Consumers’ Essexville plant approved by DEQ; Wolverine still awaits word on its permit
by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor
As the clock ticks down on 2009, a much-awaited decision from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on Wolverine?s air quality permit has not been announced, despite claims from the DEQ that a decision would be made by the end of 2009. As of press time Tuesday morning Wolverine had not received word from the DEQ, but a similar plant in Essexville gained approval.
In an announcement as the Advance went to press Tuesday morning, the DEQ issued this release: ?On December 29, 2009, the MDEQ approved Consumer Energy?s Permit to Install for a new 930 megawatt (gross power output) coal-fired boiler at the existing Karn-Weadock Generating Station in Essexville, Michigan, with the condition that Consumers will retire up to 7 of their oldest coal plants reducing air emissions, including up to 32,000 tons per year of SO2. Details on the review and approval, and a copy of the permit, can be viewed at www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/cwerp.shtml.
?The final permit decision shall become effective on February 2, 2010, unless a timely request for review, related to the notification of the Federal Land Manager prescribed in Rule 1816, is filed before 4:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on February 1, 2010, with the Environmental Appeals Board of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 124.15 and 124.19.?
Wolverine officials say they are still hopeful their permit may still be issued by the end of the week. There have been several changes in the DEQ this fall. With the announcement of the resignation of DEQ director Steven Chester last week, effective Jan. 4, Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed Jim Sygo to serve as interim director of the DEQ beginning Jan. 5. Sygo currently serves as deputy director for the DEQ.
ANOTHER FACTOR in the decision might be the move to combine the offices of the DEQ and the Department of Natural Resources. Gov. Granholm announced her decision to combine the two agencies in October. The transition is set to be completed Jan. 17. The governor?s executive order 2009-45, created a new Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE).
A DNRE director will be appointed by the governor to head the department.? >From now until Jan. 17, a transition manager will coordinate the transfer of functions to the new state department. The governor named Bruce Rasher as the transition manager. Rasher is a former mayor of the city of Marshall and previously worked for Consumers Energy in areas such as Brownfield redevelopment and air quality.? He has a bachelor?s degree in fisheries and wildlife and a master?s degree in business administration and finance.? Rasher presently is director of operations, asset repositioning and global corporate services for CB Richard Ellis, a global real estate services corporation.?
AT THIS POINT, Wolverine has several permits and approvals already in hand. The issue of the air quality permit still lies in the hands of the DEQ ?decision-maker? G. Vinson Helwig, his boss, DEQ interim director Sygo and possibly even the governor. At a series of public hearings in Rogers City and Lansing, Helwig listened to comments offered, both for and against the power plant. He explained that after staff evaluation of the science of the project in regards to the law, he would make the final decision on whether or not to grant that permit. In addition to the Consumers? plant approved Tuesday, the DEQ also has permits filed for a 78-MW power plant in Holland by the Holland Board of Public Works. A fourth plant, the 750-MW plant proposed by Mid-Michigan Energy in Midland, was withdrawn in May. Pending approval of the air quality permit, the next major step is a decision by the Wolverine board of directors on the fiscal responsibility of constructing the plant.
LAST MONTH Wolverine?s law firm filed a supplement to their rebuttal of report from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) issued Sept. 8 stating the power plant was not needed. A Nov. 24 response, written to Melissa Byrnes, senior permit engineer at the DEQ from Steven C. Kohl, of the law firm of Warner Norcross and Judd LLP, added to Wolverine?s argument that the new power plant is essential. ?Wolverine believes the (MPSC) report is the result of a fatally-flawed process resulting in a document the DEQ cannot properly rely upon in making any final decision upon Wolverine?s application,? Kohl said in his brief.
?The report does not create a basis upon which the DEQ can conclude that Wolverine does not have a need for electric power nor does it identify any meaningful alternative to the Wolverine Clean Energy Venture for addressing this need.?>{? THE BRIEF TO the DEQ senior engineer also claims that comparisons to the Consumers Energy project in Bay County are not applicable when showing the need for a new source of power to supply its members. LAST WEEK Wolverine officials announced plans to purchase a 340-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in southern Michigan. The pending purchase does not affect its commitment to the Rogers Township project, despite claims otherwise posted on Web
(Presque Isle Newspapers will update this story, if necessary in this week?s Onaway Outlook and on PIAdvance.com)