Environmentalists sue over coal plant expansion ASSOCIATED PRESS


The Sierra Club is suing MidAmerican Energy Co. for allegedly committing a slew of environmental violations in Iowa.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court by the club's Iowa chapter, accuses the state's largest energy company of emitting air pollution without proper permits and violating state and federal emission standards.

"It is time to get serious about clean energy solutions in Iowa and recognize our overdependence on coal plants," said Sierra Club organizer Mark Kresowik. "Iowans have the right to be included in vital decisions like these and MidAmerican should offset their illegal emissions."

The Sierra Club takes issue with several of MidAmerican's coal plants across the state, including the company's recent expansion of a Council Bluffs facility. Sierra argues the project - a 790-megawatt addition to an existing 820-megawatt plant - is creating new air pollution without the required environmental permits. Sierra claims the expansion is the largest source of new air and global warming pollution in Iowa.

The Sierra Club has asked the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to arrange a public hearing in Council Bluffs to address the situation.

MidAmerican officials said they won't comment on pending litigation, but the company issued a press release Tuesday defending its operations. It said the expansion in Council Bluffs is fitted with environmental controls to reduce dangerous emissions and is 15 percent more efficient than plants built in the 1970 and 1980s.

The Sierra Club also accuses MidAmerican of violating emission standards at the new Council Bluffs unit and a Riverside energy center in Bettendorf. The group claims state records prove the facilities have repeatedly emitted more pollution than federal and state laws allow.

"MidAmerican Energy Company is attempting to expand and lock-in our overdependence on dirty coal technology for the next 40 years or more while ignoring the law," said Debbie Neustadt, political chair of the Sierra Club of Iowa. "There are many energy efficiency and clean energy resource options that should be considered first."

In the press release, MidAmerican said all its facilities meet emission standards and that it's planning more environmental upgrades.

The company also touted its efforts to find alternatives to coal-generated energy. The company is seeking state approval to add another 540 megawatts of wind energy. It already owns and operates 323 wind turbines at three sites in Iowa with the capacity to generate 459.5 megawatts of electricity.

The Des Moines-based company provides electric service to 714,000 customers and natural gas service to 696,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.

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Board hears from livestock neighbors By JARED STRONG<mailto:[log in to unmask] hears from livestock neighbors>
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Perry hog farmer Tom Vincent faced a group of his disgruntled neighbors Tuesday night.

Vincent, 46, plans to break ground in June on a 20,900-square-foot confinement several miles southwest of Perry that will hold just under 2,500 hogs, but 10 residents who live near the proposed site are adamant that the accompanying smell of manure would degrade their quality of life.

They say they've already been suffering from the stench produced by more than 3,700 hogs in three other confinements Vincent operates less than a half-mile away.

"When you walk into a room and everyone's glaring at you, don't you feel like you're doing something wrong?" rural Perry resident Kent Vander Velden asked at a public forum Tuesday.

The three-member Dallas County Board of Supervisors held the forum to gather information for comments it will send to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which has the ultimate say on whether Vincent gets to build a roughly $500,000 confinement.

"There's nothing illegal or immoral about raising livestock," Vincent said.

Vincent grew up on a small family farm in eastern Iowa but was unable to farm himself until 1994. He said hog farming was the only way he could become a farmer, but he acknowledged that the manure smell is a problem.

"We're certainly trying to do everything right" to eliminate the stench, said Vincent, who lives farther from the confinements than the residents who attended the forum.

Board Chairman Brad Golightly lives a couple of miles north of the existing confinements.

"I wrestle with this quite a bit," he said of the impact a new confinement may have on neighbors. "But the thing I really struggle with is that there's a large effort to try to preserve (agricultural) land. .. Is this a part of our heritage or isn't it?"

"It's a part of being in the country," Golightly said, speaking in favor of the proposed confinement.

Nearby residents vowed to submit their own comments to the DNR, in hopes a building permit will be denied. The DNR's decision is expected within a couple of weeks.

Reporter Jared Strong can be reached at (515) 284-8075 or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>



 

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