MAUREEN RUHL

Renovo

I understand from an article appearing in The Renovo Record that I am the sole opponent of the Renovo power plant. However, the group in the minority is not the opposition to the power plant but the small group of local investors with a stake in the plant.

And the opposition continues to grow daily, both in numbers and vocalization!

I have read thousands of pages of documents, records, reports and e-mails. I have condensed them into two short easy-to-understand books. I present facts the pro power plant has suppressed. The investors are still making promises of jobs, but now those numbers have been reduced from several hundred to 35 and then 25 as of May 5.

The new component in the investors’ bag of tricks is a resolution. This is a tactic to attract new money to the project so it’s clear they still do not have the money to build the plant. And with half of their customer base lost, they are in a quandary. Renovo Borough Council is on the record saying they never “voted” on the power plant and yet they have now formed a resolution of support. This is nothing more than a slick political maneuver.

I wrote compelling compositions, vetted all information and invited interested parties to engage in actual discussion. They instead choose rhetoric and lip service over factual matters. We have accumulated hundreds of signatures on our petitions. I have personally interviewed over 100 people. These residents and their objection to the power plant are being nullified by the pro power plant group through misleading information campaigns.

We have erected “no power plant” signs and they are removed from private properties. We have firsthand eyewitnesses who allegedly saw our signs piled in the back of the Renovo Borough dump truck and then being emptied into a dumpster.

These individuals will do most anything to bring the power plant to fruition. It is not being proposed for the creation of new jobs or the betterment of the residents in Renovo. In fact, few of the investors actually live in Renovo.

It is true that I ran for a seat on Renovo Borough Council. I ran a clean campaign and when I learned I had not won, I called Patti Rauch and offered her my heartfelt congratulations. But my actions are always suspect and come under general suspicion.

Residents for a Healthy Renovo welcome all power plant opponents to raise their voices and let their concerns be known. Do not let a few investors and their dreams of easy money drive you into silence.

I know you see a smear campaign against me, and this may cause you to be frightened to speak up. But as you begin to speak the truth and demand a better future for your loved ones, you will find your voice. You will not be easily silenced and your voices will resound in the mountains, over the river and through the valleys.