To Editor,

Following Mayor Gary Moore’s recent call for Kewanee residents to research and proactively examine the impacts of heavy industrial infrastructure, I wanted to share a perspective from just down the road in Galva.

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As a certified legal nurse consultant specializing in risk management and public safety, I look at massive projects, whether they are resource-heavy data centers or high-pressure carbon storage through the lens of liability, emergency preparedness and systemic strain.

While municipal boundaries stop at the city limits, the consequences of these projects do not. Aquifers, electrical grids and emergency response resources cross county and town lines. We learned this firsthand in Galva while fighting the proposed carbon storage project: when industrial developers move in, local communities are often left scrambling to address severe safety vulnerabilities, resource strains and long-term liabilities after the fact.

Mayor Moore is entirely right to urge residents to come armed with the facts. True oversight means demanding local protections and moratoria before a crisis hits, not after. Surrounding towns should be paying close attention, because regional safety and infrastructure strain are shared responsibilities.

True community risk management requires absolute transparency and rigorous administrative oversight from our local boards, rather than relying on confusing procedural loopholes or bureaucratic delays when the public demands accountability

Amanda Stodgel, Galva
RN, BSN, CNIV, CLNC
Certified Legal Nurse Consultant
Galva, Ill.