Permit Errors and Future Pollution Levels Prompt Sierra Club Appeal
In September the Sierra Club appealed a judge’s recent ruling on City Utilities (CU) permit for its proposed Southwest II coal-fired power plant, arguing that there have been numerous, substantive errors in the permitting of the facility. The appeal was filed with the Court of Appeals for the Southern District of Missouri.
Local members of the Sierra Club and the Southwest Missouri Citizens for Clean Energy have been working for a better permit since it was first released in the Autumn of 2004. The city’s own Power Supply Task Force recommended that any new plant that is built should be the cleanest possible, using the latest technology available. The existing permit does not meet that requirement, and CU is ignoring the recommendation in allowing construction to move forward.
“Although CU promised a state of the art facility, what they are delivering is far from it, as our appeal will show,” said Jill Miller, Global Warming and Energy organizer for the Ozark Chapter. “We are also disturbed that the Missouri Air Commission did not do its job here. They were required by law to review the actions of the hearing officer they appointed, yet they did not do so.”
The plant would pour four billion pounds of pollution into Springfield’s skies each year for the next 40 years, among them:
- Two million tons of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas responsible for global warming.
- Hundreds of tons of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, pollutants that contribute to asthma and other serious respiratory diseases as well as heart disease and cancer.
- Mercury, a deadly neurotoxin that can cause learning and developmental problems, especially in babies and young children.
“While Springfield is heading towards a seriously unbalanced energy future that’s almost completely dependent on coal, other cities are taking steps today to diversify their power supply,” said Cynthia Andre, Chair of the Sierra Club White River Group in Springfield. “Columbia, Missouri is preparing to purchase wind-generated electricity from a wind farm located in northwest Missouri. Springfield, Illinois just signed an agreement to purchase 120 megawatts of power from wind and shut down some of their oldest, dirtiest coal plants. They’re investing wisely in their energy futures.”
In addition to accumulating public health costs and higher utility rates, City Utilities’ financing of the plant will cost ratepayers $1.2 billion with interest.