April 6, 2009 · 5:56 am
↓ Jump to Comments

Welcome

If your are visiting this site for the first time there is a good chance that you have recently discovered that there are plans in place that will change the very nature of Devil’s Lake. Please continue reading this very important post by viewing the individual posts linked on the “Us” page or by selecting  

Yes it’s true, the Devil’s Lake Water Improvement District (DLWID) has formulated a plan to reduce summer blue-green algae blooms utilizing twenty SolarBees® placed down the centerline of the lake.  Nosolarbees.com is opposed to the placement of these devices on Devil’s Lake because it is our opinion that the relatively small amount and short-duration of our annual blue-green algae blooms does not warrant the solution being proposed.  Furthermore, it is our opinion that the presence of twenty SolarBees® on the lake present a major impediment to navigation, safety, and public recreational use of the lake while placing an unnecessary financial burden on the Devil’s Lake Water Improvement District.

If you live or enjoy Devil’s Lake in the summer you have experienced the few weeks we have a problem with blue-green algae. Nosolarbees.com is all for making plans to reduce this short lived algae problem. We don’t think spending an estimated $1,000,000, plus operating expenses from Devil’s Lake Water Improvement District’s tax base for the placement of twenty floating solar powered machines, each measuring 17′ across, 12 months out of the year, is the correct answer. This website will be used to disseminate information about the proposed SolarBees® project. We hope to keep you informed and provide a forum for Devil’s Lake stakeholders to discuss the placement of SolarBees® on our lake. Check back often as we hope to make this site the best source of information related to SolarBees® on Devil’s Lake available.

The balance of this post contains important information about our mission, our editorial policy, our identity, our position on the performance of SolarBees®, and our relationship with the SolarBees® manufacturer and their competitors.


Our Mission

“Provide a forum for Devil’s Lake Stakeholders”

This is a non-commercial single issue blog, whose primary goal is to promote a fair discussion on water quality issues on Devil’s Lake in Lincoln City, Oregon. That said let’s be clear, this blog was created in support of our position, that SolarBees® should not be installed on Devil’s Lake. If your position is counter to ours, that’s ok, we value your input as long as you follow our Rules for Posting and Commenting. Please do not expect our site to advocate your position. There are four sites available that advocate the placement of SolarBees® on Devil’s Lake, locally there’s www.dlwid.org and www.dlwid.blogspot.com, nationally there’s www.solarbee.com and www.solarbeesworkgreat.com, feel free to pay them a visit. Still feel like your opinion isn’t getting the forum it deserves? I suggest you start your own blog.

Our Editorial Policy

If you have been following the online discussions regarding SolarBees® you would have recently seen a fair amount of traffic about anonymous blogging. Anonymity is imbedded in the internet, it is widespread in social networking and the blogosphere. Personal identification is not a perquisite to participation in our discussions. Anonymity can stimulate participation that may otherwise be stifled. We prefer you identify yourself but feel free to post under a user name if you wish, a valid email address is required for all post. It is our hope to post the names of those who are supportive of our positions on our “About” page. Check the “Sign Up” post to learn how to grant us permission to use your name. We have further defined our policy on the content of posts at Rules for Posting and Commenting.

Our Identity

This blog administrator was asked to step forward by several lake residents to create an on-line forum in support of our stated mission. My name is Mitchell Moore, I own two homes on the lake near Sand Point Park, my primary residence is in the Portland area. We live on the lake full-time in the summer and visit generally every other weekend in the winter. I am President of a Cooperative Telephone Company and if you Google or email me you can learn other interesting facts about me that don’t have anything to do with Devil’s Lake or SolarBees®. Things about me that do relate include, that I am a avid boater, I regularly water ski, wake surf, and tow wake boarders, ski biscuits and an occasional stranded paddle boat. I also routinely swim, sail and watch everybody else do the same from my patio. I have a lovely family that joins me in all of these great activities. Bottom-line in the summer months there is not a day that goes by that our family is not in the water, blue-green algae and all. To give back to the lake, I have been very supportive of the Devil’s Lake Water Improvement District (DLWID). I am currently a member of the DLWID’s Budget Committee and I have been the sponsor and host of the DLWID’s website and host the DLWID’s board and staff email service. For the record, I think they are doing a great job, the’re just wrong on this issue.

Now you know my name and a little about me. If you need to reach me please send an email to nosolarbees@gmail.com, there has been a request that I post my phone number, but that is against our rules. No phone numbers will be posted on the blog, but if you need to discuss something  just email me your contact information and I will make every effort to contact you.

Let’s disclose all of my on-line activities related to http://www.nosolarbees.com. I have setup and encourage you to use each of the following:

Our position on the performance of SolarBees®

Our position on the performance of SolarBees® is actually neutral. We don’t think that SolarBees® performance is the core issue for Devil’s Lake. The primary issue at Devil’s lake the determination of need. Do we have a problem that negatively impacts the lake enough that needs SolarBees® as a solution? We have a page entitled “Do Solar Bees Work?”, a title designed to attract visitors to the page. The page however leaves this question unanswered. We present some examples where SolarBees® trials/installations have been discontinued, each contains a response from SolarBees®. We provide a few links to scientific studies that discuss the technology in general and suggest more studies can be located at the SolarBees® website. We also present unedited, material directly from the manufacturers website, including links to their blog. Our point is not premised on the functionality of SolarBees®, in summary our posts and suggested links are intended to convey that the company has plenty of examples of SolarBees® remaining in service, we discovered several sites where they were removed. The company responded to each of these with explanations which characterized  tests and/or trials that deviated in some way from the companies recommendations. Therein lies our point on the performance of SolarBees®, and I believe the company would agree with this statement, SolarBees® will not meet the manufacturers performance claims if not properly installed in accordance with the engineered design for any given lake. Therefore, this is a simple go, no go decision, suggesting placements of a smaller number of  SolarBees® than the design is off the table.

Our relationship with the SolarBees® manufacturer and their competitors

We have no affiliation with the SolarBees® manufacturer but we will soon contact Joel Bleth President to explain in person what we are about and what we are not about. I also wish the company to have a direct line of communication to nosolarbees.com, because that is what we are all about is open communication. I will extend an invitation to the company to post comments on the blog if they feel it will add to our understanding. We will withhold the right to directly author posts to our site, but will consider any information the company provides as a potential post. The company can use comments on existing posts and their blog at www.solarbeesworkgreat.com to post any new information it feels relevant. We hereby, declare our recognition that of SolarBees® is a registered trademark of SolarBee, Inc of Dickinson, ND and will endeavor to indicate its status in our posts. For the unintentional reference that does not contain the ® mark and for all references in comments or quotation from media sources that are not so mark we apply this blanket reconciliation of SolarBee, Inc’s right to the mark.

We are not associated with nor have we every made contact with a lake contractor involved in the business of chemical application, weed removal, or test and measurement of water quality. Devil’s Lake has no recent history of chemical treatment, therefore this debate should be free from the outside influences that have been suggested in other areas. We are not associated with nor have we every made contact with any limnologist.

1 Comment

Filed under About Us

One response to “Welcome”

  1. Joe Eilers
    February 12, 2010 at 10:55 am

    Hello,

    I would like to call attention to a recent publication by Dr. Ken Hudnell and co-atuthors in the peer-reviewed journal Harmful Algae. The manuscript describes several case studies illustrating the effect that SolarBees had in reducing cyanobacteria in drinking water reservoirs. /Users/jeilers/Desktop/Hudnell et al 2010.pdf

    Reply

Leave a comment