear construction. The proposals for Bellefonte on their face violate the "no new major generation" promise TVA made to the taxpayers, Congress and the GAO following the collapse of TVA's last foray into nuclear power. ("TVA Plans to Reduce Debt While Meeting Demand for Power" GAO-06-810 Report, August 2006.) Private financing for nuclear plants, even with federal loan guarantees, has not appeared. Private financing of such a risky venture appears even less likely as our bank credit system continues to shrink and becomes more risk averse. Government loan guarantees, the renewal of the Price-Anderson Act and subsidies only make the risk more self-evident. See: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid467.php At the same time TVA faces steadily and rapidly increasing construction costs. The skyrocketing costs of steel, concrete and other construction materials and the limited availability of skilled craftsman and knowledgeable supervisors and managers make any projection costs and all timetables extremely speculative. Undertaking a project with no prospect that costs and implementation schedule can be controlled is foolish. In any case the excessive cost per unit of electricity generated makes further nuclear investment by TVA unwise and as well as unnecessary. The return on investment for conservation, efficiency and co-generation to achieve demand reductions has been demonstrated many times in many places. There appears to be no reason that demand for TVA power could not be reduced from the current high per capita use figures by 30% or more with a much smaller investment than is proposed for the Bellefonte plants. The (declining) costs of renewable generation from wind and solar are known. Private investors have already offered to capitalize additional wind generation at Buffalo Mountain in TN but TVA has declined to contract for the power that would be produced despite the fact that it would cost less than the cost of much of the other purchased power, particularly peaking power. It looks like the "standard design" paradigm for the AP 1000 has already been sacrificed to applicant plans for customization and continued discovery of design defects as more detailed engineering documents are presented to the NRC. It does not appear the NRC will succeed in finding suppliers for all key components which it can certify in advance. I suspect that Westinghouse, like General Electric soon will start to discard business lines. As the financing of reactor design and construction is recognized as extremely risky in risk averse capital markets, the AP 1000 may disappear from the U.S. market. We have not solved the problem of spent fuel storage. It looks more and more like Yucca Mountain will never be available, which at the same time the U.S. taxpayers are being bled in actions for damages by operators of existing (and even decommissioned) reactors. Of course, TVA's Bellefonte plants will have no right to the use of Yucca Mountain and in this respect the spent fuel disposition aspect of its plans are incomplete and cannot be approved.

Respectfully submitted,
Brian Paddock
Cookeville, TN 38501

Cancer Health Risks in Jackson County on the Rise

-------------------------- Basal Cell Carcinoma of the cheek ----------
>

-------- $$$$$ TVA's Bellefonte Dream, $18,000,000,000 $$$$$

>

The following is a copy of a letter from Mr. Joseph Mangano, Executive Director, Radiation and Public Health Project to Judge Paul Bollwerk, NRC's Administrative Law Judge and Chief Hearing Officer for TVA's Bellefonte License Application.

>

Note the Jackson County Alabama Cancer Rate increase ranking of 44th in 1983 to 10th in 2005.

>>

To: paul.bollwerk@nrc.gov, hearingdocket@nrc.govSent: 8/12/2008 11:41:03 A.M. Eastern Daylight TimeSubj: Comments on Bellefonte

Re: Limited Appearance
Bellefonte Nuclear Plants Units 3 and 4
Docket No. 520-14-COL and 52-15-COL

By email paul.bollwerk@nrc.gov, hearingdocket@nrc.gov

716 Simpson Avenue
Ocean City NJ 08226

August 12, 2008

Dear Sir/Madam:

Please accept the following comments on the plan to build and operate two new nuclear reactors at the Bellefonte plant near Scottsboro AL.

I am a public health researcher, and thus my comments will thus be focused on the potential health risks of new Bellefonte reactors. The high levels of radioactivity found in the core and waste pools of a nuclear reactor after several years of operation are equivalent to hundreds of times that released after the Hiroshima bomb, and several times that of releases from the Chernobyl accident.

A meltdown from mechanical failure or terrorist attack would release large amounts of radioactivity to the local population, and have devastating consequences. The 1982 report Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences, prepared by the Sandia National Laboratories, estimated that an accident at a single Bellefonte reactor would cause

- 3,600 deaths from acute radiation poisoning within 20 miles
- 7,700 non-fatal cases of acute radiation poisoning within 20 miles
- 4,500 cancer deaths within 50 miles

Because of the population increases since 1982, and because the geographic area considered is limited (radioactivity would spread well beyond 20 miles), these figures should be considered minimal if a meltdown were to occur in the future.

New reactors at Bellefonte would also routinely emit a portion of the radioactivity produced in the core into local air and water, where it would enter human bodies through breathing and the food chain. Once in the body, radioactivity kills and injures cells, and is particularly harmful to infants and children.

The added radioactivity would increase risk of cancer. Jackson County, where Bellefonte is located, already suffers from disproportionately high cancer rates. The table below shows that from 1979-1983, the county's cancer death rate jumped from 9.4% below the U.S. to 13.9% above the U.S. in 1999-2005. Its ranking among the 67 Alabama counties also rose, from 44th highest to 10th highest. The increase has a high degree of statistical significance (p<.0001). Cancer death rate, whites, Jackson County vs. U.S. Jackson County U.S. Rate/ Years of Death Deaths Rate/100,000 100,000 % +/- U.S. 1979-1983 373 187.21 (#44 in AL) 206.60 - 9.4 1999-2005 888 222.56 (#10 in AL) 195.47 +13.9 p<.0001 Notes: Data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://wonder.cdc.gov/. Rates adjusted to 2000 U.S. standard population. Uses ICD-9 codes 140.0-239.9 for cancer (1979-1983) and ICD-10 codes for cancer (1999-2005). Whites make up over 95% of Jackson County population.

The current (1999-2005) cancer death rate among Jackson County children and adolescents is more than double that of the U.S. Even though only eight deaths from cancer occurred in these seven years, and the difference falls somewhat short of statistical significance (p<.19 when p<.05 is significant), the findings should be taken seriously. Cancer death rate, age 0-24, whites, Jackson County vs. U.S., 1999-2005 Jackson County U.S. Rate/ Years of Death Deaths Rate/100,000 100,000 % +/- U.S. 1999-2005 8 7.25 3.51 +106.6 p<.19 Notes: Data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://wonder.cdc.gov/ Uses ICD-9 codes ICD-10 codes for cancer (1999-2005). Whites make up over 95% of Jackson County population.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Jackson County's 54,000 residents are already at risk for health problems due to demographic factors. Its poverty rate exceeds the U.S. (15.3% to 12.7% in 2004), and its educational levels fall below that of the nation (67.0% age over 25 graduated from high school, vs. 80.4% nationally in 2000).

Because of the high cancer rates and demographic factors presented here, adding a source of pollution such as nuclear reactors would further threaten the local population.

I and my colleagues at the Radiation and Public Health Project urge you to not make any decisions on the Bellefonte application unless these health data have been publicly presented and discussed.

Sincerely yours,


Joseph J. Mangano, MPH, MBA
Executive Director
Radiation and Public Health Project, email: odiejoe@aol.com

Scottsboro City Council Meeting

There was a full house, standing room only for the public hearing tonight concerning Goosepond Island Industrial Area Zoning. When the old Scottsboro Aluminum plant property and the north side of the island was annexed into Scottsboro by a Special Act of the State Legislature, the area was brought into the city limits zoned R-1. The north side of the island has been developed as a lake shore community. The old plant property has been purchased by the same developers that originally purchased the north side property for home development. The developers, North Island Developers have applied to rezone the old plant property back to M-2 heavy manufacturing. Tonight's Council Session began with the usual formalities, prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, roll call and last meeting minutes approval. The Council then held as their first item a Public Hearing concerning the issue of Goose Pond Island Property Rezoning.

>

Old Business: 1) The public hearing went well. Council President Keith Smith did an excellent job at conducting tonights session. Mr. John Ward (John Orth) of NX Infrastructure Company explained that the business would coat re-bar with stainless steel in order to resist corrosion. Mr. Ward (Orth) conducted a short Power Point Presentation on the business. (Correction: Evidently the gentleman making the presentation was Mr. John Orth, ex CEO of Stelax. Mr Orth did state that Stelax was placed into recievership but did not comment that he was the ex CEO of the company. The speaker did state that NX Infrastructure had purchased the intellectual property of Stelax. I will leave the name up that I originally listed as there is some question as to the name that was heard in the audience. Others heard the name of Ward, which is the name I heard stated.) There were 5 persons speaking for the business and rezoning. 9 persons spoke against the rezoning that resided or owned property on the north side island home development. Concerns from citizens were truck and rail traffic dangers, noise pollution from transportation and plant operations, air and water pollution concerns. Most property buyers indicated they were told that the remaining portion of the island containing the old manufacturing area would not be utilized for heavy manufacturing. There was also a short discussion concerning zoning of the property to M1, Light Manufacturing. The decision for zoning was tabled until August the 25th meeting. 2) Blake Wright and Johnny Ivey was appointed to the Industrial Development Board.

>>

New Business: 1) Animal Control Ordinance Change pulled from agenda. 2) Municipal Judge and Assistant Municipal Judge vacancy announced. Applicants should have applications turned into City Clerks Office by 12 noon Sep. 11, 2008. 3) 2 vacancies announced for Municipal Prosecutors, applications must be turned in by 12 noon Sep. 11, 2008. Current Prosecutors and Judges terms expire in September. 4) Bid opening for Compact Loader for solid waste. Tractor and Equipment Co. awarded bi for $33,461.00, includes trade in equipment. 5) Project Administration bid award for Water Sewer and Gas infrastructure for Polymide Inc. awarded to Morton and Associates of Albertville, Al. 6) Project Engineer award for Polymide project awarded to Nelson & Co, Birmingham, Al. 7) Budget amendment to repair light pole electric outlets around square, not to exceed $500.00. (Top Photos: Aerial View Goose Pond Island and Scottsboro City Hall)