At the substation, they are starting to build the foundations for the "Great Wall" and the substation itself. Looks like they will keep rolling along through the winter as there are many workers on site even in bad weather. The hill looks higher than before for some reason, just perception from street level but those electric rigs are going to be very tall over the street.
The Great Wall is really starting to take shape, and it's "great" as in big!... The view from river level is now filled with the wall. I am looking forward to seeing how it comes out when I see the scale of this project I am at least "grateful" the BWL is making the best of putting a substation in a park. There was a great bloom of snowbell flowers on the slope below the wall, escapees from the destruc-construction. The swallows have returned to the Elm Street bridge up river right on time! Spring is on the way.
They are working even on Saturdays so it seems like they want to get this project done. As I look at the project I am not sure if the cement wall there so far is the foundation, or will the decorative wall be on top of this new wall. The walk around the riverside is going to be quite elevated if it is on top of the "foundation" wall. On the M.X. side the decorative wall is already taking shape. The old garden wall now sits on a high spot next to Cooley Gardens, it seems they are building this out just as planned.
I can't say how thrilled I am that Eckert is closing. I sometimes wonder if the slow progress of REO Town and Downtown is partially attributable to there being a massive coal plant in what should be in a historically dense residential and business area. On that note I'm not so sure plopping a huge new gas plant right in the heart of REO Town was a genius move, either. Like we really can't put this stuff away from urban neighborhoods? It sends out a bad image, in my opinion.
According to the Clean Air Task Force, 10 people in Ingham County died from power plants in one year. Granted I believe they used the linear threshold model to come up with that figure - you take the mortality rate proven from high exposure and scale it down mathematically to low exposures. So there is room for error in that number.
They are much more mindful of this stuff in California. L.A. County, which is orders of magnitude more populated than Ingham County, was estimated to have only 3 deaths in one year attributable to power plants. People make fun of California for cancer warning labels, but the state's policies save lives in the long run and California's economy seems to be doing OK.
Long story short, if Eckert and Erikson were people, they'd be called murderers and locked away. The replacement power sources can't come fast enough.
I sometimes wonder what Lansing would be like if we did not own the power company and we bought it from some other power company. Maybe we would not have to power plants and all the infrastructure that goes with them right in our city. Sometimes here in REOtown it seems like the BWL is taking over the landscape.
I think the personification of a company using legal materials to produce electricity for a large population does not qualify as murder, and although I understand the sentiment and the need to change our ways, that sort of statement is not really helpful, as it kind of indites a lot of people who work there. I think the day we see no more coal or natural gas is used to produce power is coming soon, Lansing is not there quite yet, and perhaps they do need to re-think the new gas plant.
I saw another train loaded with giant windmill blades going by yesterday, I think that is a good sign.
I was personifying the plants rather than the company, but I understand where you're coming from. I think it's good to keep holding the company's feet to the coals and I don't think many people in Lansing take having a coal plant in their backyard as seriously as you'd hope. Just imagine, LBWL wanted to build another coal plant in 2008, long after everyone was already aware of the dangers. If you ask me, you really have to keep an eye on LBWL, which is crazy considering that ostensibly it's publicly owned. Thank God LBWL saw the error of their ways on that one.
When we talk about brain drain in Lansing, I wonder what impression MSU students get when they head to REO Town and see not one, but two power plants in operation. I doubt it makes them excited to plant roots in Downtown Lansing. I know Eckert is closing, but we're one missed replacement target away from that thing puffing away even longer. Not to mention that we're also burning tons of coal on MSU's campus. It's a mess and it doesn't make sense to me when we have so much open land in the Midwest. Greed seems to be the common denominator.
Comments
At the substation, they are starting to build the foundations for the "Great Wall" and the substation itself. Looks like they will keep rolling along through the winter as there are many workers on site even in bad weather. The hill looks higher than before for some reason, just perception from street level but those electric rigs are going to be very tall over the street.
The Great Wall is really starting to take shape, and it's "great" as in big!... The view from river level is now filled with the wall. I am looking forward to seeing how it comes out when I see the scale of this project I am at least "grateful" the BWL is making the best of putting a substation in a park. There was a great bloom of snowbell flowers on the slope below the wall, escapees from the destruc-construction. The swallows have returned to the Elm Street bridge up river right on time! Spring is on the way.
I just hope they follow through with their improvements of the riverbank to make it more accessible...
They are working even on Saturdays so it seems like they want to get this project done. As I look at the project I am not sure if the cement wall there so far is the foundation, or will the decorative wall be on top of this new wall. The walk around the riverside is going to be quite elevated if it is on top of the "foundation" wall. On the M.X. side the decorative wall is already taking shape. The old garden wall now sits on a high spot next to Cooley Gardens, it seems they are building this out just as planned.
From this week's Lansing City Pulse.
Arts Council of Greater Lansing calls for mural submissions
Selected works to be featured on walls of BWL’s Central Substation Project
BWL Art Submission
I can't say how thrilled I am that Eckert is closing. I sometimes wonder if the slow progress of REO Town and Downtown is partially attributable to there being a massive coal plant in what should be in a historically dense residential and business area. On that note I'm not so sure plopping a huge new gas plant right in the heart of REO Town was a genius move, either. Like we really can't put this stuff away from urban neighborhoods? It sends out a bad image, in my opinion.
According to the Clean Air Task Force, 10 people in Ingham County died from power plants in one year. Granted I believe they used the linear threshold model to come up with that figure - you take the mortality rate proven from high exposure and scale it down mathematically to low exposures. So there is room for error in that number.
They are much more mindful of this stuff in California. L.A. County, which is orders of magnitude more populated than Ingham County, was estimated to have only 3 deaths in one year attributable to power plants. People make fun of California for cancer warning labels, but the state's policies save lives in the long run and California's economy seems to be doing OK.
Long story short, if Eckert and Erikson were people, they'd be called murderers and locked away. The replacement power sources can't come fast enough.
I sometimes wonder what Lansing would be like if we did not own the power company and we bought it from some other power company. Maybe we would not have to power plants and all the infrastructure that goes with them right in our city. Sometimes here in REOtown it seems like the BWL is taking over the landscape.
I think the personification of a company using legal materials to produce electricity for a large population does not qualify as murder, and although I understand the sentiment and the need to change our ways, that sort of statement is not really helpful, as it kind of indites a lot of people who work there. I think the day we see no more coal or natural gas is used to produce power is coming soon, Lansing is not there quite yet, and perhaps they do need to re-think the new gas plant.
I saw another train loaded with giant windmill blades going by yesterday, I think that is a good sign.
I was personifying the plants rather than the company, but I understand where you're coming from. I think it's good to keep holding the company's feet to the coals and I don't think many people in Lansing take having a coal plant in their backyard as seriously as you'd hope. Just imagine, LBWL wanted to build another coal plant in 2008, long after everyone was already aware of the dangers. If you ask me, you really have to keep an eye on LBWL, which is crazy considering that ostensibly it's publicly owned. Thank God LBWL saw the error of their ways on that one.
When we talk about brain drain in Lansing, I wonder what impression MSU students get when they head to REO Town and see not one, but two power plants in operation. I doubt it makes them excited to plant roots in Downtown Lansing. I know Eckert is closing, but we're one missed replacement target away from that thing puffing away even longer. Not to mention that we're also burning tons of coal on MSU's campus. It's a mess and it doesn't make sense to me when we have so much open land in the Midwest. Greed seems to be the common denominator.
The MSU Simon Power plant stopped burning coal in 2016 (natural gas now).
http://ipf.msu.edu/green/energy/generating-power.html
https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2015/msu-to-stop-burning-coal-at-campus-power-plant/
Well that's good to hear. I missed that. My apologies.