Link to some fun smokestack parody designs

Glad to hear there’s more opposition to this sort of thing.

And to think this is the only park in downtown. It’d be nice if someone cared about downtown parks for all these people.

I must be the only one that thinks the contrast between the green treed park and the stainless steel/mirrored industrial building would be cool. It seems to me all of the dynamic, interesting neighborhoods in my opinion contain juxiposition of old and new, matte and shiny, young and old. You guys all seem to be against any project with out a pre-WWII motif. I hear people in Tacoma complain about street lights on I street, noisy train horns in old town, C-130 transport plans, and steam plants on private property. You north Tacoma folk need to get off it and quit wining if something doesn’t fit with your version of Tacoma. I’d be willing to give up a few more old churches and build a couple more steam plants to better the medical care system in Tacoma.

What people aren’t realizing is that this facility could actually be a good thing for the environment

Because the three smoke stacks are proposed to be a 100 feet from Wright Park rather than the current 450 feet, the concentration of pollutants for users of the park would be approximately 16 times as great if the same amount were emitted. (Pollution disburses generally as a sqaure of the distance)

That means it is much more likely that it will impact users of the park. The major pollutants from the burning of Natural Gas are:

Pollutant Natural Gas

Carbon Dioxide 117,000
Carbon Monoxide 40
Nitrogen Oxides 92
Sulfur Dioxide 1
Particulates 7

Of course, the pollutants will be much higher when the diesel generators are used.
(pounds of pollutants per billion BTU – British Thermal Units)

plus give the hospital the energy it needs

The steam plant does not make energy such as a turbine plant would. It burns (natural) gas to create steam for the facility.

If Multicare is really going to do all they can to make this place look nice…

That’s the issue. Are they doing all they can to reduce the impact on Wright Park users?

The point of the article published by the TNT is that consulting architect for Tacoma General Paul Gingrich explains that there are other viable alternatives for locating the steam plant that will not be so detrimental to Wright Park users and which would locate the facilty farther away.

If Paul Gingrich is correct in his assessment, there is simply no need for Multi Care to place the exhaust pipe(s) of their facility at Wright Park as well as construct visual blight there.

Between the city, Metro Parks and concerned citizens, I hope Multi Care can be convinced to consider the impact of their actions and place the facility in an alternative location.

Oops.. that’s “Mello” without the “w.” It’s late… sorry Ryan.

Time for change?

Maybe the polution will drive the bums out of the park in the morning. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Multicare is a valuable corporation and service provider in this community, and I appreciate the need to build a modern, safe and environmentally improved steam plant facility. The given site presents problems as it limits the potential for the hospital and neighborhood to thrive and develop in the future. The steam plant location under-utilizes the value of the property and Wright Park. To give rise to a steam plant at the parks edge further removes public activity and engagement. The hospital reduces the potential to strengthen its connection to the park with future additions and enhance the health of patients and staff. Such use is also detrimental to the other stakeholders in neighborhood: the churches, Metro Parks, and the residents who would benefit from having activity in a building at that site and eyes on the park.

I’ve attended one of the meetings where Multicare presented plans and appreciated that opportunity. To my disappointment, the steam plant proposal was not presented as a discussion but as a fact. It was also presented alone, without information on other projects Multicare has in the works that will transform the campus and the neighborhood. When and where will these concerns be addressed.

I applaud Paul Gingrich for enlightening us as to the other site locations that Multicare has not shared and perhaps not vetted. Thank you Ryan Mello for advocating for Wright Park and our citizen investment in the neighborhood. Peter, thanks for extending their voice.

Todd K, thanks for speaking up and giving us an opportunity and direction with which to communicate with Multicare. I hope you see that from the discussion here, although not always factually accurate, that we are concerned Multicare is not making the best investment.

Todd K,

Thanks for participating in Exit 133.

It might help us to better understand the impact of the proposed steam plant if we had more information to some of the central questions on the issue.

The TNT has written an article that if the statements of Gingrich is true, placing the plant by Wright Park is not necessary.

I have seen Multi Care presentation at various forums, however, there has not been any engineer present with specific knowledge of the effects of the pollution from the steam plant.

Responding to these questions might help clear up some issues:

1) Do you agree with architect Paul Gingrich’s assertion in the TNT that there are other places that the steam plant could go?

2) Where there written “plans to place boiler facilities beneath J Street” as Paul Gingrich’s states? Are there 6 other sites where the plant could be located? Are the other sites possible?

3) Would the level of pollutants be noticable by users of Wright Park?
(Passing EPA standards doesn’t answer this question. Many obnoxious odors come from EPA compliant facilities.)

4) Would the level of pollutants pose any health concerns for children with asthma and other people with breathing problems that use the park? What studies have been done to date which have analyzed this issue?

5) What type and how much of each pollutant with the steam plant produce? (As in pounds per day). What would be the concentration of the pollutants at the edge of Wright Park?

6) How much natural gas will be burned each day?

7) How often and for how long will the diesel generators be used?

8) When the diesel generators are used, will the pollutants be noticable to park users? Will they have a health impact? What type and how much pollution will be produced by them when they are running?

These are questions similar to the ones that were asked by the TNT a couple of months as well as at least one forum. Yet, I have not seen a response yet. I look forward to the responses so that we have the facts to evaluate the proposal.

To be clear, I wrote that word got out, not leaked.

Yes, presentations were made. However, showing a PowerPoint presentation of the plans at a community meeting is not the same thing as actively seeking out community involvement early on in the design process. One is top down, the other is is not. One builds community, the other does not.

After witnessing the destruction of a perfectly fine historic church (could that have been re-used?) and now the steam plant, I am wondering what will be next. More churches demolished? More above ground parking garages? More industrial facilities facing Wright Park? I can’t help but think there is a better way to move forward in accomplishing Multicare’s mission while preserving the neighborhood’s character.

Multicare and other major non-profits in Tacoma are encouraged to make community involvement part of their design process. There are many local resources to pull from. One facilitator with a Tacoma connection is Jim Diers, the former director of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods. He is an inspiring facilitator and also a great resource of information.

Todd K –

Could you provide a physical mailing address for those of us who might wish to submit a formal letter to Multicare? The blog is great and email convenient, but there’s something gratifying about getting words down on paper. I appreciate your engagment.

In response to a previous post (by Morgan), I believe large educational institutions like UPS and UWT are required to publish their master plans because they are considered “major essential public facilites” due to their potential regional impacts. Such uses have what is known as a binding site plan—a document that “binds” the project (in this case the university) to predetermined site plan. The potential impacts and mitigations are then calculated on the final build out of the site.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

Todd,

I have made every effort to answer the questions posted…Some will require some additional research.

I appreciate that. However, these nearly identical questions were asked of you a couple of months ago from the Tacoma News Tribune and at the New Tacoma Neighborhood meeting.

Yet, Multicare has still have not even provided the most basic information such as how much natural gas will be burned by the proposed steam plant.

I know you have asked me this before, and let me try and answer it with a question: Are they (pollutants) noticable now?

This response doesn’t help us as it doesn’t take into account the central role distance from a pollution source plays in pollution concentration.

I don’t see how meaningful substantive responses to the questions or “community outreach” can be given without assistance of one of Multi Care’s engineers as calculating pollution disbursion is relatively complex.

Carbon Dioxide-CO2 EPA Standard: 50 ppm-Our new facility: 1.87ppm

Without some context to these figures, they are meaningless. Are these the concentration at the smoke stacks? At the edge of the park? What about other pollutants such as Sulfur Dioxide that natural gas produces (from impurities) when burned? The three smoke stacks on the facility are obviously there for a reason.

We are cutting our overall emissions by 30%.

That’s good for the overall environment. However, moving the smokestacks from 450 feet away to 100 feet away from Wright Park will increase the pollution concentration there by roughly 16 times which a 30 percent reduction does not nearly off-set.

Of course, architect Paul Gingrich interview with the TNT makes a couple of additional questions central to the issue which many people would appreciate a response to:

How much, if anything, would it cost for the “two or three blocks of additional piping” for Multicare to locate the steam plant to one of the other 6 locations identified by Tacoma General consultant Paul Gingrich rather than adjacent to Wright Park?

and

Will Multicare reconsider the proposed location of the steam plant and place it in a location with less of an impact on air quality and less visibility for Wright Park users?

Thanks.

Good morning again,
I have some additional information for you. As I said, I am researching these and will continue to post answers as they come in.

In reference to Marty’s question: “In reference to Erik’s question #3 you give the EPA standard and the projected amount for the new project, but what are the current levels?”

Current CO2: 200 ppm
EPA: 50 ppm
New facility: 1.87 ppm

Current NOx: 110.5 ppm
EPA: 9 ppm
New facility: 0.34 ppm.

Marty also asked, “If the basement of the new emergency building is for high tech cancer treatments, why not move them into their own building at the site proposed, place the boilers in the basement?”

The basement will contain two new linear accelerators, which are VERY delicate and large pieces of sensitive equipment used in cancer treatments. Because of this, the area must be heavily fortified, leaving little room for anything else. Boiler equipment could cause just enough of a vibration that it would be counterproductive and damage the equipment.

I am also in active pursuit of some additional numbers requested by Erik B. Stay tuned on that.

Again, I am able to produce more information now than I could have a couple of months ago because we are further into the project.

This information is coming directly from our engineers.

Correction: The above number is for carbon monoxide, not carbon dioxide. I am forgetting my elemental insignias. It should be:

Current Carbon Monoxide (CO): 200 ppm
EPA: 50 ppm
New facility: 1.87 ppm

At 24/7/365 operation, that’s nearly 25,000 tons of CO2 over the course of a year. For perspective, that’s about the same as the amount of C02 emitted by 1,250 average Americans over a year (and Americans have far higher per capita emissions than residents of most other countries).

How does this compare with emissions from the existing facility and how will it affect Mayor Baarsma’s pledge to REDUCE Tacoma’s contribution to global warming to 1990 levels?

Anyway, sorry to take advantage of your openness on the Multicare facility to make a point on global warming. All corporations, including local ones, need to do more to mitigate climate change.

While I am appreciative of this discussion and the numbers going back and forth, is there any actual utility to this discussion? Will it affect the outcome?

Isn’t the principal issue here whether or not such a structure belongs next to Wright Park?

I think that is the main question, TW, but semi-relevant tangents are part of what makes this blog interesting. To me, anyway.

I agree with you that it is interesting.

My point being that if I were a community relations person for MultiCare, I would be very happy to spend months discussing the trees (emissions, etc) if no one ever addressed the forest (i.e. a master plan, community process).

On a side note, did anyone read the letter to the editor in today’s TNT (5/23) on this subject? This strikes me as the heart of the issue – the writer first puts MultiCare on a higher moral plane (we save lives), then asserts the superior technical knowledge that the MultiCare engineers have over the public (”...who are we to question?...”)

To me this is the height of arrogance, and a complete lack of awareness that MultiCare, a “community organization,” does not exist outside of a neighborhood context or in a vacuum.

This organization has to shape up.

I has turned its back to Wrights Park with parking lots. Now it is turning its back to the park with a blank wall.

Yes, Multicare is trying to place the most visually poor structure with large blank walls and three smokestacks against Wright Park.

They are also trying to place what is essentially the exhaust pipe for the entire medical campus against Wright Park as well.

Hopefully, they will reconsider their proposal and place the gas burning facility in one of the more appropriate alternative locations that has been pointed out by architect Paul Gingrich.

If Multicare is ultimately able to force this project through at this location, despite all of the community opposition, Metro Parks should consider re-designing their park improvements to leave a buffer between the steam plant and new children’s facilities. This would produce extra distance between the smokestacks and the users of the park. Alternatively, Metro Parks may find that the funds formally allocated to Wright Park improvements may be more appropriately used at another location.