Hearing date confirmed for RCHS on Wolverine landfill permit application

by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor

Dates have been finalized for another permit needed by the Wolverine Clean Energy Initiative. While Wolverine Power awaits word on its major permit, the permit to install or air quality permit, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has set a public hearing date for Wolverine?s landfill permit application.

Last fall, Wolverine sought and received approval from the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners for an ?application for a determination of consistency with the Presque Isle Solid Waste Plan.? Once that was obtained, Wolverine applied to the (DEQ) for a permit to construct the landfill nearly one mile east of the proposed power plant in a mined-out portion of the Calcite quarry.

The county board?s approval meant that Wolverine?s application for a landfill permit had met all requirements of the county?s 13-point solid waste plan. WOLVERINE SUBMITTED the application to the DEQ Oct. 22 and the agency determined it was ?administratively complete? Nov. 17.

According to DEQ permit engineer Phil Roycraft, the final decision on the Type III landfill permit is due by March 15. The application seeks permission for Wolverine to construct a Type III landfill on 58.5 acres in a mined-out portion of the Calcite limestone quarry. The DEQ permits two types of solid waste landfills. They are licensed as either Type II or Type III landfills. A Type II landfill, or municipal landfill, can accept virtually any non-hazardous solid waste for disposal. A Type III landfill can be a construction and demolition landfill or a special-use landfill for a particular waste.

Wolverine officials have stated they will use their Type III landfill as a disposal facility for combustion byproducts from the coal-fired power plant. It will not be open to the public In order to receive input on the proposed landfill, a public hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Rogers City High School gymnasium. A legal notice of the hearing is published in this issue of the Advance.

AS THE DEQ has done previously with the air quality permit, an informal information session is planned from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the day of the hearing where staff from the Waste and Hazardous Materials Division of the DEQ will be available to answer questions.

Wolverine applied for the permit to install (air quality permit) for the 600-megawatt (MW) power plant in September of 2007. Although DEQ indicated a decision on the air quality permit would be made by the end of December, that has now been put off after a similar power plant gained approval late last month.

<p> The DEQ approved Consumers Energy?s Permit to Install for a new 930-MW coal-fired boiler at the existing Karn-Weadock Generating Station in Essexville. A condition of the permit is the that Consumers will retire up to seven of their oldest coal plants reducing air emissions, including up to 32,000 tons per year of sulfur dioxide. ?While our goal was to make a decision on both Consumers Energy?s application as well as Wolverine?s by the end of (last) year, we made a decision to focus our resources on ensuring we could complete one by the end of the year, our original target,? said DEQ spokesman Robert McCann.

?Now that the Consumers? permit has been acted on, we can focus those same resources on completing the work on Wolverine?s application.? McCann said no deadline has been set for the Wolverine decision, only saying that the goal is to ?have the process finished early this year.?