Letter to the Editor: Making facts out of Lowe's fiction, The Daily Item, Sept. 24
REFERENCES:
Traffic
- "In addition, the project will generate an additional 5,960 average daily vehicle trips (adt) for a total of 13,292 adt and a total of 17,716 vehicle trips on an average Saturday."
- “’Big box’ stores such as the proposed Lowe’s and Wal-Mart are large energy users and generate considerable traffic, both of which result in significant emissions of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global climate change.”
Reference The Secretary of State's letter: www.env.state.ma.us/mepa/mepacerts/2010/sc/enf/14532eenf.pdf
Environmental pollution
- Lowe's was fined a penalty by Mass DEP in April 2010 for polluting groundwater in Pembroke: www.mass.gov/dep/public/press/0410lowe.htm
- Lowe's developer penalized by Mass DEP in May 2010 for violation of a wetland: www.mass.gov/dep/public/press/0510lowe.htm
- Lowe's fined $137,500 by EPA for failure to adequately control storm water run-off at 4 Mass construction sites: click here
Economic studies-
- "Where have all the economic gains gone? Mostly to the top. "(The economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty examined tax returns from 1913 to 2008. They discovered an interesting pattern... by 2007, the top 1 percent richest in the country took in 23.5 percent of total income.) Reference: www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-real-lesson-of-labor-_b_706121.html?ref=fb&src=sp
Text from letter in paper...
Making Facts Out of Lowe’s Fictions
We appreciate the opportunity to make our community aware of the real facts, in response to the “FACTS” provided by the executives of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Northeast Real Estate Division in the editorial, “Lowe’s committed to community” (The Daily Item, Sept. 21, 2010) and the editorial "Record shows Lowe's can and will be a good neighbor" (The Salem News, Sept. 22, 2010).
In response to the executives’ statement that the “Lowe’s Project Has No Direct Infrastructure Connections to Lynn’s Water and Sewer System”, one must wonder why Lowe’s further admits that “conversations with Lynn Water & Sewer are ongoing.” Although there is no “direct” connection into Lynn’s system, there is no refuting the fact that water flows downhill and will enter into several catch basins in Lynn. This is just one more example of how Lynn, through its ratepayers, is subsidizing this Salem project with no benefit to Lynn (not to mention the Salem sewer system on Highland Avenue cannot keep up with the flooding from a rain storm ~ just my notes).
As for protecting the environment, be weary of Lowe’s relying on its award winning “Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan”. Not only was Lowe's fined $137,500 by the Environmental Protection Agency for failure to adequately control storm water run-off at 4 Massachusetts construction sites in 2003, it was most recently fined by Mass DEP in April, 2010 for polluting groundwater in Pembroke and another Lowe's developer was penalized by Mass DEP in May, 2010 for violation of a wetland in Hadley. Lowe’s misleads us on the reliability of its award-winning pollution prevention plan, evidenced by these most recent failures. How can the residents of Peabody, whose water supply is Spring Pond, be assured its drinking water won’t be victimized by Lowe’s next environmental disaster?
Regarding the issues of traffic for the Super Wal-Mart/Lowe’s project, no substantive proof of how mitigation will improve traffic in this area has been provided to Salem, Lynn, or its residents. When asked about traffic increases at the most recent Salem Planning Board meeting on Sept. 16, Jason Plourde, an engineer for the project, told the audience the increased amount of cars along Highland and Western Avenues would number between 1,000 and 2,000 a day. This does not echo the letter written by Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles on February 19, 2010 in response to the development’s Expanded Environmental Notification Form submitted on Jan. 6, 2010. The Secretary’s letter states: "In addition, the project will generate an additional 5,960 average daily vehicle trips (adt) for a total of 13,292 adt and a total of 17,716 vehicle trips on an average Saturday." Further, it states “’Big box’ stores such as the proposed Lowe’s and Wal-Mart are large energy users and generate considerable traffic, both of which result in significant emissions of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global climate change.” The “FACT” is Lowe’s manipulates the “FACTS” to ease the concerns of our communities without care of accuracy or consistency, but we don’t need lip service, we need the truth, something Lowe’s is apparently not willing to pay for.
Finally, the executives of Lowe’s state as ”FACT”, “When you really think about it, competition keeps us all on our toes.” What they mean here is competition between Lowe’s and Home Depot, or Wal-Mart and Target, is what keeps them on their toes. These big box retailers decimate locate small businesses and have a take-no-prisoners approach to market share. While Lowe's is headquartered in North Carolina, our local businesses that keep their profits local will be pushed aside. Where will the economic gains from this development go? Answer: to top executives and in this case... out of state. Lowe’s executives estimate this project will “bring up to 150 new jobs”. Is this really creating new jobs, or is it a transfer of jobs from local businesses that will close and layoff their workforce? We don’t blame the trades unions for supporting this project. We all know these workers and their families are devastated from this economy, but we stress the fact that this project has a long way to go in terms of permitting and state approval. Anyone who believes this project will be up and running within a year or two is being misled. Don’t fall for a bad project in bad economic times, just to face the negative effects when good times come rolling back.
“FACT” is, this project does not belong at that location, but when have Lowe’s and Walmart ever let a “FACT” get in the way of a bad development?
We appreciate the opportunity to make our community aware of the real facts, in response to the “FACTS” provided by the executives of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Northeast Real Estate Division in the editorial, “Lowe’s committed to community” (The Daily Item, Sept. 21, 2010) and the editorial "Record shows Lowe's can and will be a good neighbor" (The Salem News, Sept. 22, 2010).
In response to the executives’ statement that the “Lowe’s Project Has No Direct Infrastructure Connections to Lynn’s Water and Sewer System”, one must wonder why Lowe’s further admits that “conversations with Lynn Water & Sewer are ongoing.” Although there is no “direct” connection into Lynn’s system, there is no refuting the fact that water flows downhill and will enter into several catch basins in Lynn. This is just one more example of how Lynn, through its ratepayers, is subsidizing this Salem project with no benefit to Lynn (not to mention the Salem sewer system on Highland Avenue cannot keep up with the flooding from a rain storm ~ just my notes).
As for protecting the environment, be weary of Lowe’s relying on its award winning “Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan”. Not only was Lowe's fined $137,500 by the Environmental Protection Agency for failure to adequately control storm water run-off at 4 Massachusetts construction sites in 2003, it was most recently fined by Mass DEP in April, 2010 for polluting groundwater in Pembroke and another Lowe's developer was penalized by Mass DEP in May, 2010 for violation of a wetland in Hadley. Lowe’s misleads us on the reliability of its award-winning pollution prevention plan, evidenced by these most recent failures. How can the residents of Peabody, whose water supply is Spring Pond, be assured its drinking water won’t be victimized by Lowe’s next environmental disaster?
Regarding the issues of traffic for the Super Wal-Mart/Lowe’s project, no substantive proof of how mitigation will improve traffic in this area has been provided to Salem, Lynn, or its residents. When asked about traffic increases at the most recent Salem Planning Board meeting on Sept. 16, Jason Plourde, an engineer for the project, told the audience the increased amount of cars along Highland and Western Avenues would number between 1,000 and 2,000 a day. This does not echo the letter written by Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles on February 19, 2010 in response to the development’s Expanded Environmental Notification Form submitted on Jan. 6, 2010. The Secretary’s letter states: "In addition, the project will generate an additional 5,960 average daily vehicle trips (adt) for a total of 13,292 adt and a total of 17,716 vehicle trips on an average Saturday." Further, it states “’Big box’ stores such as the proposed Lowe’s and Wal-Mart are large energy users and generate considerable traffic, both of which result in significant emissions of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global climate change.” The “FACT” is Lowe’s manipulates the “FACTS” to ease the concerns of our communities without care of accuracy or consistency, but we don’t need lip service, we need the truth, something Lowe’s is apparently not willing to pay for.
Finally, the executives of Lowe’s state as ”FACT”, “When you really think about it, competition keeps us all on our toes.” What they mean here is competition between Lowe’s and Home Depot, or Wal-Mart and Target, is what keeps them on their toes. These big box retailers decimate locate small businesses and have a take-no-prisoners approach to market share. While Lowe's is headquartered in North Carolina, our local businesses that keep their profits local will be pushed aside. Where will the economic gains from this development go? Answer: to top executives and in this case... out of state. Lowe’s executives estimate this project will “bring up to 150 new jobs”. Is this really creating new jobs, or is it a transfer of jobs from local businesses that will close and layoff their workforce? We don’t blame the trades unions for supporting this project. We all know these workers and their families are devastated from this economy, but we stress the fact that this project has a long way to go in terms of permitting and state approval. Anyone who believes this project will be up and running within a year or two is being misled. Don’t fall for a bad project in bad economic times, just to face the negative effects when good times come rolling back.
“FACT” is, this project does not belong at that location, but when have Lowe’s and Walmart ever let a “FACT” get in the way of a bad development?
Signed,
Leslie Courtemanche, Judy McCarthy,
Deborah Smith Walsh, Katerina Panagiotakis
Lynn
Elizabeth N Devereaux
Cynthia Stamatopulous
Peabody
Scott Morgan
Salem
peace
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