...I presented information to City Council this evening (December 18, 2013) that shows how Allentown now stands to lose more than $113,000,000 over the 35-year Delta Thermo Energy Incinerator contract.
I plugged the recent $40.44/ton that Easton's Mayor Panto signed with Chrin into the financial projections that Mayor Pawlowski and PFM presented to City Council and the Public.
The original projections from the Mayor and PFM used a starting landfill cost of $92.29/ton. The Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association has told the PA DEP that the public was given false and misleading information regarding tipping fees.
Quoted from the PPWIA letter to the PA DEP:
"Representatives from Delta Thermo Falsely Exaggerated Landfill Tipping Fees". landfill fees that the Mayor and PFM used were "Falsely Exaggerated"
I have warned the Mayor and City Council that the financial projections from PFM were useless. Only Eichenwald and O'Connell voted against this incinerator.
A $113,000,000 LOSS after the Mayor claimed a $25,000,000 SAVINGS seems like an issue for the citizens of Allentown.
$40.44/ton Landfill cost to Easton from 2014 to 2020. Allentown will pay DTE $119.37/ton in 2020. Almost a $3,000,000 loss in 2020 alone.
These numbers are real losses in my book. The Mayor and PFM used the wrong starting assumptions. They were way off. Did they lie?
Rich Fegley
Blogger's Note: The above is a comment by Rich Fegley submitted to an earlier post on this blog. I also have a copy of the letter from The Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association(PWIA) to the Pa. DEP. Allentown City Council made a decision based on very erroneous information, which should be legally revisited in light of this fact.
And the Mornimg Call won't even report that someone is questioning the numbers, much less investigate whether the numers are actually correct.
ReplyDeleteBut we will get numerous articles on Christmas lights and eating one's way through Musikfest.
THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CALL NEED TO BE NOTIFIED OF THE ISSUES FACIBG ALLENTOWN THAT ARE NOT BEING REPORTED BY THEIR REPORTER.THE CITIZENS OF ALLENTOWN NEED TO KOW OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THEIR CITY.NOT A BEING REPORTED.
ReplyDeleteRich & Michael I have a response that would be much to long to leave here in comments. So I took to reposting some of my earlier stuff on this. CLICK >Allentown's Waste To Energy Foolishness Part 1, 2 & 3
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting was the comments left by Mr. Van Rainey. He was the one in competition for the project..."I came across the financial analysis conducted for the City of Allentown comparing Delta Thermo’s offering to what is projected for costs of operating under current conditions. I borrowed the values for current projected costing and compared that to what we have to offer... Over a twenty year period we would save the City of Allentown nearly $94,000,000 vs DTE which would save at most a little over $4,000,000 in the same period.
I simply don’t understand why the administration has chosen to take such an inferior deal. When you also take into account that they offer an unproven technology while we have proven on a commercial scale to have cleaner and more financially viable technology. We don’t need $6,000,000 in grants to make our program work."
(More of his remarks can be found in Part 3...)
lvci, allow me to simplify all this from my previous posts on the subject. years ago we had an incinerator for trash that caused pollution. also, years ago we had a chronic odor problem from the sewage plant. allentown is now allowing delta thermal to combine trash and sewage in a frankenstein mixture and burn it, and it will cost the taxpayers more to boot.
ReplyDeleteWow. Unreal. Morning Call, WFMZ, and Express Times did not report anything on this. They were also sent two press releases regarding this crime.
ReplyDeleteNothing reported to the public.
WTF?
Who would ever know this has happened?
Um, er, ah ... not very many.
ReplyDeleteAnd that IS just the way the Pawlowski Administration likes it, I contend.
So, exactly when is the first exciting minor league ice hockey game at the magnificent $ 177.1 million dollar Palace of Sport?
Sincerely,
ROLF OELER
I would like to see the letter itself. Is that possible? I cannot find it online. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHere is the post with the press release info.
ReplyDeletehttp://stoptheburn.org/press-release/waste-industry-accuses-delta-thermo-energy-of-false-claims/
There is also a link on that page to this document:
http://stoptheburn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2013-12-12-PWIA-air-waste-permit-comments.pdf
All other documents related to the Pawlowski/DTE Incinerator.
Still nothing reported in the media.
Thanks, Mr. Fegley. The letter you referenced is quite exhaustive in its condemnation of the project.
ReplyDelete"The letter you referenced is quite exhaustive in its condemnation of the project."
ReplyDeleteIt most certainly is a condemnation. And you are aware of this because you read the letter. If more people read the letter, more will realize that something bad is happening here.
Jeanette Eichenwald compared this to the pension crisis and the bad deals that the City has signed in the past. She said along the lines of, "We have a chance to fix our mistake now, we don't have to be blamed in the future for signing a BAD DEAL." That's not an exact quote but she was asking fellow Council members to "do something".
Here is the first letter from the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association (PWIA) condemning the project:
http://stoptheburn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2013-10-15-PWIA-air-permit-comments.pdf
Even MORE exhaustive. No pun intended. ;-)
Allentown stands to lose 2.5 billion in revenues in 35 years for leasing the water to the lca. They would probably lose money on a lemonade stand in a lemon grove too
ReplyDelete