vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

3.06.2008

Churning irony

Can't escape the layers of irony on this one:

On April Fool's Day, the state Agency of Natural Resources will hold a Vermont Organics Recycling Summit, designed to promote composting.

They are going to need to promote composting to find someone to take the waste that's now being handled at the Intervale, which the agency that is cracking down on and which has announced it will be closing.

From the news release on the event:

"It will also give participants an opportunity to learn more about this
underutilized resource, and to explore ways to increase organics recovery in
Vermont."
"Currently Vermont is only recycling about 7
percent of the organics being disposed, even though these materials can make up
30-50 percent of the waste stream."

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 10:35 AM |

Comments:

Anyone that can deciphor what this post actually says, please do so. Must be some insider thing.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:56 AM, March 06, 2008

Simple. Composting is OK as long as you are on the right side politically.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:24 AM, March 06, 2008

The main point is that, as in all things Republican, larger issues of public good (e.g., composting large amounts of waste from Fletcher Allen, restaurants, etc.) are always secondary to scoring political points. In this case, because Zuckerman and Symington are on the board of the Intervale Co-op, they became irresistible targets for Douglas and his puppets. Will the press and the Democrats connect the dots please?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:47 AM, March 06, 2008

So it is OK to pollute the waters of Lake Champlain as lonf as you are Dem's???

Oh I forgot Burlington's s**t don't stink and their waste doesn't pollute.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:56 AM, March 06, 2008

Is it OK to "re-classify" an entity on the QT to sandbag individuals connected with it politically, and then apply different rules based upon the "reclassification?" And then brag about it?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:17 PM, March 06, 2008

Typical Douglas Administration BS.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:33 PM, March 06, 2008

oh stop it odum. enough.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:41 PM, March 06, 2008

Odum might be a chump but that has nothing to do with the petty games the Douglas Administration is playining with the Intervale.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:35 PM, March 06, 2008

Anyone else notice the irony of the action the Legislature took last week in doing away with the Act 250 requirements for composting because "we need to help this burgeoning industry" and at the same time tighten the same rules to hinder other burgeoning industries. Hypocrites all.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:31 PM, March 06, 2008

Which rules have they "tightened" ???

Be specific.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:34 PM, March 06, 2008

When Douglas figures out how he can take credit for any success in the Intervale is when a 'solution' will be found.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:35 PM, March 06, 2008

Hey, anybody remember when those environmental watchdogs, the Vermont Natural Resources Council and Conservation Law Foundation jumped all over ANR for not pursuing Jay Peak more aggressively?

From CLF:

"To ensure that Jay Peak owners
were held accountable under the Clean Water Act, CLF and the Vermont Natural Resources Council intervened to assert their public participation rights in
the slow-moving, behind-closed-doors enforcement process being mishandled by state regulators. In May, Jay Peakwas assessed $105,000 for its environmental neglect."

From VNRC:

" Vermonters can and must expect more of their public agencies, which are charged with safeguarding the valuable public resources of the state.

Why doesn’t the ANR take a stronger stand against violators of construction stormwater permits? Why doesn’t the ANR send a message, loud and clear, that there will be financial and public relation consequences to polluters who they violate their permits? Unfortunately, there is no evidence of such a robust and effective enforcement effort on the part of ANR at this time. And until that happens and until we answer these questions, VNRC asks our members, activists, and concerned citizens to join us in continuing to shine the light on these violations and put public and legal pressure on polluters throughout the state to do the right thing. The health of our people, land and resources are worth it."

Has anybody heard any outcry from these organizations on the Intervale's violations of Vermont's environmental laws? Have VNRC's members "put public and legal pressure on" the Intervale? Has CLF intervened in the case?

I think a fair argument can be made that this is simply a case of what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Why should a composting operation be held to a lower standard than a ski area?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:14 PM, March 06, 2008

Because last time I checked, ski areas were not doing anything to divert anything from landfills and turn it into something useful. A goal that apparently even the Douglas Admin. (see orig. post) finds laudable. Unfortunately, instead of finding a way for the Intervale to fix any problems or give them time to find alternate sites, they jumped on the opportunity to shut them down for political reasons. There is a lot of leeway in the enforcement end of environmental regs--beware if you're a political target of the ones with power. Right from the Bush/Rove playbook.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:59 PM, March 06, 2008

Interval has violated Vermont's environmental laws, Act 250 and disturb a historic native american site. Composting is only good if it doesn't create new environmental problems when trying to solve others.

If it wasn't run by the Left's favorite politicos (who they invest in significantly) the enviros would be going nuts.

Last I read, it was the Attorney General (who is a DEMOCRAT) who decided to pursue charges in environmental court. That's not even a decision the Douglas administration can make. So, so much for the conspiracy theories.

The Interval broke the law--the Democrat Attorney General says so--get over it.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:15 PM, March 06, 2008

What's your proof that the Douglas administration "jumped on the opportunity to shut them down for political reasons?" The whining of Will Raap and Bob Kiss in the media? My memory of this is that the Intervale was given notice last summer of a problem; that's not sufficient time to comply or find an alternate site?

I agree that enforcement of regulations has leeway in it, but are you arguing that the enforcement here was an abuse of discretion? If so what proof do you have?

Finally, are you arguing that application of the laws is dependent on the purpose of the entity accused of violating the regulations? So, if a for-profit company like Jay Peak commits a violation, they deserve to be treated differently than a non-profit like the Intervale? If so, please enlighten us on the standards we should apply in deciding. Because it's my understanding that the ruling that the Intervale didn't have to abide by Act 250 like C & S Grocers was required to was made during the Dean administration when John Kassel was in charge of ANR. Who's he work for now? Oh yeah, that would be "white hat" environmental law firm Shems, Dunkiel, Kassel and Saunders, the firm that's now defending the Intervale.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:24 PM, March 06, 2008

Liberal hypocrites never cease to amaze me. When is Burlington going to stop polluting Champlain, not to mention the Intervale? "Do as I say, not as I do". Talk about your double standards!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:24 AM, March 07, 2008

Exactly!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:47 AM, March 07, 2008

Douglas's appointee changed the classification of the site arbitrarily and demanded retroactive compliance.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:42 AM, March 07, 2008

What's next?? Are we going to start storing nuclear waste on the banks of the Connecticut River???

We can't let these farmers composte. They should send their waste to landfills like the rest of us do!!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:04 PM, March 07, 2008

Yes... right on the banks of the river and maybe in the Moran Plant in Burlington too.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:22 PM, March 07, 2008

They really should turn the intervale back into a dump. That would be so much better.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:13 PM, March 07, 2008

How about turning BURLINGTON into a dump.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:06 AM, March 08, 2008

that would be an improvement

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:23 PM, March 08, 2008

Yawn

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:08 PM, March 11, 2008

Bupkis. Yawning chasms of bupkis.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:47 PM, March 12, 2008

IndependentVter said...
What's your proof that the Douglas administration "jumped on the opportunity to shut them down for political reasons?" The whining of Will Raap and Bob Kiss in the media? My memory of this is that the Intervale was given notice last summer of a problem; that's not sufficient time to comply or find an alternate site?"

Well, unless your intent is to establish the fact that ya don't know what day it is, which end is up, your ass from your elbow or what the hell you're talkin' about, little factually-challenged, memory-impaired, fundamentally-dishonest fella, you're gonna have to come up with somethin' a bit more compelling than your memory, schmuck.

In the mean time, feel free to remind everyone how Independent Vermonters went big for McCain in 2000, little fella. Tell us again how he kicked that Bush punk's ass from Canaan to Bennington.

I just love factually-challenged republiklan fables, little fella.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 1:07 PM, March 12, 2008

yawn

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:14 PM, March 12, 2008

Vermonters have got to stop bitching about government and get willing to do something themselves.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:42 AM, March 14, 2008

They have been drinking Bernie's Kool-Aid for too long. They know the government "owes them" everything!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:44 AM, March 14, 2008

In other words, they elected Bernie, rejected richie and nobody's buyin' your ignorant slop.