Coburg, Ore., officials question developer of gas-fired power plant
The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore. --Sep. 22--COBURG, Ore.
Sep. 22--COBURG, Ore. -- City councilors in this bucolic town of 980 souls pelted energy developer Gary Marcus with questions Tuesday night in their first public opportunity to address his proposed 900-megawatt power plant.
Most of those opposed point to the estimated 1,150 tons of air pollution the
plant would emit each year.
Marcus told the Coburg City Council and about 40 people attending the meeting
that opponents have used data out of context and scare tactics to unfairly
demonize the $485 million project.
"We will add only 0.4 percent (pollution) to what is already here,"
Marcus told the council.
Those emissions include 401.2 tons of nitrogen oxide, 325.9 tons of fine
particulate matter, 86.1 tons of volatile organic compounds and 286.1 tons of
carbon monoxide.
Even though those amounts fall below federal pollution limits, Coburg
residents remain concerned.
Resident Jim Lockard said he is worried about the chemical-laden water vapors
emitted from the plant's 195-foot-tall stacks. Lockard said the vapors are
heavier than air and will settle on Coburg, Eugene and Springfield and travel as
far south as Goshen.
"Those chemicals come straight out of the stacks and go down on the
ground," Lockard said.
Marcus argued that the height of the stacks will put vapors high into the air
and send them away from Coburg. "Once our plant is there, I really don't
think it will be noticed," Marcus said.
Councilor Michelle Sunia asked Marcus whether the plant would require a
federal Title V pollution discharge permit, which is necessary if a factory or
plant is a major source of pollution. Marcus answered that he thought such a
permit would be needed.
"So that's two major sources in our area," Sunia responded,
referring to the federal permit Monaco Coach Corp., which has its headquarters
in Coburg, had to obtain for its recreational vehicle painting.
Sunia then asked Marcus whether the pollution control technology would
protect residents. Marcus answered that the stacks would force pollutants up
into the atmosphere, where they would be dispersed over a broad area with no
harmful effects.
"I've heard that before from Monaco," she said. "What goes up
must come down."
Sunia, Councilor Brian Pech and other Coburg residents filed a lawsuit
against Monaco more than four years ago, charging that its emission stacks were
showering a neighborhood with fumes and air pollution. Monaco settled the
lawsuit, paying residents an undisclosed sum and installing expensive pollution
control equipment.
Marcus brought Dr. Kraig Jacobson, a respected Eugene physician specializing
in the treatment of asthma and allergy disorders, to speak on his behalf and
counter opponents' contentions that the plant would present a public health
hazard.
"The greatest part of our pollution is from wood stoves and how we heat
our homes," Jacobson said, adding that the highly efficient natural gas
turbines Marcus wants to install will not deteriorate the area's air quality.
But Lisa Arkin of the Oregon Toxics Alliance pointed to a recent study in the
New England Journal of Medicine showing that even low levels of particulate
matter and other pollutants the plant would generate are detrimental to human
health. "That especially applies to children and senior citizens,"
Arkin said.
The council did not act on a request by Coburg resident Carolyn Kinnan to
adopt a motion opposing the plant. A decision by the state Energy Facility
Siting Council approving or denying the facility is about two years away, Marcus
said.
-----
To see more of The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore., or to subscribe to the
newspaper, go to http://www.registerguard.com
.
(c) 2004, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore. Distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this
content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax
(213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.