Hearing on Wolverine air quality permit set for Thursday at RCHS

Nearly five years from the day plans were first announced to build a coal-fired power plant in Rogers Township, Wolverine Power Supply will have one last hearing on its major permit. The public hearing on Wolverine Power?s proposed 600-megawatt power plant is Thursday, May 19 at Rogers City High School.

The evening will begin with a question and answer session from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. where Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) staff will be available to answer questions. The formal hearing begins at 7 p.m. in the high school gymnasium. According to the DEQ the department will consider comments to certain environmental issues.

?People can say whatever they?d like, but we?ll only consider comments on the issue at hand,? said DEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel. ?The rest of it has been decided by a clear court order. DEQ is strictly limited to receiving and recording comments during the hearing.? WHAT WILL be considered is limited to the DEQ?s ?proposed conditional approval of the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) demonstration for greenhouse gases and for the air quality analysis demonstrating the proposed power plant will not violate the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) new 1-hour thresholds for nitrogen oxides (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2)? according to a public notice published in March. ?Therefore, the MDEQ has re-evaluated the Permit to Install application for the proposed power plant, absent the consideration of need, and accounting for recent regulations that have been finalized since the denial action. These regulations are the new 1-hour NAAQS for NO2 and SO2 and the requirement to provide a BACT demonstration for greenhouse gases,? the DEQ document further states. The DEQ further states that installation of the power plant ?will not violate any of the department?s rules? based on expected emissions.

WHEN THE STATE denied Wolverine?s application May 21 2010, it did so based on a perceived lack of need, as determined by an opinion of the Michigan Public Service Commission. Wolverine appealed that denial and a Missaukee County judge agreed that there was no legal basis for the de

nial, sending it back to the DEQ in January. Wurfel said that without the provision of ?need? considered, the applicant would have met all state and federal requirements last year. Modifications in the permit have to be made because of new federal regulations enacted in 2010, which Wolverine?s engineers, working with DEQ staff, have strived to meet. Testimony will be limited to five minutes per person until everyone who wishes to speak has done so, Wurfel said. DEQ air quality chief Vince Hellwig and a hearings officer will be present to listen to testimony. Also, all comments will be recorded for the formal record.

(A link to the draft of the permit to install and more details on the process may be found at: www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/cwerp.shtml)

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