Sunday, August 13, 2006 10:50 PM CDT
Column: Three projects in four hours make a remarkable day
By BILL LAIR
blair@jg-tc.com
Thursday was a remarkable day in Coles County.
About 100 people attended the FutureGen informational meeting at Mattoon City Hall.
About an hour after that meeting ended, Charleston city officials announced that a developer plans to build a $100 million ethanol plant in Charleston.
As soon as Staff Writer Rob Stroud left that meeting, he had an appointment with a couple of people who revealed plans to build a $1.8-billion coal-to-diesel project in Oakland.
In the span of four hours, three projects were discussed that would bring almost $3 billion worth of investments to Coles County!
FutureGen is a $1-billion, state-of-the-art energy project, and Mattoon is one of four sites in the nation still being considered.
The ethanol plant is a $100-million project that also will benefit area farmers.
And the project to use Oakland-area coal to fuel a soybean-to-diesel plant comes to $1.8 billion — almost twice the size of FutureGen!
Amazing.
Coles County had to be the economic development capital of Illinois on Thursday.
The potential of all three projects to this area is staggering. I can’t comprehend how those three projects will transform this county and this region if all three reach fruition.
None is a sure thing yet.
As I said, Mattoon is competing with Tuscola a few miles away and with two Texas sites for FutureGen. Developers of the Charleston ethanol plant must meet all the state’s regulatory requirements, and the Oakland developers still need some coal supply commitments before they are ready to move forward.
All are certainly possible. At the very least there is a 50-50 chance the FutureGen plant will be built in this area.
But there was more to that day that was remarkable.
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, a Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, a Republican, both praised the bipartisan political support among the Illinois congressional delegation.
They both complimented state Sen. Dale Righter and state Rep. Chapin Rose, mentioning the cooperation between state and federal lawmakers.
Phil Gonet represented the Illinois Coal Association — the companies that produce coal — sitting next to Gary Butler of the United Mine Workers.
Mattoon Public Works Director David Wortman went out of his way to thank Charleston Mayor John Inyart and City Manager Scott Smith for their cooperation in assisting with the supply of water for FutureGen’s needs.
Coles Together President Angela Griffin lauded the “forward thinking” leaders who created the countywide economic development organization years ago, creating the agency that could tackle a project of this size.
And she acknowledged the interest of another overflow crowd who came to hear the discussion.
“Every time we have (a meeting), the people of Coles County come out in such numbers that we cannot meet comfortably,” she said with a smile.
Even the laborers were there. The group that stands to benefit from 1,300 construction jobs supplied the box lunches for all in attendance over the noon hour.
It was Democrats and Republicans, state and federal officials, Mattoon and Charleston, labor and management, side by side.
The atmosphere at that meeting may not have been on the biblical scale of a lion resting with a lamb, but it is probably the closest to that prophecy that I have ever witnessed.
Some of us in Illinois are concerned that Texas still has an edge in the FutureGen process because the current president of the United States is from that state.
Thus far, however, politics appears to have played no role in selecting the final four sites. A team of scientists and engineers pared the original list of 12 potential hosts down to four, eliminating several because they did not meet certain criteria.
The others were given points for dozens of important categories. And it appears that when it comes to science, Mattoon is a leader.
Two big issues mentioned just after the final four were named — available land and legal liability — are being addressed. Wortman said Mattoon’s land proposal has increased from about 250 acres to 400 acres, which approaches the land available in Texas. The lawmakers said the liability issue will be discussed in the Legislature.
Politics? Hey, the state that produced two Mayor Daleys, Govs. Jim Thompson and George Ryan and Secretary of State Paul Powell knows a thing or two about politics.
Illinois is in the middle of the country, the transportation hub. Coal here is similar to coal produced in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Our elected officials and the mine workers are talking to their counterparts in those states to get support for Illinois in this effort.
Science supports Mattoon and Tuscola, and politics shouldn’t frighten anyone in this state. Don’t count us out.
There just may be a few more remarkable days in Coles County’s future.
Bill Lair is managing editor of the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. Contact Lair at blair@jg-tc.com or 238-6865.
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