Current Conditions
74°F - SUNNY
Did secret donations seal ethanol plant deal?
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in pledges to fire, police departments were made before Conoy Township approved controversial ethanol plant. Foes upset. Officials say nothing improper.
Lancaster New Era
Apr 18, 2008 11:33 EST
Bainbridge
By AD CRABLE, Staff

The complete text of this article is no longer available online.

Recent Posts
Showing 5 most recent comments out of 11 total TalkBack comments about this article
View full comments | Comment on this article
Let's see now. Hundreds of thousands of dollars to fire companies that don't have alcohol fire suppression equipment. If this would have remained hidden, I bet those companies would treat it as a windfall. Now the cat's out of the bag, will they be forced to spend it on alc. fire suppression equip.? In which case their silence was bought with an item the ethanol plant operator should have provided as a condition prior to approval of the plant. Instead, the operator used it for backroom negotiations. Sounds like a business on the up-and-up, right?
Whirlwind
QUOTE
"People have to realize everyone was looked out for in this project," Mohr said. "The idea is to look out for yourself and that is what we did. We made sure everyone in Conoy Township, whether fire people or police or just a citizen, that their thoughts and concerns were entered into it."


What people don't know they won't think about and it won't concern them, much less be able to take action on concerns because the deadline for appeals has passed. Are we lacking sunshine in this process?

Nativeson
QUOTE
In the signed agreements, the Bainbridge Fire Company and the Susquehanna Regional Police Department agreed not to oppose the conditional-use permit sought by Lancaster Biofuels, although the fire company reserved its right to review the plant's fire and safety plans.


I'm going to play devil's advocate for a second here...

What gives the fire company the right to accept or reject the plant's fire and safety plans?
WGM1171
The word is "review" not accept or reject. The fire departments have a right to review and make comment or recommendation.
BigKahuna
QUOTE(Whirlwind @ Apr 19 2008, 06:12 AM)
In which case their silence was bought with an item the ethanol plant operator should have provided as a condition prior to approval of the plant. Instead, the operator used it for backroom negotiations.
Good observation.

This whole affair stinks, and is yet another perfect example of the local good ole' boy culture that worries about who's making money first, and the concerns of the local residents somewhere way, way down the priority list.

ReaganRepublican
Top Ads