NEW ULM - Citizens For Clean Energy and the Sierra Club met Tuesday night in a German Park shelter to discuss reaction to the New Ulm Public Utilities Commission's (NUPUC) proposed plan to convert Boiler No. 4 to burn coal.
Concerned with the environmental impacts that burning coal will bring to community air, water, human health, fish and wildlife, the group created a petition for preparation of an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) on the project.
The petition stated the project, which plans to move from a relatively clean-burning natural gas-powered generating plant to burning coal - the dirtiest form of generating energy - needs a thorough review.
With at least 25 signatures, the petition would be sent for review to the 14-member Environmental Quality Board (EQB) in St. Paul.
The EQB's mission is to lead Minnesota environmental policy by responding to key issues, providing appropriate review and coordination, serving as a public forum and developing long-range strategies to enhance Minnesota's environmental quality.
The EQB consists of a governor's representative, nine state agency heads and five citizen members.
Project concerns listed in the petition are a power plant located next to German Park with a public picnic area, two blocks from the Minnesota River, and across the street from Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) butter plant.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database, burning natural gas instead of coal in the power plant would produce half as much carbon dioxide, less than a third as much nitrogen oxides and one percent as much sulfur dioxides.
"They're bucking a national trend of converting coal plants to natural gas," said Dr. Charles Stephens of New Ulm.
Burning coal creates mercury pollution, and there is concern with toxic waste including coal ash and wastewater used in scrubbers.
According to a study by the Clean Air Task Force, coal plant particulates result in 23,600 annual heart and respiratory fatalities a year, the petition stated.
Mercury exposure can damage the brain, kidney of a developing fetus, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), cited in the petition.
Coal ash and other combustion wastes represent the second-biggest waste stream in the nation, second only to wastes generated by coal mining itself, according to the petition.
Fly ash from a coal burning power plant carries 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy, the petition added.
"The EPA is continually making stronger rules for storing coal. It can leak into the water table," said Jessica Tatro of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign in Minneapolis.
Dr. Laurel Gamm of New Ulm said NUPUC's recent projects are in response to high local electrical costs in recent years.
"They're only looking at the economics of it," Gamm said.
Mark Lindquist of New Ulm said the city had the state's highest electrical costs several years ago.
The costs got the attention of 3M and Kraft, New Ulm's largest power users and employers.
Another person said Chicago-based Sargeant & Lundy, NUPUC's consultants, design coal and nuclear power plants so it stood to reason they promoted such projects.
According to a NUPUC Long-Term Power Project Power Point presentation, current New Ulm generation with volatile-priced natural gas steam generation and high cost diesel combustion turbines are key action reasons.
The Long-Term Power Committee formed in 2005 and met until October 2007 to address high electrical costs.
Sargeant & Lundy presented screening study recommendations on April 5, 2006.
Resources selected by NUPUC for modeling evaluation were wind power, boiler No. 4 update, ownership share of a 250-megawatt coal plant with other utilities or a long-term power purchase agreement and existing combustion turbines with or without-dual fuel conversion.
A 15-megawatt power supply contract from Madison, S.D.-based Heartland Power was about 15 percent under Xcel Energy's wholesale rates which were not available after 2009.
A new source review permit on the boiler upgrade project was submitted to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) on Dec. 11, 2009.
Final permit application will be submitted in about a month.
Public notices and meetings would be held.
A voluntary EAW is being prepared, according to NUPUC.
Lindquist said the New Ulm upgrade project is the first of its type in the country and called evaluating it "fuzzy" because it's such new technology.
The Citizens For Clean Energy plan to meet again at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 7 in German Park.
(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).
