Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
11/14/2014
A Sierra Club challenge to the FutureGen 2.0 project under development in Meredosia, Ill., was thrown out by the Illinois Pollution Control Board late last week when a motion for summary judgment was issued in favor of the FutureGen Alliance. The Sierra Club had argued that the incorrect permit had been acquired by the project and as a result the project was in violation of Section 9.1(d) of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, which requires that any project that seeks to construct or modify various structures, including power plants, must first obtain a permit to do so from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. In its decision, though, the Pollution Control Board said the IEPA had previously considered the Sierra Club’s argument. “IEPA issued a construction permit after reviewing the application and comments, including comments from Sierra Club that echo its allegation and arguments here. IEPA determined that a minor source construction permit was the correct permit,” the decision says. “Based on the undisputed facts, the Board finds that respondents have not violated Section 9.1(d) of the Act,” Pollution Control Board Chairman Deanna Glosser wrote in the decision.
Once completed, the FutureGen project will upgrade an existing coal burning power plant with oxy-combustion technology which will capture CO2 at a rate of roughly 1.1 million tons annually, according to a FutureGen Alliance fact sheet. The suit had been a notable threat to the project, though, which faces a fast approaching spending deadline of September 2015 as it is funded, in part, by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That spending deadline, combined with the Sierra Club lawsuit, had put the project in a bind, forcing the FutureGen Alliance to file a Motion to Expedite in July. “The Alliance is pleased that the Illinois Pollution Control Board found the Illinois EPA issued air permit is valid,” Ken Humphreys, FutureGen Alliance Chief Executive Officer, told GHG Monitor in a written statement this week. “The Board ruling will allow the Alliance to continue to advance the project toward construction.”
Sierra Club Says It Will File Appeal
FutureGen may not have seen the last of the Sierra Club, however, as the environmental group said it plans to appeal the decision. “FutureGen has billed itself as a ‘near-zero’ emissions coal-fired power plant, but its permit does not reflect that promise. As it’s permitted now, the FutureGen coal plant would be allowed to emit an unlimited amount of carbon pollution, and emit other dangerous pollutants at levels higher than some older traditional coal plants,” Holly Bender, Deputy Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, said in a release.
