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UPDATE (Dec. 2, 2008):Salt Lake City, UT -- The public comment period on this proposal has been extended to Jan. 12, 2009. A public hearing has also been scheduled for Jan. 13, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. The hearing will be held at 168 North 1950 West, Salt Lake City.
A battle is shaping up over clean air and a proposal for a power plant next to an oil refinery. The fuel would be some of the lowest-grade fossil fuels. State regulators say it will be safe, but clean air advocates are turning the fight into their top priority.
The "clean air e-mail network" lit up overnight when activists learned the state gave preliminary approval to an electrical power plant alongside the Holly refinery in West Bountiful. Holly officials think of it as a win-win. The cry of critics is "Fight! Fight!"
Nathan Long used to live just outside the refinery fence but, because of his 5-year-old son, he sold his house to Holly Refinery and moved three miles away. Long said, "I couldn't put it on myself to live somewhere knowing that area was a potential hazard to his long-term health."
Now he's concerned that state regulators have issued a draft permit for a power plant inside the fence. He asks, "Do they really are about the community's health? Do they really care about, you know, our welfare?"
Bryce Bird, with the Utah Division of Air Quality, said, "We've gone through our engineering and modeling analysis for the facility and found that it won't significantly affect the air quality in the area."
A company called Consolidated Energy will build it and sell electricity to the power grid. The refinery is providing land and some of the fuel, a heavy fuel oil by-product of the refinery.
In return, hot steam from the power plant will lower the energy demand from the refinery. What will be the overall impact on air quality? "It's minimal," Bird said. "So there will be controls required, and they will be the state-of-the-art controls are required on the facility."
Clean air activists don't trust the state's calculations and are preparing a vigorous battle. Dr. Brian Moench, with Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said, "We can't afford any further impairment of our air quality."
He added, "We don't see any way that this facility can be constructed and still not impair our health."
The plant will also burn a by-product called coke, apparently from other refineries. "That is probably five times dirtier than coal," Moench said. "I don't think the public will stand for that."
The state originally planned to issue the permit without a public hearing. But now that critics have called for one, the state expects to schedule one.
The date right now is uncertain.
If you would like to send a comment on this plant proposal to DEQ, CLICK HERE.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
