Clean Air Group Applauds Ruling

Chicago, IL - Judge Phil Gilbert of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois has halted any further construction on a proposed coal plant in Franklin County in a case brought by the Sierra Club. Judge Gilbert agreed with the Sierra Club that before any further activity can occur at the Benton site, EnviroPower must obtain a new air permit that requires modern pollution controls on its proposed power plant.

“EnviroPower's outdated power plant proposal had threatened the health of Illinois' families and the state's economy,” says Verena Owen, Chair of Sierra Club's Clean Air Campaign. “With this court order we can now all breathe a lot easier and get focused on building a cleaner, safer energy future for Illinois that does not jeopardize the health of our families.”

Illinois EPA issued EnviroPower an air permit to build a 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant in 2001. Judge Gilbert agreed with the Sierra Club that the permit expired in January 2003 when the company failed to break ground and undertake a continuous program of construction at its proposed Franklin County site. After the permit expired, EnviroPower announced in late 2004 that it was planning to begin construction without obtaining a new, updated permit with more stringent pollution control requirements. Sierra Club promptly notified EnviroPower in writing that before it could begin construction of the region's largest new source of air pollution in decades that it needed to obtain a new and updated air permit. EnviroPower did not respond to Sierra Club's letter and Sierra Club filed suit in federal court.

“Since EnviroPower received its air permit five years ago there have been significant technological advances in pollution controls for new power plants,” said Bruce Nilles, attorney for Sierra Club. “We have also made enormous gains in cleaner alternatives, including energy efficiency, wind and biomass.” The judge's ruling means, at a minimum, that EnviroPower must install modern pollution controls and meet the same public health protections being achieved at the cleanest power plants already operating in the United States.”

“It is a shame that we had to file a federal lawsuit to stop EnviroPower from building an outdated coal plant,” said Barb McKasson, a local member of the Shawnee Chapter of Sierra Club. “But we were facing an out-dated coal plant proposal that would dump more mercury pollution into the lakes that are popular for fishing. Companies cannot be allowed to sacrifice the health of my family and my community, particularly when smarter, cleaner choices are readily available.”

The Department of Energy estimates that 150 coal-fired power plants are proposed across the United States, including 14 in Illinois. The majority of these projects propose to use outdated combustion technologies. Sierra Club is working with its allies to raise awareness about the threat posed by this “Coal Rush” and highlighting safer alternatives to meet the Nation's energy needs and provide a secure energy future. Illinois has approved four out-dated coal plants since 2001. None have been constructed, largely because of citizen opposition. Last month the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Appeals Board remanded the 2003 air permit IEPA had issued to Indeck-Energy for a 600MW coal plant in Will County, Illinois. That project had been opposed by a broad coalition of organizations, including the City of Chicago, the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, and the Sierra Club.

Clean energy is good for Illinoisans' health and the state's economy. According to the Bush Administration's National Energy Report, it costs approximately $300 to avoid emitting a ton of sulfur dioxide from a coal plant with modern pollution controls. The health benefits of reducing a ton of sulfur dioxide from the air are estimated at $7,300, which includes reduced medical costs for treating asthma and lung cancer.

HEALTH FACTS: From the website of the Clean Air Task Force:

• US EPA's consultants estimate that air pollution from coal-fired power plants causes 1,356 premature deaths, 2,361 heart attacks, 195,698 lost work days and 33,986 asthma attacks in Illinois annually.
• Children are the most susceptible to power plant pollution. In Illinois 2.7 million children live within 30 miles of a power plant.
• Coal plants emit forty-one percent of the United States' mercury pollution. The Illinois Health Department has issued a fish consumption advisory for every waterbody in Illinois because of high mercury levels in the fish. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that causes brain damage, reduces IQ, and is linked to autism. A Mt. Sinai University study projected that mercury pollution costs the economy $1.8 billion annually in lost productivity.

Sierra Club is a non-profit conservation organization with 26,000 members in Illinois working to restore healthy air across the state, to protect its lakes, rivers and streams from mercury pollution, and to reduce global warming pollution.

Sierra Club is represented in this litigation by Lester Pines and Kira Loehr, of the Madison, Wisconsin law firm of Cullen Weston Pines & Bach, LLP.