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• Frank Haggerty 02/05/2015

  New Bedford The Casino Cradle of Political Corruption ? https://plus.google.com/110428618913389869063/posts/AuTk4fM5Aa4 "New Bedford has embarked on a series of bunco schemes of enormous consequence. The people who value intellectual honesty should not be quietly be fleeced by such mendacity, even from the government or media." Plague of Bad Choices Now Public Safety & Climate Change Report In Massachusetts i t's natural to think of New Bedford when we think of political corruption In 2010 Governor Patrick announced the building of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. The cost 35 million. Since the departure of Governor Patrick the state was left 1.8 billion in debt. New Bedford city officials, business leaders and state leaders prior to construction of their ocean port went on an all expense paid taxpayer trip to Bremerhaven, Germany to look at their ocean wind turbine port with a 3000 foot wide birth to the open ocean . The idea was to come back with a great story and sell the public on building an ocean wind port in New Bedford. They came back and told the public through the news media nothing but good news. This is where from day one the New Bedford terminal went wrong. The legal width clearance at the harbor entrance to the 50 year old hurricane gates is only 120 feet. The largest ship ever to go through the gates was 82 feet wide. Ocean wind turbine barges don't fit through the gates. This is where the corruption and bizarre story starts with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. The ocean wind port for Cape Wind had already been built and permitted by BOEM, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management at Quonset Point, Rhode Island with crane service five years before the construction of the New Bedford terminal ever started. Massachusetts officials testified at legislative bond committee meetings they were 100 percent sure Cape Wind was going to build their turbines out of New Bedford all along knowing New Bedford had no federal permits and the hurricane gates were too narrow. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has now poured 113 million into the incomplete financial fiasco. The terminal sits today with no rail link, no cranes and a federal channel that needs to be dredged for 5 miles outside the hurricane gates to the ocean. In addition an AM radio station sits on four acres of the property. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center when asked about all this only says they are going into phase two. MassCEC CEO Alicia Barton now indicate s that a wide range of cargo could flow through the terminal — from fruit, to sand to heavy industrial boilers. This is how renewable energy tax receipts and green energy bonds were spent ? The interest alone being paid for by taxpayers on the bonds in $187,500.00 per month. Now comes the Casino. The New Bedford news media and politicians have been pushing Climate Change as a means to justify building the ocean wind turbine port. These politicians and green journalist have been touting the sea level change and increasing heat in the atmosphere. The New Bedford state and local politicians have pushed for an all out war on fossil fuels to justify spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an ocean wind turbine port with a 120 wide opening. New Bedford officials now want to build a 650 million dollar ocean front Casino at old toxic Cannon Street Power Plant behind a series of dikes and hurricane barrier built in 1965. The New Bedford Hurricane Protection Barrier lies across New Bedford and Fairhaven Harbor. Construction of the New Bedford Hurricane Protection Barrier was completed in January 1966.The project is divided into three principal features: a barrier extending across New Bedford and Fairhaven Harbor with an extension dike on the mainland; Clarks Cove Dike in New Bedford; and Fairhaven Dike. Clarks Cove Dike consists of earthfill with stone slope protection. Fairhaven Dike consists of earthfill with stone slope protection. The City of New Bedford and Fairhaven maintain the project, with the exception of the navigational gates and barrier extending across New Bedford and Fairhaven Harbor. The 50 year old gates are operated and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers just like New Orleans in 2005. A 2014 climate change assessment shows that a category two hurricane or above would result in the inundation of the entire port areas . The public is being kept well in the dark over this report. The report remains hidden from the public because the climate change report interferes with the new agenda of building a casino that could very well put the public at risk. They took hundreds of millions of taxpayers money to build the incomplete ocean terminal there is only one thing left your safety and your life. The same people who for years have been describing Polar bears stuck on little pieces of ice, global warming,sea level rise don't want you to read the recent 2014 publication about sea level rise in New Bedford Harbor ? Now your public safety and global warming take a back seat to building a casino ? Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning Study for Water Quality Infrastructure in New Bedford, Fairhaven and Acushnet : https://climate.buzzardsbay.org/download/seaplan-climate-vulnerability-new-bedford-area.pdf https://climate.buzzardsbay.org/download/seaplan-climate-vulnerability-new-bedford-area.pdf " The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program funded the preparation of this report by SeaPlan under a contract with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Cooperative Agreement CE96144201-3 Page 1 under abstract : The City of New Bedford and the neighboring Towns of Acushnet and Fairhaven are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise (SLR), especially in the event of a hurricane barrier failure in a storm. Dikes and Levee Systems New Orleans vs New Bedford similarities New Orleans, Louisiana In August of 2005 there were over 50 failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans, Louisiana. The design and construction of the levee system belonged to the US Army Corps of Engineers. The primary cause of flooding was inadequate design and construction by the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1965 the Corps of Engineers built a larger levee system . The flooding of New Orleans is considered the worst engineering catastrophe in US History . Investigations found that a 1986 study by the corps itself that such separations were possible New Bedford has embarked on a series of bunco schemes of enormous consequence. The people who value intellectual honesty should not be quietly be fleeced by such mendacity, even from the government or media.