Letters: VELCO herbicides and Vermont Kids Animal Protectors
February 24, 2011, page 2.....

Wasting Ratepayers’ Money

What would you think of a company that submitted a proposal describing a specific piece of work it would do for you and later without telling you did something else?
VELCO used ratepayers’ money for a study required by the Public Service Board (PSB) in 2010 to assess movement of herbicides from the Charlotte substation into adjacent wetlands. Unfortunately, the consultants, TRC Environmental hired by VELCO, failed to do the work described in their proposal approved by the PSB; that is, develop a computer model to assess herbicide movement from the new substation.
Instead, TRC chose a computer model developed by an EPA scientist for an entirely different purpose. According to the EPA scientist, this model cannot be adapted for different locations and is not suitable for studying herbicide migration from the substation in Charlotte. Therefore, this study is not a valid basis for decisions about herbicide use at the Charlotte substation and is a waste of money.
To get an independent study with valid results, the PSB iself may need to hire consultants and order VELCO to provide information and pay them. Send your comments to our Selectboard by February 28.

Sylvia Knight

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Fourth Graders Launch Vermont Kids Animal Protectors

Hello, this is Sevi (Pronounced Zay-vee) and Julia, presidents (or founders, whatever you want to call us) of VKAP, Vermont Kids Animal Protectors. VKAP makes it easier for kids (and big people, too!) to assure animal justice for all animals. We started this thing when we learned about the cruelty to animals around the globe. We decided to try and do something about it. How are we changing things? By writing letters and protesting!
Our first campaign is about how awfully KFC treats its chickens. We learned about this from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) at kentuckyfriedcruelty.com. KFC chickens live for about two months and never see sunlight or feel the earth on their feet in their crummy little lives. (I bet you can tell we wrote this!) For some sick reason they… Well, let’s skip over the details so you won’t get nightmares.
The fate of sextillions of chickens rests in our hands! We have written letters of protest to KFC to stop being so mean to their chickens. We want to invite you to write letters, too. It really will help a lot. We hope you will do it. Directions on what to do are on our website, vkap.org.
For our next campaign we’re considering puppy mills or kitty mills, but we have to research them first. Check out our website for information on what is happening around the world with animals and our latest efforts.
Thanks for helping the chickens!

Sevi Burget-Foster and Julia Kahn