Mr. Scott Welsh's column about the proposed ethanol plant seems more like a personal attack on Mrs. Antoun than anything else and really doesn't answer the basic questions.

As the project manager, I would think Mr. Welsh's objective should be to sell the community on the potential returns and how the risks associated with this plant could be mitigated, rather than discussing who wants this plant in whose backyard. I can understand from an economic standpoint — with tax breaks, inexpensive land, roads, utilities etc. — why he may want it located here. But, if Mr. Welsh wants it in his backyard, that is fine with me.

Based on what I know, I am sure I don't want it in mine. If there are major returns and minimal risks to the community, Mr. Welsh, tell us in tangible terms, i.e. real dollars and real safety terms, what they are, and maybe we will want it, too.

How can you ensure our safety? What is the evacuation plan for residents, the prison, schools, the proposed new high school, churches and the depot? All we need is a big explosion that opens the flood gates to the prison and starts a few ammo bunkers to go off, and this will look like a great move! If this scenario can't happen, tell me why not.

How can you protect our water quality and availability? You are going to use a whole lot of water. What will the rest of us use, your waste water?

How can you ensure you are not a liability to the depot? There are real jobs there, several thousand of them, with long-run potential for more. Sounds like a major risk to me for 30-some jobs.

Won't this be a terrorist target? They are targeting oil fields in Iraq now. So why wouldn't they target alternative fuel production here in the U.S.? How are you going to avoid this risk?

Everything in life is a risk/return tradeoff. We have a general understanding of the risk, but no idea how it will be mitigated. And where is the return to the community?

What about the infrastructure costs with the road, rail and bridge repairs and increased truck volume? What are the plans to address these problems?

It has been more than eight months since I wrote my first letter to the editor asking these same questions, but I still have not received any answers. ...

From what I understand, Mr. Welsh, you haven't even bought the land outright, let alone raised the money, to build the facility. If you have not invested, why should we buy in?

When the depot was built, I am sure it was a life-changing sacrifice for many families, but in the end, it was a benefit in terms of national security. Also, for over 50 years the depot has helped to support the families of Franklin, Fulton and Cumberland counties. I don't see the same benefit here.

We need answers, not just theory and rhetoric, but concrete specific answers. How can a distillery in Franklin County, located on a viable Army depot, beside a prison and near schools, churches and families, safely co-exist and be a major asset, rather than a liability, to this community?

I'm sure there is a place for the facility, but I am just not convinced there isn't some more remote area that would better serve this operation.

Neil Cline is a resident of Chambersburg.

Originally published March 7, 2006

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