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Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Environment - South Bend County Council vote tonight on Tondu coal gasification plant

The South Bend Tribune reports today:

SOUTH BEND -- County Council members slated to decide tonight whether a coal gasification power plant can be built near New Carlisle say they want more answers. And council member Michael Kruk, D-District E, may have discovered a way to get what they want. According to Kruk, a vote against Tondu tonight may allow the company to provide the answers to the community that some believe is sorely needed.

"I'm looking at this with an open mind," Kruk said Monday. "I want to make the best informed decision I can."

The St. Joseph County Council is expected to vote tonight whether to allow a special use permit that would move Tondu Corp. a step closer to building the plant.

Many questions regarding the Tondu proposal center around the environmental effect the coal gasification plant would have on New Carlisle and the surrounding area, Mark Catanzarite, D-District G said Monday. But Catanzarite said finding more time to make a decision regarding the special permit would allow the County Council to give the issue its full attention.

"We've had a lot on our plate," Catanzarite said, and that plate has been stacked with items like the 2006 budget.

Regardless, the council must take some action on the Tondu proposal tonight. The St. Joseph County Council has 60 days to decide whether to approve the special permit after the county Area Board of Zoning Appeals gave the permit a favorable recommendation Aug. 3.

If the County Council does nothing tonight, council attorney James Olson said, the special permit will automatically be approved.

Kruk said if the County Council votes against Tondu tonight, it could waive the state statute that says Tondu has to wait at least six months to reapply for the special permit. That would allow Tondu to bring more information to the table in 30 to 60 days.

The council would need a two-thirds majority vote to do it, though, Olson said.

From Joe Tondu's point of view, he's done about all he can. Joe Tondu, president of Tondu Corp., said Monday that many of the questions cannot be answered until an environmental study is done by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

A special permit granted by the County Council today would allow that process to begin, he said.

If the state reports environmental effects [sic.], he said, the plant would move forward. If there are negative environmental effects, then the duck is dead in the water, so to speak, and the plans for the plant would not move forward.

In short, Tondu said, he would like the folks of St. Joseph County to just decide whether they want Tondu Corp. in the county. He said delays in the vote will keep him from working out other possible sites for the plant.

Here are links to earlier ILB entries referencing the Tondu proposal: 8/26/05 and 8/29/05.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 13, 2005 10:52 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana economic development