Wolverine project to move forward
Mike ModrzynskiCommunity leaders from throughout Presque Isle County gathered Tuesday morning to hear updates on the proposed Wolverine power plant project from company officials. The meeting left little doubt that the project is moving forward. Company spokesman Ken Bradstreet outlined the current state of affairs for Wolverine and the permitting process it faces yet in its quest to build a 600 MW power plant near Rogers City.
"We are at a point now that none other are even close to, leaving little doubt in anyone's mind that we are committed to the project and to the community," he said. "We are subjecting ourselves to a higher standard (given the new 2.5 micron regulations) in air quality emissions even though the new rules aren't set yet to prove once again that we intend to be good stewards of the environment. Wolverine is committed to adhere to and be governed by the highest standards of quality."
Bradstreet also addressed the alternative energy study completed in June at the request of Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Public Service Commission, the company's proposed landfill for the power plant, the PM 2.5 standard and the upcoming public hearing, and introduced Wolverine president and CEO Eric Baker who added more background to the discussion.
"We have the best team imaginable working on this project and they have been working diligently for a number of years, even before the first news of the proposed project even was heard," Baker said. "It takes a long time to develop a project of this magnitude, from concept to fruition it takes years to reach even the point we are at right now. There are still many steps to be taken, but we are preparing solidly for each one of them and the coming handful of months will be some of the most active and will prove that all the hard work behind the scenes was not only necessary but fruitful as well."
Bradtsreet said the alternative analysis has proven easier to justify that some had thought, especially noting that Wolverine's customer base is chiefly residential so the state of the economy had little impact on the need for power among its customers. He said the residential market for power actually saw a steady growth while commercial and industrial power users declined.
Baker explained that alternative energy sources simply cannot keep up with a growing demand, much less impact a significant portion of the current need for energy in Michigan. He said the new wind turbine farms in Michigan are currently producing about one-quarter of one percent of the total energy needs for the state despite three years of effort and hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Simply stated, the wind doesn't always blow and the amount of money needed to bring current technology on line is staggering," Baker said. "We will continue to pursue alternative energy solutions, but right now, at least, practicality is a big factor facing anyone who looks at wind energy as an alternative. We intend to build a wind energy site here (near Rogers City), but what impact and what level of power it will produce is still an unknown."
Bradstreet said the issue of a landfill for the power plant has just been presented, but what is known about the proposal is that it will be used solely for the combustion waste from the power plant and be the most conservative site of its type in Michigan. The double-liner landfill will be used in an area of the quarry not susceptible to karst geology and will be used as a holding facility until the market for the waste can be found to allow Wolverine to recycle the material.
"Presque Isle County commissioners meet next week to review the proposal to see if it is consistent with the county's solid waste plan," Bradstreet said. "The county does not issue the permit but is required to review the proposal to see if it is consistent with the overall solid waste plan for the county. The DEQ then issues the permit."
He added, "We hope to have everything completed so we can submit the permit application by October 1 to the DEQ."
Regarding the PM2.5 hearing and change to the permit application, Bradstreet said the reason for the company to switch from a less stringent guideline to the new tougher standard was twofold one, it gives the company a stronger permit since evidence indicates the process planned for the Carmeuse site indicates the process will meet or exceed the PM2.5 standard and the subsequent permit will be less susceptible to challenge later on.
"We know we can meet the new stricter guidelines set for PM2.5, and since the debate is still on whether we fall under the new or old emission guidelines, Wolverine has chosen to meet the new, tougher standard to continue our pledge to use the most recent technology available in this plant," he said. "We have pledged to be the best possible stewards of the environment and we intend to stay on course."
Baker told the group that Wolverine has invested nearly $19 million in the Rogers City plant project thus far, leaving no doubt that Wolverine is serious about sitting the power plant in the Carmeuse quarry.
"We have a lot of steps to go yet before a physical presence is seen, but Wolverine has the team to get us there," Baker said. "We have been building the financial support for he project and have added JP Morgan Chase and Prudential Life Insurance as potential partners in the financing of this project. This is a billion dollar project and without outside financing it would be tough to pull it off."
He added, "While the Sierra Club has stated that it intends to block the project, or any new coal project, by any means available, we intend to move forward despite probable litigation and challenges to our permits. This isn't an issue to be taken lightly and that's why we are being so careful in every step we take. We need the power, we need the plant and the Carmeuse site wasn't chosen on a whim."
He added, "Development of a plant takes time and we need to steer ahead carefully. This is a long range vision of what's ahead, not only for Wolverine, but Michigan as well. There is a need for the power and there is a need to replace aging power plants around the state. Even with the new plants proposed for Carmeuse and one in Bay City, we will be addressing only 10 percent of the power needs of Michigan."
When asked about the start of construction, environmental services director Brian Warner said, "Optimistically, construction could start next year if all the challenges are overcome, but 2011 is much more likely. We expect legal challenges to our permits, but we are also confident we will prevail."
Mike Modrzynski can be reached via email at mikemodrzynski@yahoo.com.
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TimeRanger
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09-02-09 2:35 PM
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baldwin - Before proposing anymore nuke plants, how about figuring out what to do with the 10s of thousands of TONS of radioactive wasted that is currently stockpiled around the country? Maybe we could just dump the stuff in the non-producing portions of the LaFarge quarry?
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baldwin
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09-01-09 11:53 PM
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Should be building a nuclear power plant. No air emissions (soot), no mercury dropping into the lake (how many pounds a year?), no fly ash to store and leak into the ground, No daily train loads of coal every of the year.
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