• Air Quality: In close proximity to the site, you now have one full blown gravel pit, daily operating trucks and equipment. Another pit that was unsuccessful in opening is right off the highway. There is only one house within 1/2 mile of proposed site, and that residence has a rotted out metal septic tank and the drainfield is apparently failed, because black water is surfacing on the east side of the driveway. The residents who live close (at least 1/2 mile from site) will have more septage smell from their own (and their neighbors’) vent pipes venting through their roofs. Don’t get me wrong, septage does smell - but not if you add lime to stabilize the load, which we are required to do.

• Noise from Trucks: Highway 93 separates concerned residents’ property from the site and there are thousands of cars and trucks traveling the highway every day. Also, the above mentioned gravel pit and equipment contribute to that noise. There is a septic company which owns big trucks and operates just a third of a mile up North Kootenai Creek Road, which are in and out all day.

• Proximity to River: The winter dump site is over 1 mile from the river, the summer site is 1/2 mile from the river. There are 27 houses and an auto repair shop which are approximately 300-500 FEET from the river off the west of River Road. Additionally, there is a subdivision of at least 3 parcels in that area. On the east side of River Road there are 11 houses and several are NOT over 100 FEET from the river - my point being their west property line is not 100 feet away from the river! So where is the septic system? Answer: Less than 100 feet from the river!

I’m amazed that the Bitterroot Fish and Wildlife has decided to contribute to the discussion regarding potential pollution of the river - the refuge is on the east side of the river! Where were all the concerned citizens and Fish/Wildlife folks when theses houses and septic systems were put in, which anybody with an inkling of common sense would know are doing a good job of contaminating the river! The residents in that area should go and look over the problems they are contributing to themselves before commenting on something they haven’t educated themselves about!

The Book of Guiness World Records would probably love to talk to the fellow who wrote to the editor claiming to be able to cast a “Pale Morning Dun” fishing fly from the land site to the river. Amazing - a 1/2 mile cast! I am sure, however, that he can cast a fly to the river from his septic system!

While at the meeting a couple of people came up with some dandy statements and questions. One woman confronted Mr. Cummings about him infringing on their personal property rights. Are you people the only ones whose personal property rights count? What about Mr. Cummings property rights? That ranch has been operating since early 1800’s. One person wanted DEQ to personally guarantee the river wouldn’t be polluted, it’d be pretty hard to promise that when the river is already being polluted from the houses, septic tanks and the rest along the river. On the other hand, the proposed site meets and exceeds all the requirements for environmental concerns. The site would be located .4 miles away from the bike path, so the individuals complaining about it being “right next to the bike path” either don’t know where the bike path is located, or don’t live around here. Those writing letters concerning the site need to check their measurements, there are no houses located where they’ve indicated. It’s misleading and false.

It is 1.1 miles from North Kootenai to Shearbrook Lane, an awful long distance for the negligible amount of smell to travel, or the sound of trucks to reach. There is more traffic noise on N. Kootenai than there will ever be on Shearbrook Lane.

Lastly, when we approached Mr. Cummings about the site, he was skeptical about considering spreading on his property. He went to an existing site in Missoula County and personally inspected that location. We manage that area very carefully for debris, and there are no trails or “puddles.” Properly done, land applying septage contributes excellent fertilizer on pasture lands and fields, and hay crops. Elk and deer appreciate the green grass it provides, but I have never heard of wolves liking septage effluent!

Letters to the Editor

Is there another solution?

Dear Editor,

As I drive through the Bitterroot and browse through my free local newspaper, I see and hear of the events transpiring over the sewage dump site along Hwy. 93.

And I think to myself, boys, you are just not looking at this from the right perspective.

Having lived out there in the area and been around long enough to have witnessed the trials and tribulations my friend Jimmy endured over the decades, I can’t help but feel moved. Having experienced firsthand how our freedoms and civil rights really work in our world today, I am going to suggest to Jimmy another idea, and that is…

If I was Jimmy, instead of being at odds with my neighbor, I would walk up to him, put my arm around his shoulder, and say,

“You know, Ed, I know how you feel!

“Instead of you putting that sewage mess back on your land, let’s work together as a team and move it on up onto mine. Now, you’ve watched me struggle through the years at farming, having to fight the elements, the water issues, the natives who think farming is a way of the past. Having had to fight and scratch and claw just to defend my civil rights to just exist.

“You’ve watched me lose my land time and time again through the decades, to Hwy. 93 and now Interstate 93, through some little obscure laws unbeknownst to most folks. Once again losing my rights and civil liberties to the way of progress.

“You have seen and heard of all the flack I’ve taken to hold onto my rights to even sell the dirt or rocks off my farm I once tried to work.

“You’ve no doubt seen or heard of all the trials and tribulations we’ve had to endure while we attempted to subdivide my little farm as everyone else seems to be able to do but be.

“So what I’m proposing to do, Ed, is this. Since I have tried in vain to preserve my rights and civil liberties through the years only to get kicked in the teeth, I’m proposing that we should align ourselves together and move the toxic sewage dump site right up here next to the Interstate 93.

“These folks didn’t give a crap about my rights and hopes and dreams in life. They probably won’t mind too much as they scurry back and forth to work, talking on their cell phones or reading their papers, as they go through this little area of debris.

“Folks were oblivious to all the crap we’ve had to endure to try and maintain my basic civil rights that everyone thinks we have so freely given to us. Maybe, just maybe, those folks will also ignore just this small pile of real crap alongside the road.”

But like I said at the beginning, IF it was me and not Jimmy. So don’t hold him accountable for what I think should happen in that situation.

What is the greatest deed in all the Bible, I ask you?

For there is no greater deed than this, that a man may lay down his life for a friend!

You want your life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? What price are you personally willing to pay to protect your neighbors?

I thought so…

The next time you see someone a’hurtin’ and a’strugglin’, put your arm around them and say, “You know, this plan may not be such a good one for these simple reasons, but if you are willing I will personally help you to come up with one that will work.”

Wouldn’t that make all our lives better?

Jess Staat
Stevensville

More Mitchell Slough propaganda

Dear Editor,

In response to a guest column in the Missoulian dated Jan. 28, 2010 written by Reed Watson, who maintains he is a research fellow at the Property and Environment and Research Center in Bozeman, and an attorney: His article is headed as follows “Seen, Unseen Costs of Stream Access,” in large type, pertaining to the Mitchell Slough in Ravalli County. The entire article reeks of misinformation. He states that the rich land owners have spent a million dollars per mile on the slough. I doubt that there was more than a few dollars spent and if so, it would have done more harm than good. How did Reed Watson get to be such an authority on this water course and who sponsors this outfit in Bozeman? Could it be rich land owners that he is spreading propaganda for?

I think I know a little bit about Mitchell Slough as I fished it for more than sixty years. Years ago before they put in a dam to keep the river from flowing down the slough every spring, the river would send a shot of water down it and flush it out, cleaning the gravel on the ripples and flushing the mud from the holes that the fish lived in. This flushing is far superior to anything that anyone could do to improve the fisheries, which is still excellent, but flushing it every spring would make it like it was before they dammed it off. It's very doubtful that the land owners will ever let a shot of water down the slough because if they did it would prove that the slough is a branch of the river. If this was to be allowed it would prove to all concerned that Mitchell Slough is indeed a fork of the river. So in the meantime Mitchell won't get flushed out in the spring like it did in the past which of course has proved to be good for the slough.

So, I would suggest Mr. Watson, when you write about Mitchell Slough you stick with the facts and maybe gain some credibility.

Floyd Wood
Corvallis

Asserting constitutional rights

Dear Editor,

Recently I have noticed several articles in the local newspapers where some group or individual in the valley decries a lack of "civil discourse" from those who express opposition to certain proposals. In the articles these aggrieved individuals broadly assert and variously label those who speak out as extremists, racists, anti-Semites, conspiracy theory nuts, etc., and worst of all they have pocket versions of the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, and even the Constitution of the State of Montana. What better way to attempt to silence dissent that by defaming those who speak out?

Yes, perhaps there have been loud voices expressing concern at various meetings. Maybe these fellow citizens would not out of frustration feel the need to yell if those who are in positions of authority did not listen with deaf ears and closed minds. Property rights of the individual were an integral part of the philosophy of our country's founding fathers. Now we just need our current elected officials and others who would unduly constrain those rights to remember the point.

Additionally, reading and studying the Constitution of the United States and the writings of those exceptional individuals who wrote the Constitution has somehow become something to be ridiculed. What knowledge or philosophy contained in these writings is to be feared? As an average person not possessing a Harvard education, I find I am able to read and understand what was written without the need for someone to guide me and tell me that those words aren't what the Founders intended or that the Constitution should be a "living" document. The members of the Constitutional Convention knew what they were doing, struggled over it, and knew how difficult it might be for future generations to restrain the Federal government from encroaching on the rights of the states and individuals.

I would encourage each individual or family to set aside some time to read and judge for yourselves the content of these documents and the intent of the authors. For parents to sit and discuss these ideas with their children so that we all become better citizens who are aware of our own history and the philosophy and principles behind our country and its Constitution. There is nothing more important to our country that an involved and informed citizenry.

Carol Fowler
Stevensville

Much misinformation on global warming

Dear Editor,

On 12-31-09 a comment in a local newspaper’s Letters section stated “We must stop global warming!” Global warming, i.e. climate change, has been occurring throughout geologic history. The first Americans walked across the Bering Straits in North America – the straits are now under 200 feet of water. The beach lines on the mountain behind the University of Montana show that Lake Missoula came and went many times. Eight thousand years ago western Montana was a much drier area. Every serious geology student is familiar with glacial expansion and withdrawal through ecologic time. Humans cannot stop global warming and cooling.

A report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (March 2009) sheds much light on misinformation created by persons committed to the "global warming catastrophe and we have to stop it at any cost" regardless of the consequences (more governmental control, "Agenda 21" with its destruction of private property rights, increased energy taxes, etc.). The following is taken from this report.

1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) used faulty solar data in dismissing the direct solar effect of solar variability on global temperatures. New data indicates solar variability accounts for up to 68% of the increase in global temperatures.

2. Surface temperature records are not as accurate as satellite measurements as increasing surface temperatures are due to the rapid growth of urbanization and its subsequent heat-island effect. No such increase is shown in the satellite record. Surface temperature increases have everything to do with rapid urbanization rather than green house gases.

33. It is not reasonable to conclude that there is any global endangerment from changes in green house gas levels based on the satellite record, since almost all the fluctuations are due to natural causes and not human-caused pollution as defined by the Clean Air Act. For example, at least 96% of annual global CO2 production is from non-human causes. In any case changes in CO2 concentrations have so little influence that it is difficult to find any effect in the satellite temperature record.

4. A graph displaying Northern Hemisphere temperature from year 1000 through 2000 clearly depicts the Medieval Warm Period from 1000 to 1500 at which time northern hemisphere temperature decreased 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit from the high temperature of that time. From 1500 to about 1850 the northern hemisphere experienced the Little Ice Age. By 2000 northern hemisphere temperature had increased BACK to the maximum temperature existing at the end of the Medieval Warm Period. Included in this graph is a display of Galactic Cosmic Radiation which is a near perfect fit for the time period of 1000 to 2000. The radiation graph clearly shows that radiation is the major factor controlling northern hemisphere temperature.

5. Satellite data shows no significant temperature change between 1978 and 2008, and does not support the view that there was an INCREASED RATE of warming in the last 30 years.

The science is not "settled.” What is settled is that there is to be no factual analysis of data. The recent destruction of climate data at the University of East Anglia in England, and ignoring temperature data from the Medieval Warm Period because it does not fit models supporting global warming are examples.

V.A. Ciliberti, Jr., Ph.D., Forest Hydrology
Hamilton

Moving remembrance

Dear Editor,

Gretchen wrote a beautiful and moving tribute to her loving sister. She was a vibrant young person and a great missionary in her life. Cancer is a cruel ending for our loved ones. She was so brave and so young.

Gretchen, your remembrance tribute made me think of another journalist that brought tears to my eyes. She was a local mother who went back to the university in her eighties. When asked how she wrote such moving stories, she told me she wrote from the heart. That lovely lady was Martha Burke.

Gretchen, you also write from the heart.

My deepest sympathy to you and your family.

Vonny Miller
Stevensville

Nothing to joke about

Dear Editor,

One of your readers’ letters has been haunting my dreams. It was from Gary Knapp about “playing gay for a day” in 2009. Please tell him how risky and dangerous this could be. In Wyoming a few years ago Matthew Sheppard was tied to a rail fence and pistol whipped to death! Matthew loved his fellow man. He died from blind hatred from his fellow man.

Robert Colcord
Hamburg, PA

CI-102 endangers equity “for all”?

Dear Editor,

I read an editorial in the Missoulian with the title, “CI-102 Endangers Equity for All,” on Nov. 11, 2009 and at that time there were several unresolved questions in my mind about the author’s comments.

The first element that caught my attention was the bullet, “equity for all.” Just who does “for all” represent?

It certainly isn’t the women that she refers to as “reproductive-age Montana women.” The author of the article, the Director of Blue Mountain Clinic, needs to identify these women correctly as her prospective “customers!” With that in mind, there seems to be a conflict of interest throughout the article as the author is the “director” of Blue Mountain Abortion Clinic who eulogizes the importance of the “choice” to euthanize children. With every “choice” made, she hears the cash register ringing.

Oh, that’s right, the first lie is that these evolving infants are only “blobs of cells,” they aren’t humans yet! So where is the “equity” of the children that are alive in the womb of their mother, and are euthanized, eliminated, and terminated by the staff of that clinic? “All” is a poor “choice” of words.

The Director frequently refers to constitutional rights of women. That is the second major lie! There are no constitutional rights to have an abortion at either the national or the state level. There are, however, court rulings that allow a woman to pursue the word “choice.”

In 1846, a Missouri slave, Dred Scott, sued for his freedom. In March of 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that a slave had no right to sue as he was a non entity. He was not a citizen of the United States. How is Roe vs Wade different than this decision? Decisions of the Supreme Court can be changed!

Jim Van Sickle
Stevensville

Tester bill a travesty

Dear Editor,

Jon Tester’s Senate Bill 1470 represents irresponsible logging and motorized recreation on public lands. It undercuts the popular roadless rules, and by requiring excessive logging it clashes with environmental laws that public land agencies must obey. It usurps Forest Service authority by handing public lands management decision-making to locals and private interests, and it establishes unbalanced resource advisory committees by overriding an existing law prohibiting this.

The bill’s unprecedented mandated logging levels requires the Forest Service to cut 14 times the sustainable level identified in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest Plan plus 10 years of cutting in the Yaak, which is already over-cut, unconnected and too roaded to support biological diversity.

Logging acreage and time frames are mandated; restoration levels and timelines are not. Montanans have repeatedly witnessed logging where restoration agreements were never implemented. Tester’s bill fails to require restoration completion; worse, “restoration” can be accomplished on any national forest in the U.S. Montana sustains the damage while other states can get the “restoration.” And it’s not ecological restoration, because the bill defines restoration primarily as logging. Plus, access roads can be converted to motorized recreation routes and connected with other motorized routes.

The bill’s new wilderness designations are pitifully small, isolated and exclude diverse elevation habitats. Low-level military over-flights, helicopter landings and ATV herding of domestic sheep will be allowed. This is not real wilderness.

The bill’s road density language encourages increased logging in unroaded and less roaded areas of the forests.

Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), Montana’s irreplaceable legacy from the late Sen. Lee Metcalf, will be released and degraded under Tester’s bill, precluding wilderness designation. The illegal motorized intrusions in WSAs gets sanctioned. Instead of law enforcement we get release language, rewarding law breakers. This is disgraceful!

If you care about public lands, read the bill.

Marilyn Olsen
Emigrant

Stupidity ad nauseum

Dear Editor,

A year or so ago I persuaded the DEQ to send an inspector out to Hamilton to investigate the fact that several hundred tons of lead shot have disappeared and could not be accounted for from the shot field of the Hamilton Gun Club. County government had refused to consider my accusations about subsurface pollution. The inspector did make an appearance. He walked the area in question, scuffed the surface and spent some time chatting with Gun Club people, then went back to his office and reported that there was no lead pollution. Then the inspector's boss notified me that the DEQ has no authority to examine the subsurface soil. So the gun club continues to pepper the soil with lead shot every day or so. The County Commission will not take action. The DEQ officially reported there was no pollution because they are not allowed to use a shovel nor can the DEQ determine if subsoil lead pollution exists. The EPA doesn't wish to get involved.

Now, fast forward to the presently proposed septage dump site situation along Highway 93. We are headed for an incredible development of a putrid human waste dumping site along the highway near the river and a new name for Stevi. How about Stinkville beside the Bitterroot? A future tourist attraction is in the works.

Pity the nearby home owners and remember the harebrained DEQ, the chicken hearted County Commission, and give a cheer for incredible stupidity.

Earl Pollard
Hamilton

Flawed selection process

Dear Editor,

Why would the least qualified individual be selected for any position?

Well, of course, with the exception of what happened at the national level a year ago, over which we had little control. But now, please consider an appointment, closer to home, right here in Ravalli County.

A number of county board positions became available at the end of 2009. The Commissioners published a list of boards with vacancies. One was the Board of Health. Closing date for all applications was 28 December. There was only a single applicant for the Board of Health at closing. That applicant was a physician, with a medical degree from the University of Illinois in the College of Medicine, and is Board Certified in Clinical and Anatomic Pathology. He practiced in those fields for 29 years. During that period, he also served 13 years on a Board of Health in three different communities in New England.

Under mysterious circumstances, some time after the closing date, another applicant surfaced. A registered nurse.

By a 3-2 vote, the individual with a nursing degree was selected over the physician.

Commissioners Chilcott and Iman voted for the qualified physician. That leaves the three Commissioners Jim, Kathleen and Carlotta to answer the initial question posed in this article. Why would the least qualified be selected?

An email to Jim on 25 January received no response.

An email to Kathleen on 28 January had a return response asking for my phone number. I responded by return email, but no phone call or written message from her has ever followed.

An email to Carlotta on 28 January did receive an immediate written response. Carlotta indicated she was impressed by comments made during the nurse interview, which included, “I have a lot of empathy for people.” “I’m always interested in learning more.” “There’s nothing I’m not interested in.” She further indicated she had been a jail nurse and involved in emergency and urgent care.

The appointed nurse is undoubtedly a very fine individual, with the best intention of serving faithfully on the Board of Health.

My personal letter was mailed to this successful appointee on 25 January, congratulating her on her appointment, and requesting some further information on her background qualifications. Phone number, email and postal addresses were given for the convenience of her reply. There has been no reply.

If there had been two applicants, both with equal qualifications, a coin flip or decision based on personalities may have been in order.

However, when there is a huge difference in professional training, qualifications and experience, it appears the selection may have been politically motivated.

For sake of comparison, consider two applicants to fly a 747 aircraft. One has been a trained pilot for 29 years, and has flown 747s for 13 of those years. The other has soloed in a Piper Cub. You make the choice.

Since Carlotta has responded, Jim and Kathleen need to also reply in an open letter to the public regarding the rationale in their individual thought process in this case. Is this an indication of their decision making on other important issues? Are decisions being made in the best interest of the public, or along political lines only? Do we need 5 Commissioners to make decisions such as this, or could 3 have been equally as politically biased and incompetent with less expense to the taxpayers of the county?

Citizens of Ravalli County deserve a public explanation from the Commissioners involved in this strange decision. Unlike politics in our nation’s capitol, government at the local level must be transparent. The public is entitled to, and expects, no less. No response would be considered a sign of arrogance.

Dave Hurtt
Florence

Page One •	Valley News •	Op/Ed •	Sports •	Calendar •	Classifieds •	Legals •	Links •	About Us •	Back Issues •	Email Us •	Home
©2009 Bitterroot Star This site was Done By Dooney