Letter to the editor: Before approval, we need answers

Synergen Green Energy’s, Point Comfort Green Ammonia and Point Comfort Solar projects are estimated to be about 1,670-acres and located on both sides of the Calhoun-Jackson County line. This could negatively affect Weedhaven, Port Alto, and Olivia peninsula residents.

Understanding how important it is for the community to have clear answers about water, the environment, and public safety is one thing; providing those answers is another. I have read the articles, watched TV coverage, and attended Synergen Green Energy’s at local meetings. I still have the same basic questions, and more.

Where will the water come from? Their answer: a brackish aquifer layer that is not the same source that supplies my home and is too salty to drink. The depth, water-quality, and TDS results are not given. Promises are not proof. When I hear a plant pulls 2 million gallons per day from the aquifer and discharges 800,000 gallons per day as wastewater, I assume 40% of the water pulled from the aquifer every day is being wasted.

On discharge, Carancahua Bay matters to this community and so do ALL the bays. The only thing made clear in Synergen’s Letter to the Editor is that the company does not plan to discharge into Carancahua Bay and that its preferred route under evaluation is Lavaca Bay. That means the current favorite location for discharging approx. 800,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day is Lavaca Bay but we may change our mind. Keeping options open while trying to calm community concerns is a public-relations strategy, not a clear answer.

On safety, the general history lesson on ammonia in the United States is appreciated, but there is no operating U.S. plant at this scale. The safety measures described are common industry practices. There is still no project-specific safety or emergency-response plan released for a peninsula location with a ten-mile pipeline. On-site hazmat team with special equipment for ammonia at the plant is good for handling an accident there but what about the nearby residents; do we need special training or equipment?

The value of environmental stewardship depends on who is evaluating it. I place local land-use integrity, agricultural continuity, and residential quality of life first. This project places global climate goals first.

I keep reading that the project remains in the planning stage. Approving development permits, giving tax abatements, and offering other incentives based on incomplete or inaccurate applications does not serve the public interest. There is no benefit to the community in rushing approvals for a project that still carries unresolved questions about water, the environment, and safety.

Port Alto, Calhoun County


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