Article
published Oct 3, 2007
Limited benefits
The
only benefits I can find for the justification for HGS are 65 permanent jobs,
three years of construction jobs and some iffy tax dollars.
Yes,
those jobs are important to the people who would be getting them, but those
jobs could build something besides a Dirty Coal Plant.
Besides
all of the environmental impacts on the negative side is the lack of benefits
to the average person in Great Falls.
City
government has spent at least $3.5 million tax dollars so far to gain an iffy
$70,000 a year saving on city electricity bills. That's 50 years to recoup that
money. Right now, only 20 Great Falls citizens receive power from ECP,
including John Lawton, Colleen Balzarini, and Bennett Motors. After Oct. 1,
residents in Great Falls, who are not currently getting power from ECP, will
never be able to receive it.
Approximately
23,000 homes, located in southern Montana, will receive power from this plant.
The rest of the power will be sold out of area. They are planning man camps to
bring in workers that Great Falls will be unable to provide. Ever live in a
community that has suffered a boom/bust cycle?
Who
knows how many people will even work at the coal plant.
Why
should Great Falls have to receive all of the negatives and none of the
benefits from this Dirty Coal Plant?
Ñ Carol Fisher, Great Falls