With the help of a generous Court of Common Pleas judge and a good attorney, 38 year old former Sussex Central High School principal, Dana Goodman, is free on bail.  Judge Rosemary Beauregard reduced Goodman’s bond from $331,000 to $125,000 dollars, which he was able to post Thursday. 

 He has been ordered to have no contact with the 17 year old victim,  the Indian River School District or its employees and no contact - direct or indirect - with any children under the age of 18.  Goodman is charged with 30 counts of 4th degree rape and continual sexual abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child.  All are felony offenses.

On Goodman’s release the school district has this comment:

Statement concerning the posting of bond by Sussex Central High School Principal Dana Goodman: 

“Mr. Goodman continues to be prohibited from having any contact with Indian River School District students or staff while his case is being adjudicated. The Indian River Board of Education has directed administrative staff to advertise the position of principal of Sussex Central High School, identify qualified applicants to be interviewed by the board and conduct background checks on all such applicants consistent with IRSD procedures.”                                               

                                Susan Bunting, SuperintendentMay 9, 2008

Earlier this week the Indian River School District appointed former IR and Woodbridge School District teacher and administrator, Robert Powell, as the interim principal at Sussex Central High School for the remainder of the school year.  Also Assistant IR Superintendent Gary Brittingham has been assigned to the school for the rest of the school year. 

The school district has now announced a special meeting for parents and members of the community regarding Sussex Central High School: 

The Indian River Power Plant, Delaware’s worst polluter.

Last week I started getting e-mails from various sources telling me about another public hearing in Millsboro over the issuance of a permit for the Indian River Power Plant, Delaware’s worst polluter. This time, the permit was over a proposed “Activated Carbon Injection” system designed to reduce mercury emissions from the smokestacks.

I thought, “Less mercury? Woo hoo!” But then, I started getting e-mails from various environmental groups that were filled with cautions over the plan. I didn’t get it. But now, unfortunately, I do.

NRG’s plan is to use an “Activated Carbon Injection” system to trap mercury, which is great, and apparently cost effective. What isn’t great is that when the system is saturated, the mercury infused waste will be dumped in the fly ash pile already on the plant’s site. An ash pile that has no barrier between it and the ground, it isn’t covered, and it isn’t equipped to handle toxic waste. So basically the mercury can leech into the ground, or it can simply fly off the top of the uncovered ash pile.

“A new solid waste is going to be generated and where and how this waste is managed is really a significant issue for the public.” ~ John Austin, Citizens for Clean Power AUDIO

(As an aside, it seems that even though studies are showing that fly ash piles are indeed toxic, the EPA is just getting around to thinking about it, meanwhile the piles are not regulated by either the EPA or DNREC, but what the heck, substances like arsenic couldn’t be dangerous, right?)

41st District Representative Greg Hastings, the only legislator who bothered to show up for the hearing.

“From sitting here tonight, it just makes me more aware of the work I need to do.” ~ 41st District Representative Greg Hastings AUDIO

And while an NRG Energy Representative assured the crowd the plant wanted to be a “good neighbor,” years of the facility thwarting regulations has left some, shall we say, “skeptical.”

Three representatives from NRG Energy in Millsboro. I’m showing them sitting down from behind because I’m so nice.

“You did stand here and say you want to be a “good neighbor.” I’m going to look in your face and I’m going to say, “As a physician who deals with cancer patients you be a “good neighbor,” do not fight these people, do not fight us by saying you won’t put it in a lined fly ash pit.” Do you like to sleep at night? Do you?” ~ Dr. Kim Furtado to NRG Representatives at the hearing AUDIO

Michael Fiorentino from the Mid Atlantic Environmental Law Center attended the hearing to ask questions. I think he was hired by one or more of the citizens groups in the area. I spoke with Mr. Fiorentino after the hearing to get his take on the plan:

“Our primary concern here tonight was that in the effort to control one dangerous pollutant we don’t end up squeezing that pollution out in another form.” ~ Michael Fiorentino, Mid Atlantic Environmental Law Center AUDIO

There were a few speakers who surprised me. One was a man named Brooks Freeman from Lewes:

“I’ve only spent 6 months of my entire life away from this area. I’ve never smoked, and I’ve never drank. I am a cancer survivor.” ~ Brooks Freeman AUDIO

The other was a Thomas Sullivan, a Millsboro resident:

“Three years ago my doctor warned me not to eat one fish out of the Indian River.” ~ Thomas Sullivan AUDIO

Now, I’ve got to say that the best part of the evening was when I stood up and tried to ask some questions, and for the record, I was extraordinarily polite. AUDIO But unfortunately, Hearing Officer, Robert Haynes of DNREC told me “No, no, no” and said I could ask DNREC and NRG questions after the hearing was over. I guess they didn’t want me on the record.

Well, Mr. Haynes denying me the right to ask questions really ticked off a woman in the crowd that I never saw before, and who left before I could find out who she was. I want to thank her for standing up for me like that. I found Mr. Haynes response to her unsettling, to say the least. Apparently, I’m not a “member of the public.”

“She’s a member of the press, she’s not a member of the public.” ~ DNREC Hearing Official Robert Haynes, ruling that I’m not a member of the public, and therefore I have no right to ask questions in a DNREC public hearing. AUDIO OF MY RIGHTS BEING DENIED BY A BUREAUCRAT

Now, just to add a little salt to the wound, after the hearing, the three NRG Representatives went squirrelly. One disappeared immediately, and the other two refused to answer my questions. And yeah, I have audio of the NRG people blowing me off. AUDIO OF NRG EMPLOYEES REFUSING TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS

For the record, here are the horrifying questions I was going to ask DNREC and NRG Energy

1. What is the total amount of mercury in pounds or tons put out by the IRPP per year.

2. Are you (NRG) using the cleaner burning coal now? What kind of coal are you currently burning?

3. What percentage of NRG’s electricity is contracted to Delaware energy companies, how much goes to out of state contracts?

4. Is the 80% reduction based on total output or is it for each unit?

5. How often will emissions be tested, by whom, and is NRG responsible for telling DNREC they aren’t in compliance? Who tells DNREC if there is a violation?

6. Tell us about the erosion around the fly ash pit, is the seawall compromised? Why isn’t it lined or covered? Are fly ash pits regulated by the EPA or DNREC?

7. Will NRG be “mothballing” Units 1 & 2 on schedule?

8. What is the public comment time frame?

Yes, all scandalous and out of line. No wonder DNREC Hearing Officer, Robert Haynes shut me down. HERE’S A SCANNED COPY OF MY NOTEBOOK PAGES WITH THE SCARY QUESTIONS.

So, I have been officially ruled “not a member of the public” by DNREC. And here I was walking around like I had the right to ask questions about a state permit for a facility in my backyard and in the backyard of the people in WGMD’s listening area.

Shame on me.

Incidentally, the NRG Representatives told Mr. Haynes that they have to have the permit in three weeks which means no opportunity for the public to digest what went on Wednesday night, and then add their comments to the record for consideration.

This is Randall Speck, a lawyer from DC that the Senate Energy and Transit Committee brought to the hearing to ask questions for them. I left a note for Senator Harris McDowell after his committee met, asking how much Randall Speck is costing the fine people of Delaware. I haven’t heard back yet.

How far will the Senate’s Energy and Transit Committee go to skirt the will of the people of Delaware (that’s according to DP&L’s own survey), and kill the proposed wind farm project that would sit off the coast of Rehoboth Beach?

Well, we found out the answer to that question during one of the committee’s final hearings on the issue. They’ll go as far as bringing in an attorney from DC to grill the Public Advocate and Public Service Commission representatives like they were a rack of baby back ribs on a clear night in July.

The lawyer’s name is Randall Speck, he’s a Harvard Law School graduate, and according to sources at Legislative Hall, he’s worked on “all sides” of the energy debate. My immediate thought was, “What side is he on today?”

That question was clearly answered by the smiles shooting around the chamber between energy company representatives as Speck questioned the Public Service Commission about their decision to choose a wind farm with a gas plant back up as the new, price stable, energy source for the State. I’m sure after the hearing there was a room somewhere in Dover filled with energy company employees desperately trying to muster up the coordination to successfully execute a few high-fives.

I wish I knew which legislators were in there with them, but I doubt we’ll ever really know, because some of our elected officials seem to be in the midst of a Herculean effort to never have to take a stand on this issue, even though they’ll pretty much all tell you that they like the idea, or that they’d love to see the wind farm happen.

The Public Service Commission, incidentally, held their own against the Senate’s DC ringer.

I heard that next Wednesday, the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on House Concurrent Resolution 38, which would actually bring the proposed wind farm to the floor for a “yes” or “no” vote. That would mean that all of our squirrelly representatives who’ve been playing both sides of the fence would have to actually go on record about whether or not they support the project.

But I’m not holding my breath.

As I’ve covered topics from the manufactured housing debate, to DNREC’s permitting practices to the wind farm project, one thing has become clear to me: Our legislators want to avoid taking a stand on any issue that could cost them either a vote or a campaign donation. There are some exceptions, but you could drive all of them around Dover in a Mini.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear a House member stand up and proclaim, “I understand that the situation tens of thousands of people are facing with their manufactured homes is difficult, but I believe that property owners have certain rights, so I’m against this bill.”

Or how about, “The proposed wind farm is not good for the State because of —>insert an actual verifiable fact here<— so I think we should scrap it and go in a different direction.”

The Senate wind farm hearings and the manufactured housing committee meetings, can only be described as watching the same show with different actors. We elect these people to do what’s right for the State, not to waste our time and money on ridiculous, self serving spectacles.

At the risk of sounding even more cliche than usual, our legisltors want to have their cake and eat it, too. And that just isn’t in our best interest.

Get used to these campaign signs because they’re coming back to the 41st District.

Former 41st District Representative John Atkins was live on the air with me this morning, and I asked him straight out, “Are you going to run for your old 41st District seat as a Democrat, John Atkins?”

His answer was, “Yes I am.”

He goes on to explain why he’s changing parties instead of challenging Republican Representative Greg Hastings, who won the seat during a special election after Atkins resigned, to a Republican primary. We also cover a wide array of topics including his Ocean City police stop, his relationship with the Delaware GOP, the 41st District Democratic Committee’s Resolution to not endorse his candidacy, and his current family life.

Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

But bummer for DNREC, I can still type…

What’s a few million dead fish every year between friends? Or between Delaware’s worst polluter and the local citizens they stick it to every day?

DNREC, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources, had a meeting Thursday night in Millsboro and the topic was the permit that allows the Indian River Power Plant to suck in and discharge its surrounding waters for cooling, a practice that results in millions of fish, shellfish and other assorted aquatic life killed every year.

In a two year study done for NRG Energy, Inc., the company that owns the plant, a whopping 600,000 blue crab, 543,733 croaker, 834,775 winter flounder and over 3.2 million bay anchovy were killed along with thousands of spot and Atlantic menhaden.

Interestingly, other fish like striped bass, trout, sea bass, minnows, rays, sharks, etc…were not even included in the study, because they’re not considered “Representative Important Species.” Yeah, you read that right, rockfish and bluefish aren’t considered “Representative Important Species.”

Alan Muller of Green Delaware Thursday night in Millsboro. In this picture he’s holding up the State’s schedule of public hearings noting that the hearing we were all sitting in was mysteriously missing from the list.

And this is classic, DNREC seems to think that the huge number of fish killed every year by the plant poses no “appreciable harm to fish and shellfish of the Indian River Watershed.” But when Alan Muller of Green Delaware questioned the DNREC officials about what “appreciable harm” even meant, they had to admit they didn’t even know… AUDIO clip that you have to hear to believe.

Then Muller brings up the pesky fact that DNREC’s permit allows NRG Engery to include “1,800 pounds of oil and grease into that discharge.” And that basically under the permit the plant could intentionally dump oil and grease into the waterways and it would be “legal.” (I know what you’re thinking, “Maria has lost her mind, she just can’t have that right,” but I’m correct and here’s the horrifying AUDIO CLIP to prove it. Enjoy the part where the DNREC guy trys to thank Muller for his “comment” without answering his question).

Then there was John Austin who pointed out the high levels of arsenic found around the plant and talked about the increased cancer risk associated with eating fish exposed to the toxin. Austin went on to say that the permit proposed by DNREC doesn’t even address the arsenic levels in the Indian River Power Plant’s discharge. AUDIO

Greg Hastings was at the hearing, and he was less than thrilled with what he witnessed.

“If I tell you I’m disappointed…that’s an understatement.” - 41st District Representative Greg Hastings AUDIO

Did I even mention yet that the permit the Indian River Power Plant has been operating under expired 16 years ago and has been extended “administratively” ever since? Or how DNREC judges the fish kills to be acceptable by comparing them to the number of fish in the entire Atlantic fishery? Or the huge amounts of heavy metals released in the discharge?

And let me just add this: Sussex Countians endure the Indian River Power Plant polluting our air, water, land and the fish and shellfish we eat, while NRG Energy sells the power generated by the Plant into the grid. On top of that, DNREC, the state agency that is supposed to be protecting the fine people of the State of Delaware, doles out permits to the plant that are so permissive that NRG Energy can basically do anything and still be in compliance. But don’t you ever catch and keep a fish that’s one inch too short or you can be fined and/or arrested.

So everyone breathe a sigh of relief because DNREC is looking out for our waterways and the local fish we eat…but please don’t breathe too deeply because DNREC monitors our air quality, and I was being totally sarcastic about the whole “breathe a sigh of relief” thing.

An unusual call-in to my radio program today, the 41st District Representative Greg Hastings. This was actually one of the first times I’ve spoken with Hastings since the election. Seems very personable and polite and called in to answer the question “What has Greg Hastings Done?”

With all the hub-bub recently about John Atkins, It was good to hear the person who is actually representing the 41st on the air.

So what has Hastings done for the 41st? Well, if you listen to the below interview, what you’ll hear is.. “It’s only been 9 months” — but, he speaks a lot about getting out to meet people in his district and fixing roads and potholes. He also spoke about getting in on the eminent domain issue, needing educated on the manufactured housing issue and possibly creating a task force to look into the use of steroids in local high schools.

Enjoy the phone-in here…

Ever since John Atkins resigned his 41st District seat in the state House, it’s been rumored that Atkins would run again in the future – possibly switching to the other side of the aisle and becoming a Democrat. 

That’s either been the worst kept secret or the best possible speculation – though he did run for to regain his former seat in the special election as an independent candidate.  He had plenty support from people, but when it came time to actually step into the voting booth – that support was flagging. 

With November drawing nearer, and a Republican still seated in the 41st District seat, Democrats in the district are looking for a candidate to run against Greg Hastings.  However, if Atkins is still looking to switch allegiances to the Democrats – he may find the reception rather icy. 

This was the email WGMD News received today, regarding John Atkins, the possible Democrat. 

41st District Democratic Committee

February 15, 2008

To Whom It May Concern:
Please be advised that the 41st District Democratic Committee held a special meeting on Wednesday evening, Feb. 13, at the Gumboro home of former State Representative and Mrs. Charles P. West. The meeting was held for the purpose of considering a resolution, submitted by Rep. and Mrs. West, both of whom are committee members, concerning the proposed Democratic candidacy for the office of 41st District Representative of former State Representative John C. Atkins, a long-term Republican who resigned his office last March rather than face an expulsion vote in the House of Representatives.

A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by 41st District Committee Secretary Vanessa S. Deloach, who served as acting chair in the absence of the committee chair and vice-chair. Following a discussion of the matter, the resolution was duly approved. The resolution text follows:
_________________________
41st District Democratic Committee
RESOLUTION REGARDING THE POSSIBLE CANDIDACY OF FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE JOHN C. ATKINS FOR THE OFFICE OF 41ST DISTRICT STATE REPRESENTATIVE.

WHEREAS, former 41st District State Representative John Atkins was the subject of a news article in a recent issue of a local weekly newspaper, The Sussex Countian, entitled “Atkins to run again…as a Democrat?”; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins, as noted in the article, resigned his seat in the House of Representatives in March, 2007, after a House Ethics Committee report found that he had brought that body “into disrepute” because of his behavior during and after an Ocean City, Maryland, traffic stop and a subsequent domestic disturbance in late October, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins’s decision to resign from the House of Representatives was due, at least in part, to the clear knowledge that, had he not done so, many of his fellow Republicans and a substantial number of House Democrats, having been fully apprised of the details of his case, were prepared to vote to expel him from that body; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins has now let it be known that he is seriously considering leaving the Republican Party and running in the 2008 general election as a Democratic candidate for the seat he formerly occupied; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins was quoted in the newspaper article as saying “I’ve been asked by a lot of Republicans and Democrats to consider running”; and

WHEREAS, he was further quoted as saying that “Obviously Republican party officials have discouraged me from running…[but] I’ve been courted by some Democratic officials”;

NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the 41st District Democratic Committee that they do hereby state and aver, clearly and unequivocally, that the Committee does not encourage or support the candidacy of former Representative John Atkins, running as a Democrat, for the office of 41st District State Representative.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the members of the 41st District Democratic Committee that, while the United States of America remains a free country and as a citizen thereof, Mr. Atkins has every right to register as a member of any political party he so chooses, and to run for any office for which he meets the legal requirements, if he decides to run as a Democrat for the 41st District Representative seat, he will do so without the official endorsement of the 41st District Democratic Committee.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 41st District Democratic Committee does not feel that it would be helpful to the cause of good government, to which we have always been committed, for any other outside “Democratic officials” to inject themselves into the internal affairs of the 41st District by urging Mr. Atkins to pursue a Democratic candidacy that the 41st District Democratic Committee declines to support.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, upon its adoption, suitable copies of this Resolution be made available to Mr. John Atkins, to the local and state news media and to other interested parties. 

APPROVED ON THIS 13TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2008
 

The intersection where an SUV collided with an ambulance.

I received an e-mail tonight from Judson Bennett and his Coastal Conservative Network that contains an all too familiar description of someone being hospitalized at Beebe Hospital in Lewes:

A friend of mine called me this a.m. and informed me that he had been hospitalized at Beebe yesterday, What was very interesting about the discussion I had with him was:
(a) for lack of any hospital rooms, he had been placed in a single room with six other patents;
(b) he noticed that other patients (not as fortunate as he) had been placed on stretchers up and down the corridors;
(c) a situation he thought Beebe was over-saturated with patients, lacked adequate in-patient facilities and, as well, was under-staffed.

Exactly. But let’s be honest, the problems go way beyond just overcrowding. Back in October, Dr. J. Ludwicki, a pediatrician who practices in Lewes and Milton, expressed his frustration over the way Sussex County newborns in distress sometimes wait 4 or more hours to get transfered to Christiana Hospital in New Castle County to receive critical life saving treatments. Most of the people I speak with in Sussex have no idea this situation even exists until something goes desperately wrong when someone around them gives birth.

As it stands now, if you have a baby in one of the County’s three hospitals and there’s a problem, you have to wait for the state’s only transport team, located at the Christiana Hospital, to come and take your baby to a higher level of emergency care. That would be either Kent General in Dover, a Level 2 facility, or Christiana, a Level 3 facility. The wait can take hours and hours….

And yes, the state has only one transport team. One. And that team could be in New Jersey transporting a baby when a baby with serious health issues is born here in Sussex. The team does have access to a helicopter, but a number of weather factors and the cost make the ambulance trip the more usual method.

Just last week I covered the terrible story of a Sussex County paramedic and two Millsboro EMTs who were stopped at an intersection off of Rt. 5 when their ambulance was hammered by an SUV. The SUV driver was dead at the scene. One of the EMTs, despite his injuries, dragged his damaged body to the side of the paramedic who had been ejected from the rear of the ambulance, and with the help of the other EMT, kept him alive until an ambulance arrived, then passed out.

Two members of the ambulance crew were in very serious condition and had to be flown to Christiana Hospital, the closest Level 1 trauma center, for critical lifesaving treatment. None of the hospitals in Sussex are over Level 3. Kent General in Dover is Level 2. It’s the same as the neonatal situation. Thankfully, the crew is home and on the mend.

And in Sussex we all know not to have a life threatening medical emergency on a Friday afternoon in August on the east side of the County. I can’t help wondering what effect the Townsend Village Centre, which will sit on one of the two main roads into Lewes, will have on the already stressed roadways around Beebe Hospital.

There’s a huge healthcare problem brewing in Sussex County, and something needs to be done about it now.

I’m sure we can totally trust companies to go by the honor system when it comes to reporting violations, after all, they always jump to comply with clean air regulations the state passes. (COUGH COUGH)

This is so…typical…for our ridiculously dysfunctional state:

In Delaware, home of some of the biggest air polluters in the country, the state’s air quality management program remains underfunded and understaffed, leaving the reporting of violations up to the companies doing the polluting.

Now, think about it, as citizens, our speed driving down Delaware’s roads is monitored (probably about 2 million times) more than the harmful toxins like mercury spewing from “some of the biggest air polluters in the country.”

Could Blue Water Wind’s response to the PSC put the wind farm back on the table?

Just one short week ago things were looking grim for the future of America’s first off-shore wind farm after the Delaware Public Service Commission released a staff report calling the Bluewater Wind’s proposal “not in the public interest:”

The Delaware Public Service Commission is deeming Blue Water Wind’s proposed off shore wind farm “not in the public interest” after the company changed it’s original proposal during negotiations with Delmarva Power and Light.

Today, Bluewater Wind responded to the Delaware Public Service Commission’s staff report. Check it out. And here are the highlights:

Bluewater will remove all escalators related to commodities and exchange rates.

Bluewater asks that the DE PSC Staff and Independent Consultant become actively involved in the negotiations on the Power Purchase Agreement.

The new, non-escalator hybrid price is just 53 cents per megawatt hour above Bluewater’s original 2006 price.

Not a “cap,” a “removal” of escalators, this is a huge move by Bluewater Wind (pgs. 24 & 25, emphasis mine):

Bluewater carefully considered the IC’s recommended solutions regarding commodity and currency escalators and strongly considered proposing symmetrical escalators with caps. Again, the problem with symmetrical escalators is that contractors and equipment vendors rarely agree to decrease their price, even when commodities go down. Hence, the wind park’s revenues would be reduced even though its contractors would almost certainly not reduce their construction costs to Bluewater. In addition, Bluewater does not and has never viewed the escalators as a means to profit and its own estimates do not suggest that escalators will have a significant impact on the transaction. Accordingly, consistent with Bluewater’s view that the risk presented is manageable, bluewater proposes to go beyond the IC’s suggestion and eliminate such escalators entirely. In short, with all the discussion about escalators and the uncertainty and confusion they create regarding price stability, this solution better serves to sever this issue from the debate and allow us to properly turn the focus on securing Delaware’s energy future with clean, stable-priced energy.

I just spoke with Jim Lanard from Bluewater Wind and he said they were “very proud” of what they presented to the PSC today.

Pat Gearity from Citizens for Clean Power was “pleased” with Bluewater’s new submission, and left me this message:

“I’m very pleased…I really think that it’s a great step forward in getting this proposal approved for the benefit of Delaware and all of the generations that will follow.”

And Wilmington blogger Tom Noyes from Tommywonk had this to say:

“This is an important development. Last week State Sen. Harris McDowell characterized the PSC staff report, particularly its criticism of the escalator, as a “nail in the coffin.” Maybe he’ll have to pull that nail back out.”

Meanwhile, Delmarva Power and Light is “taking its case against a proposed offshore wind farm to community groups.” It’s surprising that a company that claims to just be an energy “broker,” (buying and selling electricity but not actually generating it, like Enron), would bother to lobby the public against a wind farm. If Bluewater Wind’s numbers line up, what’s the difference to DP & L?

Is there more long term stability in the cost of wind power, or is there more long term stability in the price of coal? Is burning coal still America’s energy future?

More to come as this unfolds….