South Dakota
Press Release
Public Forum on Big Stone II
"List of potential harms is really alarming" Jana Linderman, Attorney, Plains Justice
July 30, 2007
Sioux Falls, SD—Community interest groups and representatives from the region's most influential conservation and environmental groups will gather Monday, August 6 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the RobertsCounty 4-H Building in Sisseton to talk about what a new coal plant at Big Stone Lake will mean for area resident's health, the environment and the local economy.
The August 6 panel discussion will feature Attorney Jana Linderman with Plains Justice, Duane Ninneman, Long Range Development Consultant with Clean Up the River Environment (CURE), Audrey Cullen and Rich Femling with Sierra Club North Star Chapter Clean Air /Renewable Energy (CARE) Committee.
Myrna Thompson with the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Office of Environmental Protection and Mary Jo Stueve with Clean Water Action South Dakota will also be on hand to share information and answer questions.
Linderman, with Plains Justice, cautioned recently. "Dangerous mercury emissions, coal combustion waste contaminating the drinking water, tons of greenhouse gases being dumped into the atmosphere, water draw down from both surface water and groundwater, and the inevitable costs to ratepayers from impending carbon regulation...the list of potential harms is really alarming."
Linderman also stated that "if utilities refuse to engage in responsible energy planning on their own, then the citizens and ratepayers of South Dakota and neighboring states need to band together to force the utilities to develop local sources of renewable energy."
Rich Femling, in addition to his work with the Sierra Club, is also president of a small company, Rose Creek Anglers, Inc., that manufactures fly fishing accessories, U.S. made, crafted in Minnesota. "Coal burning power plants have greatly harmed our fisheries," Femling said, "from the sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide (acid rain) and mercury emissions. My customers are fly shops that rely on a core group of anglers that seek cold water species and climatologists predict that our coldwater fisheries will suffer habitat loss because of global warming."
"While people are starting to understand the serious pollution concerns for Big Stone Lake and the long term health risks facing area residents," said Mary Jo Stueve, State Program Coordinator with Clean Water Action South Dakota, "the competition for and control of water comes as a surprise to most."
For example, said Stueve, the South Dakota based POET ethanol plant (formerly Northern Lights) located next to Big Stone Plant would have to find a new water source because Otter Tail (Big Stone II project partner headquartered in Minnesota) can cut off water supply to the ethanol plant during times of drought. (Otter Tail water permit hearing, July 11, Milbank SD).
Ethanol operations require substantial amounts of water for the production process. So does coal to generate electricity. Local area farmers benefit greatly from the increased market demand for corn due largely to expanding ethanol production.
"It appears," said Stueve "that even Otter Tail worries that we do not have enough water to sustain such a monstrous project as Big Stone II without cutting off other water users."
During the contested groundwater permit hearing, it also became obvious reported Stueve, that first nation, inherent Indian water rights, received little if any consideration. And that co-owners for the proposed Big Stone II also dismissed a dry-cooling option, which would have conserved water for other purposes.
Citizens have repeatedly and continue to pressure project co-owners to consider clean energy alternatives such as wind. Wind requires no water to produce electric generation and it does not pollute. It also offers long-term benefits economically to the local area, which is a message Duanne Ninneman repeats to many audiences in South Dakota and Minnesota.
Otter Tail Power Company, in conjunction with several other power companies, plans to more than double the output of the existing coal-burning power plant at Big Stone by building a new 600-megawatt plant on the same site--Big Stone II. Transmission lines will be added or upgraded from the plant into Minnesota pending regulatory approval.
A recommendation to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for or against the Big Stone II project is expected to come by mid-August from the Administrative Law Judges in Minnesota. The South Dakota State Supreme Court will decide soon whether to uphold the Big Stone II site permit approved by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission last year. Environmental groups have challenged that decision.
The project still needs additional permits before construction can begin, such as the air permit. The Sierra Club last year gave notice of its intent to sue Big Stone owners over past violations.
Contact:
Mary Jo Stueve, South Dakota Program Coordinator, Clean Water Action, 605-978-9196
Andrea Kiepe Jacob, Organizing Coordinator, Clean Water Action, 612-623-3666
