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Tuesday, August 1, 2006 6:36 PM CDT
FutureGen on environment study fast-track
By HERB MEEKER and KRISTA LEWIN, Staff Writers
Anyone wondering about waiting a year for the FutureGen electrical power plant site to be chosen should consider what it takes to cover environmental impact questions on most utility facilities.
“It usually takes 33 to 36 months with environmental impact studies with most power plants,” said Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Director Jack Lavin during a phone interview Tuesday from the Pittsburgh area where FutureGen and Department of Energy officials were meeting with state and local officials from the final four FutureGen sites. “Here, we’re trying to do it in 12 months.”
An environmental impact study determines if the surface and subsurface characteristics of a construction site conform to standards set by the National Environmental Policy Act on dozens of criteria. The meeting Tuesday at Embassy Suites Hotel near Pittsburgh International Airport concentrated on the IES requirements and accelerated deadlines. Lavin said environmental data on the four sites must be submitted by Nov. 17 to FutureGen Industrial Alliance officials. FutureGen Alliance will then submit its report to Department of Energy before the end of the year. Hearings will convene on the impact statements early next year with the goal of naming the plant site during the summer of 2007.
At this point, sites from Mattoon and Tuscola, and near Odessa and Jewett in Texas are on a level playing field as the environmental study effort starts, said Mattoon City Administrator Dave Wortman, who attended the meeting in Pennsylvania with Coles Together President Angela Griffin and Coles Together Chairman Steve Grissom. Coles Together paid travel expenses for the Mattoon site representatives.
“They laid out what has to be done to satisfy the criteria,” said Wortman. “And we were told as of today all four sites are equal. The environmental study will be our primary focus now. They are giving us until mid-November to do a lot of running around to gather this information.”
In many ways, much of the EIS data already is included on the applications made in April during the first round of the FutureGen selection process.
“We’re going to be going over subsurface issues with sequestration and on any surface concerns, too. Much of this has been reviewed, but now they’re getting more detailed,” Lavin said.
DCEO will be involved along with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Natural Resources and the State Geological Survey. “All these agencies have been involved in this for the past three years. And we have had a great cooperation between the agencies under Gov. Blagojevich,” Lavin said.
For more of this and other local stories, see Wednesday's edition of the Journal Gazette and Times-Courier.
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Judi Smith wrote on Jul 17, 2006 8:52 PM: