Environmental groups ask governor to halt power plants
by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor
As public hearings begin for a second coal-fired power plant in Michigan, environmental groups are pushing the governor to take action to halt the proposed plants in their tracks.
After granting a draft permit for Wolverine?s Rogers Township plant in September, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) hosted an informational meeting Tuesday and will host two public hearings next month in Holland, site of the second proposed coal-fired power plants to be granted a draft permit this year.
The Holland Board of Public Works (Holland BPW) proposes installation of a 78-megawatt (MW) power plant featuring a circulating fluidized bed solid fuel-fired boiler. Meanwhile, progress for some is regression for others. In a letter sent to Gov. Jennifer Granholm on behalf of the Sierra Club, Michigan Land Use Institute, Michigan Energy Alternatives Project, and other groups, the governor is urged to stop the permitting process for coal-fired power plants.
?Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been an energy leader and this is her opportunity to slam the brakes on Michigan’s one-of-a-kind coal rush, protect the health of our families and create 21st century green energy jobs,? said Anne Woiwode, state director of the Michigan Sierra Club. ?The writing is on the wall for coal. Gov. Granholm has long recognized this and she can now provide the leadership our state needs to jump-start our move away from coal and toward clean, renewable energy.?
THE LETTER ASKS the governor to order DEQ to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution and to stop the permitting process for coal plants immediately until strong safeguards that protect public health and reduce greenhouse gases are in place, citizens groups argued.
Operating in a carbon conscious world is no surprise to officials from Wolverine Power. ?From the beginning of the project, Wolverine has assumed the Wolverine Clean Energy Venture (WCEV) power plant would ultimately be operated within a carbon-regulated environment,? said Ken Bradstreet of Wolverine.
He said that Wolverine has included carbon sequestration considerations in its planning. ?Wolverine is proud to be partnered with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Western Michigan University, Core Energy and others on carbon capture initiatives. In addition, the WCEV design would allow the utilization of up to 20 percent biomass fuel which is carbon neutral,? Bradstreet said.
A DEQ administrator called the CO2 question ?an evolving issue,? when asked about carbon dioxide regulations at the DEQ question and answer session in Rogers City in October.
Mary Ann Dolehanty acting supervisor permit section of the DEQ said, ?The easy answer is that at this time we did not try to quantify CO2 as part of this permit review. The position that the state has taken at this time is that the governor established, by executive order, this issue from a broad-based perspective for what would be in the best interest of Michigan in light of some of the federal issues that are ongoing. That group has been working all year and their recommendations are due at the end of the year or maybe early spring. What may come out of that is maybe legislation or administrative rules that would set standards for us to look at CO2 and establish limits and regulate CO2,? she said.
?The department has taken the position that we are going to wait for that process to see its way through and come up with recommendations. Any recommendations which come from that Wolverine would be subject to.?
Wolverine officials acknowledged ?carbon is a global issue and should be addressed at national and international levels, not by a patchwork of state-by-state decisions,? Bradstreet said.
?We agree that renewable energy is a critical part of our energy future. Wolverine has taken a leadership position on renewable energy, purchasing all the energy produced by the first utility-scale wind generation facility in the state,? Bradstreet continued.
?However, we realize that renewable energy alone cannot meet Michigan?s power needs today.?
Cadillac-based cooperative Wolverine Power, who proposes a power plant in Rogers Township, came out as the first of four coal-fired power plants to gain the draft permit status, with the September issuance of its draft permit to install.
The public comment period has been extended until January 6, 2009, on a draft permit for Wolverine?s proposed installation and operation of a 600-MW coal-fired steam electric power plant. A final public hearing is set for January 6 in Lansing. After that the decision on whether or not to grant the permit is in the hands of Air Quality Division chief C. Vinson Hellwig, who heard two days of testimony in Rogers City last month. IN A SERIES of informational meetings conducted in Rogers City in October, DEQ staff scientists called the proposed plant ?safe? by current standards.
Robert Sills, toxicology specialist for the DEQ, gave his views on health related impacts of proposed project in response to a question at the Rogers City session. ?It is my job to evaluate air emissions on a project like this and determine if they are going to be safe or not,? he said.
He explained what goes into evaluating a complex permit for a power plant. ?When we look at a project like this, we look at all the air emissions that are coming out of the facility after they have passed through all the air pollution control equipment. We look at the point of emission and then we have modelers who evaluate where the emissions go and where are the air concentrations that people can be exposed to, coming out of a facility like this,? Sills said.
?We have laws and regulations that enable us to use human health risk assessment to make sure any air concentrations will be safe, that they will not pose any unacceptable risk of cancer or non-cancer effects. We have very, very good laws in this state that enable us to do a lot of this type of assessment that regulates sources beyond what the federal program allows us to do.?
As a health assessment expert, Sills said this power plant would be safe and would be required to meet all state and federal regulations
?When I look at this facility, all the air emissions and modeled impacts, my conclusion at this point is that it would be safe. All the air pollutants and the air concentrations in the ambient air, the air that people breathe, are at low enough levels that they meet all of the requirements of our rules and regulations,? he concluded.
IF ALLOWED TO move forward, the Wolverine Clean Energy Venture will have significant financial impact on the area and statewide. Wolverine has stated the capital investment will be around $1 billion, doubling the state equalized value (SEV) of Presque Isle County.
Construction of the power plant will create 1,000 temporary jobs, and 100 permanent positions will be filled to operate the plant, which may be in operation as soon as 2012, according to Wolverine. Jobs in engineering, plant operations and plant maintenance will be created at salaries ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 per year plus benefits.