Anti-smelter Movement Disappointed with Election Results and the Official Narrative

Anti-smelter Movement Disappointed with Election Results and the Official Narrative

Massive disappointments for the anti-smelter movement. None of the current crop of useless public officials that rule over our community were removed from office in yesterday’s elections. We are still stuck with the same ignorant, complicit morons as before.

Personally, I am not particularly surprised. The fledgling anti-smelter movement in Pend Oreille County has had little time to organize and resist before the November election (just a few weeks in actuality).

This doesn’t change anything. We did not have any competent, capable politicians on our side before - and we don’t now. The playing field remains the same as before. But we are stronger than ever, there are thousands of people now who are aware of the silicon smelter that weren’t previously aware, we are getting stronger.

The Newport Miner has once again, betrayed their readership and reported only what they want readers to read. This too is as before, the paper is unlikely to ever change its presentation of biased reporting and siding with toxic development for the town.

But we do learn that the Commissioners, HiTest Sands Inc., and State government officials in both Washington and Idaho are pretty angry that citizens have dared to have the gall to organize and resist the smelter. How dare they defy us?

Idiots. We're just getting started. What they're really revealing is fear. Fear that their complicity and collusion with a foreign corporation will be brought to trial. If there is going to be prosecution, it will be because we have uncovered evidence of wrong doing.

This is not hyperbole. It's already clear that there have been underhanded dealings with HiTest Sands, Inc., the land purchase, grant money, the claimed "net environmental benefit", contractors, secret meetings, bogus job creations, community involvement and the push-back against any community resistance to a toxic industry. Many people are working to expose what has transpired to date. Whether this comes out in court remains to be seen, but what is clear to us at this stage is there has been a clear pattern of intent to deliberately deceive the public.

Proponents of the smelter continue to allege that they can't find any information regarding health issues or emission problems or how this might harm the environment. This admission has now been published in the local paper and admitted to in person. This is a stunning admission that reveals either gross ignorance, incompetence or disinterest in the topic. The CANSS group has brought up these issues on their website, public meetings and publications. This blog has linked to numerous documents, studies and issues related to emissions, complaints and known health effects from silicon smelters. But proponents, including Commissioners in Washington and Idaho continue to pretend that they "can't find any evidence" which is quite ridiculous.

Most likely, they are the front-men and woman who are taking all of the heat and blame for the communities displeasure, and have been told to keep professing public ignorance over these issues. It's simply safer that way for all concerned. It prevents them from having to investigate, from having to admit to real concerns and real issues regarding health and the environment, and it deflects culpability and blame away from them and the offices they currently hold. But this does not mean that our concerns are not real, it only means that they have once again, not done their jobs.

They have created a "straw man" argument, which is a technique used to deflect and dissuade further discussions and to place the responsibility upon the public to "provide the evidence". Seriously? I always thought it worked the other way around - that elected officials were supposed to protect the public they were elected to represent. But they've admitted to not doing that, using the argument that they haven't done the actual research. So where is their argument actually coming from that a silicon smelter is "safe" for the community? This is the question that everybody should be asking. They've claimed they do not know the details of the proposed smelter design - and yet they also claim that it will be "safe"? How in the hell could they know that?

It is no leap in logic to realize that they are simply parroting what they've been told, most likely by HiTest Sands executives themselves (remember all those secret meetings?). If they really don't have any understanding of the design, measures, mitigation, scrubbers, baggers, filters and stacks going into the plant - then they could not possibly know if it is "safe" for the community or not. But they have consistently publicly claimed to have this knowledge.

My own research into the "closed-loop" system reveals that this is actually a misrepresentation of terms and technology. The latest designs are actually not fully closed-loop, they do not eliminate all emissions, they do in fact emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, these gasses and particulate emissions HAVE been documented on this blog for everyone to read.

Moreover, these are the very gasses and emissions that DO cause harm to humans, wildlife and the environment. Even the Preliminary Air Quality Report rejected as honest or accurate by the Kalispel Tribe review reveals that there will be many tons (thousands) of these gasses emitted into the environment. This is another report that they have refused to read (or claimed to).

For these Commissioners to continue to claim that this is "harmless" or "safe" and that we are lying about these issues is beyond absurd. HiTest Sands, Inc. ADMITS to these gasses in their preliminary study and we know that there will be MORE if all four proposed sub-arc furnaces are operational.
What we have here is a smear campaign against the people of this community that are really concerned about their health, the environment and the future of this town.

It's called "push-back" and like the good little parrots that they are, they're starting to push back. They do not want us to inform YOU, nor do they want any kind of resistance to this toxic project. They're angry and they're upset because they've been called out as being deceptive, dishonest, secretive and working with a foreign corporation to bring in a toxic industry and industrialize this town. Their job now (and the job of the other pro-smelter people, including HiTest) will be to divide this community and the resistance movements by interjecting false claims, distracting statements and arguments and seeding doubt. They've already got the ear of the Newport Miner. They will also work to infiltrate every group that is forming to gain first-hand knowledge of what the resistance is working on.

It is absolutely stunning that these officials continue to play the "I don't know card" and then turn around and claim that they do know - but won't admit to anything.

It is clear to anyone who has been involved that this is just another Three Card Monty game being played out here. We've been focusing on our Commissioners, Shelly Short and Shirley Sands as the "face of the opposition" (which they are), but there are many, many other players who are playing THEM. These people aren't too bright; they are not well-informed and they're not willing to inform themselves or read any of the research. One Idaho Commissioner (Oldtown) claimed he "checked the Web" and couldn't find anything! A basic primer in online research is probably a prerequisite for anyone holding a public office.

Why aren't these public officials actually working to protect us? How can they be so blindly ignorant of the toxic effects of smelting operations and industry? Is this just ignorance or incompetence? What part of "smelter" do they not comprehend? How can they claim "safe" when there are documented emissions that affect human and environmental health? Are we supposed to believe that they are just dumb pawns in this game that go up all the way to the Washington Governor?

An example of collusion exists of officials with the Mississippi Silicon plant. Pay special attention to the "jobs" offer here - we've all heard about the promised "jobs" benefits, but what you have not heard is it is supposed to be 200 full-time jobs within five years (required stipulation for HiTest).

They've not even been honest about that either, or how few local people will actually be hired. Like Burnsville, MS officials here are only interested in keeping the project moving forward. Our officials have literally bent over backwards to ensure this happens (its recording in their letters and minutes).

We have every reason to distrust "the process", the people involved, the official narrative, the evidence of collusion, the numerous but unproven claims of "safety", the alleged "benefits" to the town and large community, the secretive meetings with HiTest, the handling of meetings, schedules and speakers, the expenditure of public funds and grants, the out-of-area contractor that has been hired, the dubious and highly questionable land purchase, the violation of zoning, legislative decrees, County plan, the use of water and sources, the known emissions and their effects upon humans and the environment, the catastrophic failure of real public involvement (meaningful involvement - not the bogus "file your complaints" that just get chronically ignored) and on and on. They're pissed off at us because we dared to question any of this.

None of the anti-smelter people agree that any of this is being done in our best interests. We live here - and we wanted to stay here, but they have now caused the disruption of thousands of lives in our communities over this project. We do not think it is safe. More homes are already going up on the market. They don't seem to even care about what disruptions, anger and despair they've created. Their actions are unconscionable.

But we're just getting started. Seriously, there is a lot of work to be done here. Their narrative is not true and their goal now is to gain the audience wherever they can. Read the published information that they have refused to consider - get informed. The "process" will proceed as I've already explained, but the concerns and issues we have raised, the violation of the public trust and well-being have NOT been addressed.