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Important! ELK RIVER NEIGHBORS It’s decision time!
Most of you have followed the long process of TVA’s consideration
of the proposed Elk River Resort/Marina. If you want to find out
more about the proposal, TVA’s Draft Environmental Assessment
(DEA) and our efforts to stop the project, please go to http://www.shoalsenvironalliance.netfirms.com/ERM/ERM1.htm.
If you would like to be on the EMAIL list for future notifications
about this project, send your EMAIL address to ERMINFO@YAHOO.COM.
The long process is almost over. The second public meeting with
TVA occurred on February 9th. The second comment period ended on
February 16th. However, if you still have comments, there is
never a time limit to the comments you can send to TVA’S Board of
Directors. You will find necessary mailing addresses at the above
web site.
We expect that TVA will issue a Finding Of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) for the project which means that TVA finds no environmental
problems. This paves the way for approval by the Board Of
Directors. Some very knowledgeable people (Engineers, Botanists,
Attorneys, etc) have reviewed the DEA and identified many defects.
Should these or any other defects be carried over into the Final
Environmental Analysis (FEA) there will be a strong basis for legal
action against TVA. Visit http://tinyurl.com/k3zrc for an extensive
list of defects identified by the attorneys at the WildLaw (http://www.wildlaw.org/) environmental law firm.
Now, WE AS NEIGHBORS HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE. If the FEA is
defective do we take legal action or relent to the marina
project? WE BELIEVE LEGAL ACTION IS WARRANTED. The Shoals
Environmental Alliance (SEA) and the Rogersville Special Interest
Group (SIG), in association with the WildSouth (http://www.wildsouth.org/) environmental group, has arranged for a very experienced environmental
law firm, “WildLaw”, to file a legal action should
TVA’s Board approve the Elk River Resort. To continue,
approximately $5,000.00 will be necessary to cover future legal
fees. Both WildSouth and WildLaw are IRS 501(c)3, charitable
non-profit organizations. Therefore, any contributions from the
public to cover legal expenses will be tax deductible to the extent
allowed by current IRS regulations.
We have decided that it would be best not to wait until a final
decision is made by TVA before organizing our legal efforts.
Based on TVA's appalling history of environmental stewardship, we
believe that they will approve the project with no regard to community
and environmental objections. If we are going to take legal
action, we must be ready to proceed immediately as soon as the TVA
board makes a decision. We expect the bulldozing to start
immediately after they approve the project. We have only a short
time to determine if there is enough community support and/or funds to
cover legal costs. This is the initial effort, possibly the only
effort, to raise the money.
Most of the Action Committee members have already agreed to donate at
least $100.00 per family. Shoals Environmental Alliance has
already made an initial donation of $500.00 to retain WildLaw.
Now we are asking for your help. We believe that a minimum of $50 per
family will be required to raise the needed additional funds, but any
amount will be greatly appreciated.
IF THERE AREN’T ENOUGH FUNDS TO PROCEED, IF WE DO NOT RECEIVE
ENOUGH DONATIONS, we will stop preparations for legal action and donors
will have the option of receiving a refund of their donation. If we
take legal action there is no guarantee that we will prevail. The only
thing we can commit to is that we will give it our best effort.
The web site shown above will answer most questions you may have.
As to legal expertise, we believe that WildLaw has the experience
necessary to challenge TVA. You can read about them at
http://www.wildlaw.org/
If TVA acts in our favor and there is no basis for legal action or if
there are insufficient funds to proceed with a legal action, you may
request that your donation be returned to you or you may leave it in
the legal defense fund to support future legal actions to protect the
lower reach of the Elk River. We believe that whether or not TVA
approves the Elk River Resort THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF ATTEMPTS TO
COMMERCIALIZE AND OVER-DEVELOP THIS SECTION OF THE RIVER. The
next parcel to be developed may be the public land just north of the
proposed marina that TVA presently classifies as
“commercial”. In the future we would like to challenge that
classification. Other public lands in our area are at risk. If it
does not stop now, there is no reason to believe that it will ever
stop. SEA and Rogersville SIG will continue efforts to block future Elk
River area public land abuses as best we can. WE NEED YOUR HELP
TO BE EFFECTIVE. We need your donations and if you have time, we
could use some of that too.
If you want to help us please donate to the defense fund by 3/15/06.
This will be our best and last chance to stop this project. IF WE
CANNOT RAISE SUFFICIENT FUNDS FOR A LEGAL CHALLENGE, THIS IS THE END OF
THE ROAD FOR US. Make your checks payable to “WildSouth Elk River
LDF” and mail them to: Elk River LDF, PO Box 509, Rogersville, AL
35652. Donations of $250 or more will receive an acknowledgement letter
in accordance with IRS regulations. TELL YOUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS
ABOUT OUR EFFORTS AND URGE THEM TO SUPPORT US. If ever there was a time
to be involved, it is now. If you have a
question and cannot find an answer on the web site(s), please email us
at ERMINFO@YAHOO.COM
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