WA, smelter officials don't care about Idaho

To say I was dismayed at Wednesday’s night’s proposed smelter “forum” in Newport would be an understatement. They started out by locking us out in the cold until 15 minutes before it was to begin. The gym at the high school was more than adequate for the disappointing turnout. At the end of the basketball court was a podium and a table on each side staffed by HiTest mine board. They were introduced by a visibly intimidated county commissioner who I think was Karen Skoog. She was very upset that local residents were mean spirited toward her on this matter, she encouraged politeness and self-restraint during the ordeal to follow.

Then began the big hoax, with the HiTest big shots and their presentation. It included an audio system that squealed during every word uttered. They had a fairly large screen set up behind them that was washed out by the gym lights, while the text and pictures were too small too decipher anyway. The big shots did their best to be friendly. They promised the much-needed jobs to the depressed county. They spoke of all the precautions they planned to control the light, air,noise, and dust based pollution. They did a good job of wasting over an hour of the planned two, before they were to lock down the facility promptly at 6 p.m. Period. I walked out at this halfway point for several reasons.

First, I could not get a sense that the crowd was dead set against the project, clapping as each big shot finished his boring delivery. Wow, applauding as they described their worst nightmare.

Next, their CEO came out and said the Pend Oreille County commissioners had no say in the smelter’s successful permit process, and was up to federal and state agencies. I think that’s a lie and I need to verify that very important point. I had counted on confronting the (not in attendance) commissioners on this very question of a mandatory county-issued “special use permit.” The big shots were extremely smug in their fast-paced, highly technical, and demeaning presentation. Their money is powerful and Washington state is behind them. They think it’s a done deal — scary.

Lastly, during one segment the CEO said that if the smelter proved “viable,” they had plans to double its capacity. My God.

These folks from Canada are going to turn the Inland Northwest into a Love Canal with barely a whimper from the local population. The state of Washington and the region’s electricity giant, Pend Oreille Public Utility District, are firmly behind this deal. Gov. Jay Inslee’s plans to make Washington “a center for renewable energy,” is apparently at any cost. We have some work to do and we need some help.

BRUCE JOHNSON

Sandpoint