[BCNnet] Midewin saved by feds from Indeck coal plant

[Randi Doeker - Chicago]

If you don't belong to one of these groups, consider joining or at least
sending them a donation. It takes cash to hire the lawyers that are
ultimately necessary to protect nature areas.

Randi Doeker

Chicago

 

  _____  

 

AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO
CITIZENS AGAINST RUINING THE ENVIRONMENT

CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE
LAKE COUNTY CONSERVATION ALLIANCE
SIERRA CLUB

 

 

September 28, 2006: 

For immediate release

 

CONTACTS:      Bruce Nilles, Sierra Club, Midwest Clean Energy Campaign
(608) 712.9725

                        Brian Urbaszewski, American Lung Association of Met.
Chicago (312) 628.0245

 

            

APPEALS BOARD STRIKES DOWN COAL PLANT PERMIT: ORDERS STATE TO CONSIDER
STRONGER HEALTH PROTECTIONS

 

Chicago, IL:  In a major ruling for clean air and clean energy, the U.S. EPA
Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) in Washington, DC has struck down the air
permit for a large coal-fired power plant Indeck-Energy had proposed to
build fifty miles south of the Chicago Loop.  The ruling came in response to
a 2003 appeal filed by a coalition of public health and conservation groups
who argued that the permit did not protect public health and increased
Illinois' reliance on dirty coal.  In its ruling the Board held that the
State had failed to ensure that the proposed coal plant installed modern
pollution controls and protect the adjacent Midewin National Tallgrass
Prairie.  

 

The proposed Indeck-Energy coal plant long been mired in controversy since
it was first announced.  When Illinois EPA issued the draft permit in 2003,
a broad coalition of national and local groups urged the state to consider
cleaner, safer options for electricity generation.  Local residents
testified that the plant threatened the adjacent Midewin National Tallgrass
Prairie, the nation's first protected prairie.  Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
weighed in, urging the State to consider cleaner technologies as a way to
protect downwind Chicago residents.  When the State rejected these concerns
and issued the project an air permit in October 2003, a coalition of groups
including American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Clean Air task
Force, Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (CARE), Lake County
Conservation Alliance and Sierra Club appealed the permit.  

 

"This ruling presents a great opportunity for Illinois to abandon its
current plans to subsidize the construction of out-dated coal plants, and
instead move towards a clean energy future that harnesses safe and
affordable energy options, including new wind farms and large investments in
energy efficiency," said Verena Owen, Chair of Sierra Club's Clean Air
Campaign in Illinois.  

 

The proposed Indeck power plant would have been the largest new source of
global warming emissions and deadly air pollution in the Chicagoland area in
decades.  The plant would have emitted approximately 5 million tons of
carbon dioxide, the primary cause of global warming, and over 10,000 tons a
year of air pollutants that can cause cancer, respiratory disease,
neurological defects, and premature deaths.  

 

"At a time when EPA's own scientists are calling for significant reductions
in air pollution to prevent avoidable deaths and protect public health, the
last thing we should be building in the Chicago area is a new dirty coal
power plant that would make our existing air pollution woes worse," said
Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health for the American Lung
Association of Metropolitan Chicago.  The Chicago area still fails to meet
the federal health-based air quality standards set in 1997.

 

"The decision also allows Illinois EPA to consider new and better
information for controlling emissions,"  said John Thompson of the Clean Air
Task Force, "Illinois EPA should carefully examine vastly cleaner
technology, such as coal gasification, that has gained wider acceptance
since the original permit was issued."

 

 

###

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Make your voice heard! Find out how to get Take Action Alerts and other
important Sierra Club messages by email at: http://www.sierraclub.org/email

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20060928/8992fad7/attachment.html