Tondu plan unplugged
City pans plan for coal plant, but another may be on the horizon
by Lou
Blouin
Sweetwater Alliance North
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VICTORY: A crowd applauds the Manistee Planning Commission
after it voted to reject a proposal to build a highly
debated coal-fired power plant. Douglas Tesner/TC Record
Eagle |
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MANISTEE —The Manistee Planning Commission slammed the door Thursday
on a plan by the Tondu Corporation of Houston, Texas to construct a
425-megawatt coal-fired power plant on the shores of Manistee Lake.
Commissioners voted unanimously to deny a required special use
permit over concerns about the project’s health and environmental
impacts.
“The
proposed project will not use the most advanced combustion
technology available, resulting in a greater than necessary level of
air pollution, and therefore, a greater than necessary negative
impact on the health of community residents and wildlife,” the
Commission wrote in its resolution denying the permit.
Commissioners also cited adverse economic impacts, rejecting claims
that the project would be an economic boon for an area short on good
paying jobs.
“The
project’s economic contribution to the community is likely to be
significantly less than the burden it would place on the City
infrastructure and services,” the commission said, “and will
contribute little to the public good needed to support the general
welfare of the community.”
The
decision drew a standing ovation from hundreds who gathered to
witness the final act in a six month saga which consumed the
attention of the normally quiet port city.
“Everyone worked so relentlessly for months and months to defeat
this proposed coal plant,” said Monica Evans of the Traverse Group
of the Sierra Club, one of the organizations opposing the Tondu
plan.
“I have
truly never been a part of something this great and admirable,” she
said.
Fred
LaPoint, president of Manistee Citizens for Responsible Development,
the citizen group which led the charge against the project, said he
hoped this would lead to better cooperation between city officials
and the public.
“No
doubt this is a positive step for our community,” LaPoint said. “We
hope the Planning Commission comes to realize we’re a helpful tool
for them in helping to bring sustainable development to this
community.”
All
eyes are now focused on Tondu to see if the company will challenge
Thursday’s decision.
“We’re
going to reevaluate the whole project and all our options—from
reapplying and resubmitting [an application] to walking away and
doing something else,” said company president Joe Tondu following
the vote.
Tondu
did not rule out a legal challenge to the Planning Commission’s
decision.
“A
lawsuit is an option but it’s nothing we’re really considering right
now,” Tondu said. “We haven’t had a chance to review this and see if
they did it all right.”
Manistee community development director Jon Rose said that they’ll
be ready if Tondu brings a suit.
“It’s
such a high-profile issue,” Rose said. “We’ve been prepared for a
lawsuit since this started, whether it was granted or denied.”
Even
with the Tondu plan derailed, coal-fired power could still be on the
horizon for Manistee.
The
Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA), the municipal cooperative which
backed the Tondu plan, is still looking to build a large coal-fired
facility.
Traverse City Light and Power board member Linda Kreft said the
rejection of the Tondu proposal doesn’t change the fact that “MPPA
is going to need base-load power in the near future.”
Rumors
circulated earlier in the week that MPPA had purchased an option on
a 40-acre site in Stronach Township on the east end of Manistee
Lake.
Kreft
denied that MPPA had purchased any property or hired any
contractors, though she acknowledged MPPA members have looked at the
Stronach Township site.
“Tondu
is really only a small piece of a much larger picture,” said Robert
Bartle of Sweetwater Alliance, one of the groups which opposed the
Tondu plan.
“Energy
issues aren’t going away, and demands are rising,” he said. “If we
as communities decide we don’t want to be building more coal-fired
power plants, we either have to change our habits and conserve, or
actively pursue more sustainable ways of producing energy.”
Bartle
said Sweetwater’s hopes for dealing with the region’s energy issues
are rooted in organized, informed communities.
“Manistee and the region are clearly tuned in to energy issues now,”
he said. “That’s fertile ground for creative solutions.”
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