CITYDESK/NEWS NEW COMPLAINTS AGAINST AEHI
—George Prentice
10 | JULY 20–26, 2011 | BOISEweekly
NEWS
PAYETTE COUNTY’S “THINGAMAJIG” What’s big, has 20-foot smokestacks and sits on farmland? GEORGE PRENTICE Attending Planning and Zoning Commission meetings in Payette County is not for wimps— they’re tedious and technical. When nearly 100 citizens squeezed into the Payette County courtroom on July 14 (even more were out in the hallway), they were poised for an evening of engaging public discourse. Even television crews from Boise set up cameras to report on a story that heretofore had received sparse coverage. The hearing was called to order at 7 p.m. One hour later, someone cracked the first yawn (dozens would follow). Two hours into the session, TV crews had packed up and left. Three hours in, spectators lining the walls had slumped to the floor. Four hours, five hours, six hours. As the clock swept past 1 a.m., only three spectators (including BW) were still in the room when P&Z’s 10 commissioners gaveled their meeting closed. The chief attraction of the marathon was a request from Bridge Resources (which has been exploring for natural gas in Payette County) to build an industrial facility on a 13-acre site to prep gas before it goes into commercial production (BW, News, “No Sale,” June 22, 2011). The actual description of the plant was a chief point of dispute throughout the evening. “Look it up in the dictionary,” said Mike Dalton. “It’s a refinery.” “It’s just a big plant with a 30-foot smokestack,” said Kenneth Butts. “I’m not afraid to call it what it is—a refinery,” said Manuel Borge. “A duck is a duck is a duck.” “It’s a big gas thingamajig,” said Julie Krygsman. Borge, Butts, Dalton and Krygsman, all Payette County residents, said they don’t want to deal with the noise, sight or smell of the plant. Steve West, president of Centra Consulting and Bridge’s project administrator, won’t have to cope with living near the proposed facility—he lives in the Treasure Valley. Even he couldn’t seem to decide what to properly call the plant. The project was originally classified as a “gas compression and dehydration station,” but on July 14, West kept referring to the facility as a “natural gas gathering center.” At least one P&Z commissioner, Mary Cor-
dova, was perplexed. “Your narrative tonight is significantly different than what you originally presented,” said Cordova. “Which is it?” “I apologize for not being clearer,” said West. “We’ve learned a lot in the last two months.” In fact, Bridge has
husband Travis live directly next door to the parcel of land where Bridge wants to build its facility, complete with 20-foot-tall smokestacks, three 18,000-gallon tanks, a collection pond and a large gas compressor. By the end of the evening, 28 residents had testified against the proposal. Only five testified in favor. Four of the five were either employed by or contracted by Bridge and the fifth worked in the gas and oil industry. Three witnesses, who testified in opposition, were well known to the assemblage. “You all know me. I’m Dallas Hawker, commissioner of the New Plymouth Rural Fire Department,” said the 50-year veteran of the force. “Bridge has never once come to talk to us about safety.” “They have given us zero information,” said Jerry Stelling, another firefighter. “I don’t understand how all of this is going on in our community.” “You need to think long and hard about what you’re hearing from people this evening,” said Joe Cook, mayor of New Plymouth. “I am here on behalf of the city, and I can tell you that we are officially opposed to the location for this plant.” West listened to hours of negative testimony, as Thursday night gradually became Friday morning. He returned to address P&Z commissioners’ concerns on smell, noise and traffic. West was specific with some answers, not so much with others. Smell: “I’m not expecting odors will be an issue,” West said. “That’s as much as I’m able to say about that.” Noise: “I’m hopeful that we will not exceed 45 decibels. That’s the best I can say.” Traffic: “We’re anticipating no more than five trucks per day.” But P&Z Commissioner Frazer Peterson had one major concern, even though he announced it as three. “I think there are three major issues: location, location and location,” he said. “Are you sitting here tonight and saying this location has to be it?” “This really is it,” said West. “We absolutely need this to get going so we can start drilling again.” P&Z commissioners agreed to consider the request with 13 additional conditions (including smell, noise and traffic) before they vote on the measure at their August meeting. B EN W ILSON
When Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. and its CEO Don Gillispie, skated away from fraud accusations in a federal courtroom in February, Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Mark Fickes was visibly upset. As Gillispie, his attorneys and AEHI colleagues exchanged smiles and handshakes, Fickes told BW that he would not comment for the record but wanted to make clear that his file on AEHI remained open (BW, News, “AEHI Back in Business,” Feb. 9, 2011). On July 7, that file became a bit larger. In an amended complaint, the SEC alleged that AEHI and Gillispie defrauded the public through a series of so-called “private placement memoranda,” telling investors they should rush to buy stock before a “public offering.” AEHI never engaged in a public offering, according to the SEC, because it was already a publicly traded company. The 27-page amended complaint totaled more than 90 charges against AEHI, Gillispie and his former colleague, Jennifer Ransom. AEHI’s first full-time employee, Ransom resigned in June as president of Energy Neutral, an AEHI subsidiary. “They’re throwing more darts against the wall and hoping one will stick,” said AEHI attorney Richard Roth. On June 20, Payette County commissioners voted unanimously to rezone a parcel of property where Gillispie wants to build a $10 billion nuclear reactor (BW, News, “The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick Maker,” June 8, 2011). “There will soon be major announcements that show we are very serious about building a nuclear power plant and progress on our other business units,” said Gillispie. But the SEC, referring to AEHI’s Form 10-K for fiscal year 2010, said the company had “minimum liquid assets” and “will be reliant upon stock and/or debt offerings to fund any kind of nuclear operations.” The SEC complaint alleged AEHI “had spent substantially all the cash it had raised from investors.” But in a Nov. 12, 2010, interview, Gillispie said that in the long term AEHI “could rival ExxonMobil in profitability.” The SEC also stated that while Gillispie claimed his compensation in 2009 was $133,000, he also set up automatic debits from AEHI so the company would pay $3,000 per month for his Idaho home. “Gillispie also submitted at least $143,456 in credit card bills for travel, food and season tickets to football games. Gillispie received at least $55,000 of additional undisclosed cash from AEHI in 2009,” the complaint alleged. Gillispie was also accused of lying about overseas AEHI offices. In letters to investors, Gillispie said AEHI had opened offices in Beijing and Seoul as well as a franchise office in Lagos, Nigeria. “AEHI and Gillispie knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that their claims to investors and the public about AEHI’s purported international offices and subsidiaries were false and misleading,” reads the SEC complaint. Gillispie and Ransom will appear in Boise’s U.S. District Court on Sept. 27, when they will look across the aisle and again see Fickes and his ever-growing file on AEHI.
learned a lot in the last year-and-a-half since it started drilling for natural gas in Payette County (BW, News, “Hell of a Well,” July 14, 2010). It has drilled at 11 locations, with immediate success at three sites. Bridge wants to “frack” (the controversial technique of injecting high-pressured fluids to improve gas flows) at least four more drill sites (BW, News, “Getting Mini-Fracked,” April 27, 2011). “I have been asked to remind everyone here tonight that we’re not here to talk about fracking,” announced Jenni Davenport, Payette County deputy prosecutor, the hearing’s mediator. “Don’t worry,” said Tina Fisher in a loud whisper. “Nobody is leaving.” Fisher and her
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