AN "OMEN" FROM THE PRESENT

Megafarms have broken public trust, Nixon tells Air Conservation Commission

Jefferson City, MO — Giant corporate farms in Missouri have broken a trust with the citizens, Attorney General Jay Nixon told the state Air Conservation Commission in a public hearing today.

"The state of Missouri had high hopes for these businesses when they came here," Nixon said. "We were trusting, and whether right or wrong at the time, it is now clear that trust has been broken. These companies answer to Wall Street, not Main Street, and that is why they cannot be trusted to be good neighbors."

"We thought they would operate under the environmental laws of the state, and we were wrong," Nixon said. "We thought they could operate without odor regulations, because they would be good neighbors,and we were wrong on this as well.

Missouri Attorney General

Will Missourians again be taken in by corporate promises to be "good citizens" regarding a certain ethanol plant in Webster County?

10 years from now, will the headlines read "ETHANOL PLANTS HAVE BROKEN PUBLIC TRUST?" There are some heavy hitters involved in this 21st Century version of the California Gold Rush to build ethanol plants, such as Governor Blunt's brother, Andy. And President Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, who is head of the Interamerican Ethanol Commission.

There's tons of money to be had for these schemes and loads of tax payer funds for the taking.

In this rush to push ethanol onto the citizens of the Ozarks, very little if any is said about the ethanol plant wastewater discharge which will seep back into the Ozarks Aquifer via the Karst topography. Very little is known about the current level of industrial pollutants in the Ozarks Aquifer. Waiting until after people start getting sick from drinking polluted Ozarks Aquifer water will be WAY TOO LATE to start monitoring pollutants. If they don't have a baseline now, what good is a baseline AFTER the Ozarks Aquifer is polluted?