Concerned citizens should keep the battle going ahead

Spectrum, by John Vinduska

I'm feeling compelled to respond to Vic Kohring's Spectrum dated Sept. 16. I have never read a Spectrum with so much misinformation in nearly every sentence. He claims anti development forces in the Valley, not property owners with genuine concerns are spreading misinformation about pollution and property rights regarding coal-bed methane development. I do not meet Mr. Kohring's description as a no-growth liberal. In fact I make my living doing excavation in the Valley. I have lived in the Valley for more than 30 years and I know most of the landowners in my area. Most share the same concerns I do and don't fit Mr. Kohring's description either.

He goes on to say they are crying wolf when there is no wolf to be seen. How can he make such a statement when there are so many well-documented cases in the Lower 48 of CBM abuses.

Mr. Kohring also states Evergreen Resources is a very responsible company with a proven track record of excellence. I suspect all of Mr. Kohring's information about Evergreen Resources comes from Evergreen. He says he has personally witnessed their work. Evergreen takes anyone interested in looking at their work to one well site that isn't even fully developed. I wonder if he has viewed the other seven sites that are not on the tour, as I have, and imagined how thousands of fully developed wells with supporting infrastructures would affect us in the Valley.

To me and to most of the normal everyday hardworking people I know, Evergreen isn't even the issue. Evergreen just brought to my attention the fact that I have no control over the property I own. The Alaska Constitution does not protect property rights as some may say. I have talked with several of our lawmakers about getting our unjust laws changed to give property owners who pay taxes the right to say "No, I don't want a well on my property." If the CBM industry proves to be safe, I am sure plenty of people will allow them to drill on their property and that's OK. Mr. Kohring says, "If time proves flaws in current law I will support fixing them." It is obvious to me that the laws are flawed. Does it make sense that a person can buy property and pay taxes for years and then the state can lease your property to someone else?

No Vic, you will not support fixing flawed laws and Vic you are not a strong advocate of private property rights. Otherwise you and Evergreen would not have been working so hard discreetly crafting House Bill 69 which limited my ability to protect my property at the local level. In fact, as you and other legislators have stated, the reason HB 69 was needed is because the borough assembly was getting "too green" and needed to be controlled by the state. On the contrary, you are working just as hard for Evergreen as Sen. Scott Ogan is, to make it as easy as possible and to limit regulations controlling responsible CBM development.

And why are Vic Kohring, Scott Ogan, and other legislators working so hard for Evergreen? Follow the money trail. They know that most hard-working citizens don't have the time and money to fight this injustice. I know because I don't either. I can't even count how many people I have talked to on this issue. Most are very upset, but either think they are powerless to make a change or hope that it won't happen to them. Evergreen and other CBM developers that will surely come, do have the time and money to get these elected officials to make a change in their favor as can be shown by Scott Ogan's 1996 HB 394 and Vic Kohring's 2003 HB 69.

They say that they won't put a well on your property if you don't want one. Is that a law? No. They say they won't put a well next to your house. Is that a law? No. How far is next to your house? Is there a set-back law? No. How much money do they pay the property owner for surface damages for a possible 30 years of use? Not much, because I asked. What do I as a landowner have as an incentive for development on my land? None that I can think of. After the wells are depleted, what do the laws require for reclamation? These are just a few obvious questions that should be asked by all of us who own property.

That's why us little guys feel sometimes that we are talking to a brick wall. But don't give up, folks. That's what Evergreen and our elected officials are counting on. Keep up letting our lawmakers know that we aren't just a bunch of no-growth liberals who want to make the state one big park. Vic, Alaska is one big state and federal park. You want to take for the state the less than 1 percent that is private property.

If you own property in the Mat-Su area, or want to someday own property, I urge everyone to check this issue out.

The only true statement that Vic Kohring said was that this is getting to be a political football -- but unfortunately we property owners are the football getting kicked.

John Vinduska is a lifelong Conservative.