Local Citizens Near Proposed Wolverine Coal Plant To Raise Concerns At Special Hearing TonightCompany’s permit changes would threaten Lake Huron and Michigan’s natural resources
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ROGERS CITY - Local citizens will raise concerns at a special hearing tonight regarding the proposed Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative’s Rogers City coal plant as company officials are set to request several changes to their permit. Request include moving a coal ash pond to a spot above the high water mark for Lake Huron, which residents fear would still threaten Michigan’s precious Great Lakes and area drinking water.
“The pollution produced by an unneeded coal plant like the one Wolverine wants to build poses a severe threat to Michigan’s precious natural resources, including Lake Huron,” said Anne Woiwode, director of the Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter. “We should be protecting Michigan’s Great Lakes from ash and other toxic byproducts of dirty coal, not threatening them.”
Other permit changes to be requested by company officials at the Presque Isle County Planning Commission meeting tonight include:
- Asking for an indefinite permit extension when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit expires after 18 months
- Changing fuel-burning capacities to include pet coke and biomas
- Requesting an exemption from all local county ordinances
In addition to the slew of negative environmental impacts, the proposed Wolverine coal and pet coke plant would hit members and ratepayers hard in their pocketbooks. The $2.43 billion cost of constructing the coal power plant would lead to 60 percent higher rates for co-op members, according to. These costs would put a considerable financial burden on residents already struggling to meet ends meet; 26 percent of Wolverine’s 200,000 co-op members have an income below the poverty line.
“Instead of focusing on dirty energy sources like coal, we can stimulate local economies and create jobs across Michigan by focusing on cheaper and cleaner energy technologies,” said Wayne Vermilya, Onaway resident and board of director candidate for Wolverine member cooperative, Presque Isle Electric & Gas Cooperative. “The idea of building a plant that operates by dumping coal ash in Lake Huron should be unacceptable to all of us in the Great Lakes state. We should move forward with clean energy sources such as solar and wind so we can protect the rivers and lakes that make Northern Michigan and our entire state so special.”
Concerned citizens also continued pressing Wolverine to reconsider its five-year-old plan, which has not been revised even as other American companies have cancelled more than 150 coal plant proposals due to severe financial risks that have convinced investment firms that new coal is a bad financial bet.
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