No headline

Re: Jayson Tymko’s comments in “Doctors order’s, no silicon smelter” article (Daily Bee, Oct. 23).

I find Tymko’s comments, “air quality here would be no worse with the smelter” and “One hundred percent of what the plant emits is safe,” to be complete poppy-cock! His own letter to the Washington Department of Energy, dated on June 5, 2018, and signed by him says, “The facility is expected to emit regulated air pollutants, including criteria pollutants, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), toxic air pollutants (TAPs), and greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. Annual emissions of at least one criteria pollutant is expected to exceed the prevention of significant deterioration major source threshold (250 tons per year), which makes the project subject to review …”

Read the letter here, http://pocedc.org/hitest-silicon/

How possibly then are his statements anywhere close to the truth? All of humanity clearly knows that HAPs, TAPs and GHGs are not safe.

To quote Tymko from the pre-construction press release dated Oct. 3, 2017, “Our management’s approach to business is not to create false expectations.” Wow. Saying “air quality here would be no worse with the smelter” while knowing your proposed facility would emit over 250 tons per year of a major pollutant is absolutely creating false expectations.

Let’s not let an environment degrading, corporate CEO to smooth talk over truth and take away our rights to clean air and good health, and I know there are many who stand with me.

ELIZABETH IHA

Sandpoint