http://mcrecord.com/2017/04/28/record-should-have-reported-wabashs-environmental-record/
It took about a month to get this printed.
The public should be aware that Tom West requested all documentation backing up my claims, which I did. He told me in an email 2 days ago, that "it was an enormous task to read through all of it, and one which we won't be repeating because we simply do not have the resources to do so."
Well, they can expect my future guest editorials to be factual, well documented and numerous into the future. That is their job. I wonder how much fact checking they research for any other writers? Bet, not so much.
In this document there is proof that Wabash National paid an ADDITIONAL 100K penalty for the Knoxville, Tennessee dumping of a caustic solution(sodium hydroxide) that caused 2 children to get chemical burns on their ankles and feet. There wasn't time to get this into Tom, before this article went to print, but here it is for you to see.Scroll down to Environmental Matters to find this "Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation, TDEC, the company negotiated a settlement agreement under which the company paid 100K. An accrual for this fine was recorded, in 2001 and paid in 2002."
http://ir.wabashnational.com/mobile.view?c=79834&v=202&d=3&id=aHR0cDovL2FwaS50ZW5rd2l6YXJkLmNvbS9maWxpbmcueG1sP2lwYWdlPTIxMDcyMTMmRFNFUT0wJlNFUT0wJlNRREVTQz1TRUNUSU9OX0VOVElSRSZzdWJzaWQ9NTc%3D
http://earthjustice.org/blog/2017-march/making-america-polluted-again
Here is the definition of Superfund site.
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/91018KSA.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1986+Thru+1990&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex%20Data%5C86thru90%5CTxt%5C00000028%5C91018KSA.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL
The other odd thing, is that of all people, Doug Dahlberg, a mayoral appointed member of the city of Little Falls Energy and Environmental Committee, speaks in favor of Wabash. Did he not do his research either? Why didn't Jon Radermacher, the city administrator, forward the information that was in Wabash's own SEC form that disclosed there were 4 unresolved environmental disputes. This should have sent alarm bells ringing at city hall.
My concern, including what they do to our water and air, is that this grave mistake(lazyiness or they didn't want to know) never happens again. Before any company/corporation is even considered to be inline for public taxpayer subsidy welfare....shouldn't your city staff, committees, and elected officials be mandated to do this research?
How much worse, would their environmental track history have to be, before the city and county at least said NO to their request for 1.3 million in corporate welfare? With the job training assistance package, I believe Wabash will make off with almost 2 MILLION in 2 years. This is a Fortune 1000 company, folks. They don't need and don't deserve your tax dollars. They got it, because they wanted it...had the nerve to ask and the people paid to represent you FAILED. Hard to see this any other way.
I am continuing my research and every time I put something different in Google Search, I find more violations/lawsuits/pollution. I almost dread opening up documents, because I know what I will likely find.
Above is Morrison County public hearing for authorization of giving them 400K in MIF grant and rerfunding 400K over 10 years, in property tax dollars, as long as they fulfill their agreement. Why don't you ask Rob Ronning(Pine Country Bank), Ron Bieganek(Bieganek Insurance), Commissioner Duane Johnson, Carol Anderson( Morrison County Community Development), Tom Scherling(Century 21 Realty), Councilor Jeremy Hanfler, Mayor Greg Zylka and all others involved in CHEERLEADING/PROMOTING Wabash, if they did any homework at all on this company?
I dare you.
