GLUE Report
8-25-11
As I told our membership in the report of
August 18th, our next step on the lake level issue, which by now
everyone is enjoying once again, was to initiate contact with Senator Inhofe’s
staff as suggested by Senator Coburn. We have done that and will be meeting
with Inhofe’s Field Rep Michael Lee on Wednesday the 31st. I’ll
paste my letter to the Inhofe team and the response from Lee below.
Although Senator Inhofe has shown no
great love for the GRDA, we plan to present to Lee some numbers on how much
FERC is costing the GRDA on an annual basis to meet all of their frivolous
requirements to operate. We think it’s around four mil a year and that’s not
counting damages inflicted on economic development. We’ll issue another report
following the meeting, but as you can see in the Lee response they seem to at
least have awareness about the situation. I plan on presenting them a copy of
our excel file on all those who have signed our latest petition on this issue,
but this time around the responses are a little slow in coming in so we could
use your help pronto.
If you haven’t signed the petition, it
can be easily done by following this link to the GLUE web site. http://grandlakersunitedenterprise.com/pgs/2011PetitionForm.htm.
I’d also like to enlist your help in forwarding the link to all of your Grand
Lake pals and have them participate as well.
On another front, I mentioned a few weeks
ago, following a meeting with GRDA eco-guru Darrell Townsend that GRDA had on
order a water lab to be installed in the proximity of the Pensacola Dam. Its
purpose is to measure nutrients, water temp, PH and many other water quality
factors. It now can be seen floating in front of the dam and I’ll be doing a
story next week on Grand Lake News Online with more info. Just a heads up since
it has been generating a lot of questions.
Be safe out there in the shallows.
Rusty,
Thanks for contacting
me regarding the lake level issue at Grand Lake. I am well aware of your
concerns and frustration regarding the low level of the lake, specifically
during Labor Day weekend, the failed millet seeding program, and the decisions
made by FERC. I also understand your concerns about water quality and have
spoken with Carl Metcalf on a few occasions about efforts underway by the
watershed alliance. I would love to sit down and talk with you about all
of these issues sometime. Next week is terribly busy for me, but if
we could meet either August 29th or 31st, I would be more
than happy to come up your way. Anytime during either of those two days
works so please let me know what you would prefer.
I’m glad you emailed
me as I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you for quite some time now.
I look forward to our meeting and please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime.
Take care,
Michael Lee, Field Representative
U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe
918-748-5122
From: Rusty Fleming
[mailto:rustyfleming@brightok.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011
8:19 AM
To: Lee, Michael (Inhofe)
Subject: Grand Lake Level
August 18, 2011
Mr. Michael Lee, Office of Senator James Inhofe
Field Representative
Mr. Lee:
I represent Grand Lakers United
Enterprise, a group of moderate thinking Grand Lake stakeholders, with respect
to issues affecting their investments and safety on Grand Lake. Our group was
formed in 2006 to bring a voice of reason to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission’s mandated Shoreline Management Plan for Grand Lake, but we have
also embraced lake level and water quality issues.
As the Labor Day weekend approaches,
GRDA is once again drawing the lake down to a dangerously low elevation of 741’
above sea level to allegedly seed millet in the mud flats to benefit migrating
water fowl. This practice has been in place since the re-licensing of GRDA in
1992. Though originally described as a trial to be evaluated after five years
for its effectiveness, which has been poor at best, it unbelievably is still in
existence today. I’m attaching two recent letters submitted to Secretary Bose
at the FERC which explains our concerns, suggested solution and the history
surrounding this issue..
The purpose of this e-mail is to
request a meeting with the Senator’s staff to explore the possible avenues to
solve this problem. To say our frustration level has reached an all-time high,
after working on this ill-advised practice for the past 18 years, is the
understatement of the year. We would propose the meeting be scheduled prior to
October 15th in order to afford those in attendance a firsthand look
at this issue, which if possible would include a helicopter tour over the mud
flats in question to view the futility of this project.
With the recent negative publicity
surrounding the Blue/Green Algae event on Grand Lake, a partnership between the
senator and his Grand Lake constituency would seem to represent a win/win
situation. Grand Lake is reaching out to one of its own, Senator Inhofe, for
some much needed help with a federal bureaucracy more representative of a
dictatorship than that of providing oversight on a hydropower generating
project. Feel free to call me to set up a convenient time and we’ll look forward
to working with you in the near future.
Sincerely Yours:
Rusty Fleming, Executive Director
Grand Lakers United Enterprise
PO Box 1
Langley, Oklahoma 74350
918-782-7710