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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Environment - More on: Hearing in Edwardsville today on proposed Duke Energy power plant

Updating this ILB entry from Dec. 20th, here are further reports on the hearing.

Mark Wilson reported in the Evansville Courier & Press later the morning of the 20th:

Opponents of a 630 megawatt power plant proposed for Knox County say they will boycott a state hearing on its proposed air pollution permit today to protest environmental officials' refusal to extend the time for public comment. * * *

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management denied a request to extend the public comment period beyond its Dec. 31 deadline. However, when it set the comment period the agency made it 45 days. Typically, the public is given only 30 days to comment on pollution permits. Such comments must be answered in written document included with the final permit.

Dave Menzer, of the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, said the timing of the hearing during the holiday season was problematic because it made it difficult for concerned citizens to research and file informed comments.

The following day, Dec. 21st, Wilson reported in a lengthy story:
BICKNELL, Ind. ---- Opponents of a new $2 billion coal-fired power plant Duke Energy is proposing to be built at Edwardsport, Ind., cite concerns of higher electricity rates and in increased pollution from the plant.

But those weren't concerns expressed by the more than 600 Knox County residents attending a public hearing Thursday evening on the plant's air pollution permit.

Miles of signs supporting the project lined the road leading to North Knox High School where the Indiana Department of Environmental Management held the three-hour hearing on the air pollution permit for the proposed 630-megawatt power plant.

"IGCC Yes!" the signs declared in bold red letters from almost every yard along the route.

Instead of burning coal directly, it would be designed to use a new, largely untried "clean coal" technology called integrated gasification combined cycle, or IGCC.

The process converts coal into a synthetic gas used to power the turbines that generate electricity.

Duke is proposing to create the new power plant by modifying its existing, conventional plant.

Edwardsport Town Councilman James Newkirk recalled the black spots on the snow from that power plant when he was a child.

"Edwardsport wants this power plant," he said.

Newkirk was one of dozens of speakers who said they favored not only the jobs the revamped power plant would provide but also its lower pollution levels. When former State Rep. John Gregg asked for a show of support for the plant from those in the auditorium, nearly every hand went up.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 22, 2007 02:07 PM
Posted to Environment