Dear Citizens for Clean Energy:
The most important hearing for our cause is coming up on
the draft EIS on July 27th. This
will be the last meaningful opportunity for public input on the coal-fired
plant. A copy of the Environmental Impact Statement may be viewed at HYPERLINK
"http://www.usda/gov/rus/water/ees/eis/htm"
http://www.usda/gov/rus/water/ees/eis/htm or HYPERLINK "http://deq.mt.gov/eis/asp"
http://deq.mt.gov/eis/asp or a hard copy is available at the Great Falls Public
Library. You may also request your
own hard copy by contacting Kathy Johnson at 406-444-1760 (email
katjohnson@mt.gov). There is no
charge for the document or the postage. The document is 700 pages long, but in
the days ahead key points will be brought up and emailed to you in time of the
public hearing.
There will be a meeting of our members to discuss the
public testimony of the EIS on Friday at 9:30 a.m. on July 21st at the Park and
Ponder on the back patio. It is
critical to have presence at this meeting and to publicly testify on July
27th. Written comments are also
encouraged. Written comments need
to be received by August 15th .
CCE has requested an extension of this deadline, but at this time it is
uncertain if this will be granted.
These comments must include name, mailing address and
date. A copy on a
computer-generated disc should accompany all hardcopy comments over one page in
length (although this electronic requirement is not essential, according to Mr.
Fristik). All comments are part of
the public record, and by law the government is required to address each
concern. Question may be emailed
or phoned to Mr. Fristik at 202-720-5093 (rrichard.fristik@wdc.usda.gov).
Mail comments to:
Richard Fristik
USDA Rural Development, Utilities Programs
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Mail Stop 1571, Room 2237
Washington D.C. 22050-1571
Or:
Kathleen Johnson
Department of Environment Quality
DirectorÕs Office
P.O. Box 200901
Helena, MT 59620-0901
From the dates July 18 through the 28th any email message
that needs to be passed to the group must have the word URGENT in the subject
line. Also updated information
will be in our web site, HYPERLINK
"http://homepage.mac.com/neiltaylor1/cce/index.html"
http://homepage.mac.com/neiltaylor1/cce/index.html