Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org
Marshall, MI - The Sierra Club and Great Lakes Environmental Law Center submitted comments challenging the Marshall Energy Center, LLC’s proposal to install two new combined-cycle fossil gas-burning power plants in Marshall, Michigan. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is currently reviewing the proposed permit which the groups urged not be finalized unless and until it has addressed numerous flaws and omissions.
“This is a slap in the face to me and my neighbors in South Central Michigan who are rightfully skeptical of fossil fuels, still haunted by Enbridge’s Kalamazoo River oil spill back in 2010, and by ongoing oil drilling in Kalamazoo County. Our air and water are too precious to put at further risk” said Craig Brainard, a South Central Michigan Sierra Club member.
The 1000 MW project is currently one of the largest gas proposals in the entire Midwest region. The project would release an enormous amount of climate-warming pollution, contributing to harm that is already affecting Michigan and which will worsen with continued reliance on fossil fuels. Approval of the draft permit – and the more than 4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent pollution it allows each year– will set the state on a path that is directly at odds with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and EGLE’s own MI Healthy Climate Plan goals. Further, the proposed permit does not adequately enforce the Clean Air Act’s core mandate that new major sources of emissions apply the “best available control technology” (BACT) for either greenhouse gases or certain criteria pollutants. In addition to greenhouse gasses, the plants will emit significant volumes of fine particulate pollution, sulfuric acid mist, toxic air contaminants (TACs), and smog-forming nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. It is critical that EGLE ensure that the permit, if approved, minimizes these dangers to public health by requiring appropriate BACT, monitoring, enforcement, and air quality analyses.
“EGLE has not done the rigorous review required to allow this fossil fuel project to move forward, especially when it comes to climate-warming pollution,” said Elena Saxonhouse, a Sierra Club Managing Attorney. “Cutting corners and tying communities to fossil fuels for another generation makes no sense when the state should instead be encouraging investment in clean and affordable renewable energy.”
“Consumers Energy’s latest plan is just one of many examples showing that it is cheaper to invest in renewable energy, efficiency, and storage instead of building new gas plants” said Nick Leonard, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. “Our organizations are calling on state regulators to pay closer attention to how this massive fossil gas plant's pollution will affect air quality in Calhoun County and the surrounding area.”
Michigan imports nearly all the fossil fuels it consumes from other states, resulting in a dollar drain from the state economy of billions of dollars each year, not to mention the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels. Numerous utilities across the Midwest are moving beyond coal and turning to clean energy instead of gas because it is both cheaper and more sustainable.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.