Monday, January 28, 2008

Tedford Road Fire



For those who aren't aware, there is an underground fire at an illegal dump (sinkhole) off Tedford Road (Keller Bend area). I met Saturday with a representative of the affected neighbors to discuss the air quality issues and offer whatever help I could. I also spoke with Knox County's air quality group and EPA Region IV. So far, this is what we know:
- Well water testing results should be back around 2/1.
- Initial samples at the fire site had CO levels of up to 3000 ppm by the fire, and 300 ppm at the houses. That has since subsided to safe levels, and some nearby residents have purchased home CO monitors to check indoor levels, where CO can concentrate.
- Debris from the fire is mostly wood, although some PVC and nylon has been seen being pulled from the dump. At low temperatures, this material would create some fairly nasty organic pollutants
- EPA and Knox County have worked together to take 6 grab samples (4 at the site, 2 near houses) for detailed analysis by gas chromatigraph. That data will probably not come back until about 2/8. If those samples show significant organic pollutants / PICs, some decisions would be made about additional sampling.
- I have asked EPA for details on the sampling protocol, and will forward to the neighbors and interested parties, but the protocol is a broad spectrum look at dozens of possible pollutants using a gas chromatograph
- I received an opinion from EPA that continuous particulate monitoring would be advisable as well, and I passed this on to Knox County APCD. They indicated they would be looking to see if they could get a continuous particulate monitor out to the site.

Things to take forward from this:
- These illegal dumps are another massive liability. Cleanup of the Tedford site is estimated at $300,000 or more, and there may be a dozen or so similar sites in Knox County right now.
- We need to do a better job inspecting sinkholes for illegal dumping. There are only three permitted construction waste dumps in Knox County, so if you see dumping of construction waste into a sinkhole, it's almost assuredly illegal! Call Knox County Solid Waste and TDEC.
- We should consider adding capability and equipment for Knox County air quality to be able to do immediate toxics sampling.
- Future response protocols should include immediate deployment of particulate monitoring equipment, ideally a speciation monitor that can help identify levels of organic pollutants.


Update (Jan 29th): Agilaire purchased two CO monitors for inside monitoring of the two closest neighbors. While not as accurate as a regular monitor, they provide rough readings and should provide notification of dangerous levels at night and over the weekend. Jamie Dobbs has requested that the Mayor's office arrange an inter-agency meeting to improve communication. Results of the five well tests show no dangerous levels of pollutants (verbal info, waiting to receive written details). More plastics and rubber being dug out, as well as what appears to have been a railroad tie in the fire zone. Some rough calculations as to % of the debris that appears to have been in the fire zone, and % of plastics stream indicates total plastics burned could range anywhere from 0.1 to 2 cubic yards. Rural Metro reported that their multi-gas monitor showed no dangerous levels of H2S, so the nuisance odor appears to be formaldehyde. We should know more when the air tests come back (Friday?).

Update (1/30): Received well test data. Still working on finding a particulate monitor. Health department arranging meeting Friday with Health, KEMA, neighborhood reps, and other agencies. One of the neighbors, Carlene Steenkamp, has fired up a website www.illegallandfill.com to document the Tedford Road fire and I hope later can be used for public education of illegal landfills.

Update (1/30, 5pm): Fire appears to be out! Digging will continue tomorrow to confirm there are no more hot spots, but things look good. Meeting is likely to be postponed next week until after air sample data is back. Meeting will be a good opportunity to do a 'postmortem' and develop approaches for future public health emergencies.


Update (1/31, 1pm): Hot spot uncovered this morning, Rural Metro on the job. Checked again at about noon, no visible smoke or odor. It may take a few more days to dig down far enough to ensure it's out. Jamey is checking about work continuing through the weekend.

Much thanks to Tom Salter, Steve McDaniel, Jerry Harnish, Jamey Dobbs, Bruce Weuthrich, Al Ianncone, and the folks at EPA Region IV for their hard work on the issue.

Knox County Petition for Restructuring County Government

Too much to discuss here. Click here for the Knoxviews discussion, which links to the Knoxnews.com discussion. No sense commenting here and opening up a third thread. My opinions on this are stated within those links.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Metropulse Article & Interesting Appointment Idea

"The primary is between]..forces aligned with County Mayor Mike Ragsdale or the anti-Ragsdale faction."

Um.... not all of us. That's a pretty broad statement to make, but this article doesn't show a lot of depth of research beyond reading the KNS. I can name at least three candidates for the Fourth that aren't aligned with factions, would not align themselves with factions if elected, and would hold everyone's feet to the fire with respect to the law. But apparently, that's not interesting ink.

"The Commission has voted to look at the primary results from Feb. 5 in picking replacements ...Picking a primary winner as a placeholder (bestowing incumbency) means picking between the winners of the Democratic or Republican primary"

Unless they pick a primary non-winner as a caretaker. :) I understand Commissioner Larry Smith may push this approach. I think it's a great way to cut the Gordian knot, with people who are clearly interested in serving, but such an appointment avoids the appearance of Commission giving a general election candidate the advantage of incumbency.


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

To Serve or Not To Serve?

Much ado at the County Commission over the failure to enact a rule barring County employees from serving on Commission. A good discussion is taking place in the comments on the KNS web site:

There are certainly many conflicts that would exist for any Knox County employee, and a senior member of any office (Trustee, Property, Sheriff's) would have too many conflicts to serve effectively. But is it right (or even legal) to bar thousands of others from serving on Commission?

A good argument is made that our tax dollars already pay their salary and they shouldn't be distracted from their normal duties. That's true, but since they can elect to burn vacation to do a second job of any kind, is it legal to bar them from this one?

It's a tough call. One solution I put forth is to extend and strengthen the conflict of interest rules to include the commissioners themselves, family members, major contributors, etc; to include votes affecting budget, pay, hiring, firing, etc; and to require recusal. Thus, a county employee could still serve (avoiding the disenfranchisement argument), but couldn't vote on anything where a conflict existed (e.g., Mr. Tramel and Mr. Pinkston couldn't vote on any issue regarding the Sheriff's office). Someone with enough ties might not be able to vote half the time - that's something the voters can take into account when they elect that candidate. Such a mechanism would also limit the ability of a few major campaign contributions to buy a candidate/office.

I'm not 100% sold on this approach though, so... your thoughts?

Monday, January 21, 2008

Campaign Finance Disclosure

It's about a week away, but I don't expect major changes. Anybody who wants to get a copy of the final campaign finance report, just click here.

Donations: $364
Loans (self-funding): $3542
Expenditures: $3842 ($2400 printing, $525 advertising, $917 postage)

Sandra Clark Endorses Tramel, Goes After Shouse Hard

I'm cross-posting to the KnoxViews link for the discussion about ethical campaigning and the potential factions at play here. The original story at the Halls-Shopper scrolls off after a while (they don't maintain a history) but for a week you can find it here.

Oh, but in the same article, just as I predicted, developers are lining up with their hands out for more TIFs. Now, the developers of the Wal-Mart on Norris Freeway want $6 million. Prepare for your taxes to be hiked.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Candidate Expo / Growth Issues

Candidate Expo was fun- not so many people from the Fourth district, a lot from the 5th, but I had some great conversations with the people that did make it out. I heard from two people about the problems with growth in the Sutherland Avenue area outpacing the wastewater and road infrastructure. As the area is in the city, I'll be contacting Barbara Pelot to see what she's heard already about this issue and if the city has plans to address the growth.

I had an interesting discussion with Mr. Victor Jernigan, a well-known developer in Knox County. We discussed growth issues, impact fees, etc. I had mentioned that it would be helpful to look at other areas that have similar geography to Knoxville but have already gone through growth phases, to see what they did, what worked, and what didn't work. I mentioned one area with similar geography is Portland, OR, where they are dramatically limited in the growth of roadways, more so than us. He mentioned that he had read that Oregon had the worst schools in the country and a terrible growth policy.

That was a bit surprising. Portland? I knew some people who live out there and have been out there for work, and poor education didn't seem to be an issue. I found one study (from a fairly conservative group) that actually ranked Portland first for job/population growth (which, of course, has driven up housing prices until recently). Education Week had a negative report for Oregon in general, but the measures were fairly odd- Kindergarten enrollment, 4th grade math (why just that grade). Many of the rest had to do with education procedures (licensing standards, formal teacher evaluation process, etc), but nothing related to taxes/funding. I don't see how bureaucratic measures of an education system seem fair.

Elsewhere, I saw some well-founded criticisms of Oregon schools (a drive towards more highly paid teachers without additional funding, leading to larger class sizes, fewer books, less infrastructure). Clearly, the issue of how Portland/Oregon manages growth and their education policy are two completely different beasts!

Interestingly, though, Portland is using a 50-year growth strategy to maintain a liveable city, which is pretty far looking. We have to ask the same questions- as 100,000 new people move into Knox County, what do we want the end result to look like? Clearly, even if we don't have metro government anytime soon, there has to be close work with the City of Knoxville in our long-range planning.

(And that's not to say Portland is the only place to look at, or that Portland got things right- I've always been fascinated at how they deal with the terrain that limits their roadway infrastructure!)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Scorecard/Kudos to local media

I want to take the time to thank local media for their coverage of the candidates in this important election. It takes time from their staff, ink, bandwidth, and effort to put these things together. I also wanted to give the local media some positive and otherwise feedback for their coverage.

A+ grades go out to the following:
WNOX- Excellent online voters guide, and dedicating a considerable amount of airtime every Tuesday to a broadcast forum of candidates that digs into issues quite well. Pick of the litter right here! Thanks to Catherine Howell, Dave, Hallerin & the rest of the WNOX crew for doing this.

Knoxville Focus- an easy to read voters guide, with enough details and contact information for the candidates. Visually pleasing.

Political Knoxville - a website/blog that had one of the most in-depth questionnaires and a suggested "pledge" related to reform. A little hard to navigate, the font is too small, but the depth of coverage is unsurpassed.

'B' grades for the following:
Knoxville News Sentinel - short candidate profiles and a very nice voter's guide last Sunday, well laid out, voting locations, etc. I'm a little surprised they limited their video, editorial interview, and endorsements to 'contested' races. I kind of understand that, but if you can write 100+ articles on the Sunshine lawsuit, can't you put the slight additional effort required to inform people about ALL the candidates? I've had emails from people who still can't understand why my video isn't on the KNS site. It's confusing a number of voters. Also, it would be nice to find the Sunday voter's guide on the web site (say, a simple PDF file).

WBIR- gotta give them major points for having an extensive questionnaire, like Political Knoxville. I would have put them at the very top, but I have to ding them for only giving us one day to come in for 30-second videos for their program Tuesday night. Sorry, I was sick and lost my voice. No make-up date? Well, the questionnaires are better than 30-second videos anyway, so definitely read those.

WATE- Another good survey (I like the last question, and I'm surprised Logan was the only other 4-B person to fill out the survey) and a 2-minute video for their web site, but it took me a week to find them on the web site. There should be a link from their "Focus on Knox County" page. They're really a B+ actually, I shouldn't ding them that much for shortcomings in the web layout.

"C" Grades:
MetroPulse - I have a silly questionnaire of three questions, two of which are what kind of car I drive and what is my favorite city, other than Knoxville. Maybe I should just answer that I would be an oak tree?

Shopper News- no voters guides, but good coverage of the issues so far, so I wanted to mention them. It would be great if they did a little guide for the general election.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Kudos to R. Larry Smith

The League of Women Voters held a forum tonight at West High School for the 4-A and 4-B candidates. I saw Commissioner Smith in the front row. After the forum was over, he said the reason he was there was that Commission was going to be making some appointments soon, and he wanted the opportunity to get a sense of what all the potential appointees were all about.

Wow. I'm impressed. I think it's great he is taking the appointment process very seriously and is digging into the details of all of the candidates who could come up for appointment.

Which begs the question- where were all the other commissioners? Have they already made up their minds about who they are going to appoint in February?

If any of the standing commissioners are taking the time to read this blog, email me so I can get a headcount as to who is doing their research, and who is not. I'll post your name here.

Friday, January 11, 2008

People don't do what you EXPECT, they do what you INSPECT

At the Riverbend Homeowner's meeting, I showed these pictures of a construction site on Northshore drive. I had previously looked at the site and taken pictures of the silt fences, since they were clearly insufficient/improper for the site. This is the result.








See the movie (2.8MB)

Not all developers work this way- in fact, I've seen a lot of sites with good installations, and found most developers responsive (the K-25 bank site near Pellissippi was very responsive and hasn't had a problem since my call about the problem they had with their SE corner). But our codes enforcement must be consistent, and it needs to be aimed at educating those developers that perhaps don't know how exactly to manage runoff in heavy rains. First violations should be coupled with a mandatory education program. Consistent violations need to be met with strict enforcement provisions.

This can't be allowed to continue.

Another win-win solution might be for the County to purchase modern automated silt fence plows and lease them to smaller developers that can't afford the capital investment.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

A little clarification to the WNOX show

One of the first questions on the WNOX forum posed was "what will you do to restore the confidence of the voters?" I had contrasted my answer (requiring structural reforms) against the other answers (how honest and ethical each individual said they would be if elected).

I don't mean for my answer to imply any question about the ethics of the other candidates. I wanted to express that there's a concern, and rightly so, that even the best-meaning person can be (and often is) corrupted by the system once in office. We can all swear that we'll do the right thing, but as my father once quipped, "don't trust yourself over 30." I want to put the reforms in place to (1) cover the commissioners that aren't up for re-election until 2010, (2) cover myself and those elected in 2008, and (3) cover ALL future commissioners for the next 100 years.

This issue is bigger than one candidate or one election cycle.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Pulling Signs Already?

I'm kind of amused that someone is pulling campaign signs already. Saturday night, I had to replace all the signs in the Bearden/Rocky Hill area. I mean, I'm unopposed in the primary, so what's the point? Are one of the 4-B Republicans so confident they're going to win the primary, his people are already on the move? Or is it just some loon (and if so, why mine)?

I've always seen the pulling of sign as a sign of weakness. I mean, a sign is not the message. If you think the presence of your candidate's signs and the absence of mine is going to tilt the election in your favor, you're already working from a position of weakness, aren't you? Doesn't that mean your ideas have no traction?

I consider it a complement that someone is worried already.