Thursday, April 5, 2012
For Immediate Release
April 5, 2012
CONTACT: STEPHANIE CEPAK (517) 333-1606
Michigan Scientists Urge Congress to Support Clean Air
117 college scientists, researchers back E.P.A.’s mercury rule
ANN ARBOR – University and college scientists and researchers have signed a letter calling on Michigan’s congressional delegation to support the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) recently filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The scientists and researchers, 117 in total, represent a broad range of academic backgrounds and work at private and public colleges across Michigan.
“Humans and wildlife that eat fish can be exposed to hazardous levels of methyl mercury. Because residents of Michigan and the rest of the country are exposed to this pollutant, there needs to be a federal control on the emissions of mercury,” said Joel Blum, John D MacArthur Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan.
The future of Michigan’s own mercury emissions rule is unclear because a state advisory committee recommended rescinding it once a federal rule is filed. The scientists support the Michigan rule, but know it doesn’t go far enough to protect the health and well-being of residents.
“As part of a team of researchers, I have found mercury remains a major pollutant of concern in the Great Lakes,” said Nil Basu, Assistant Professor in U-M’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health. “All of us have detectable levels of mercury in our body.”
Much of the mercury deposited in Michigan comes from coal-fired power plants in other states, which is why a federal standard is even more crucial to protecting the public health of Michigan families. For every
$1 spent on reducing toxic emissions by upgrading power plants, the EPA estimates there is $6 to $9 in economic benefits, mostly related to lowered health care costs.
“State fish advisories like Michigan’s promote a policy that allows significant mercury contamination to remain in place while relying on the vulnerable populations to change their fish-consumption behavior,”
said Jerome Nriagu, Professor in U-M’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health. “The regulators are helping to perpetuate an unequal burden of mercury exposure in communities of the Great Lakes.”
Altogether, signers included nearly 60 scientists and researchers from the University of Michigan and more than a dozen from Michigan State University. Signers also included scientists and researchers from Wayne State University, Hope College, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Eastern Michigan University, Calvin College, Michigan Technological University, Grand Valley State University, and Ferris State University.
Blum, Basu and Nriagu participated in a statewide telephone news conference Thursday discussing the letter, along with Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
The letter was delivered this week to Michigan’s two U.S. Senators and 15 U.S. Representatives. The letter is below.
Our Letter to Michigan’s Congressional Delegation Dear Michigan Senators and Representatives:
As university and college scientists and educators living and working in the great state of Michigan, we commend the standards adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency imposing limits on mercury emissions and other hazardous air toxics. The federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) will help protect and clean the air we breathe, assure that local fish are safer to eat, and protect and preserve the wildlife and natural spaces we love from harmful pollution originating in Michigan and elsewhere. Scientific studies clearly demonstrate that mercury and other air toxic emissions are hazardous to human health. We are concerned that some Members of Congress are seeking to overturn, weaken or delay these vitally needed standards. We urge you to vote against any action diminishing the U.S. EPA’s MATS.
Mercury and other air toxics covered by MATS are potent neurotoxins that impact the health of humans, wildlife and ecosystems (e.g. services, provisioning, etc.). Our children are most vulnerable to these impacts, with fetal exposures to mercury resulting in deleterious impacts to language, memory, visual-motor skills, and attention. In adults, exposure to mercury can damage the nervous system, with newer research showing possible impacts on the immune and cardiovascular systems. Most of mercury’s harms to human health come from consuming contaminated fish. Once deposited on the surface waters of our state, mercury is converted to methylmercury where it is consumed and biomagnified up the food chain.
Ecologically-relevant and sub-lethal concentrations of methylmercury can affect the growth, survival and reproduction of fish, birds, and other animals. Large predatory fish, particularly those found in Michigan’s inland waters such as walleye, northern pike and largemouth bass, are most vulnerable to these effects. Recreational anglers and their families, including tribal groups and others consuming these fish, can accumulate harmful amounts of methylmercury. There is also increasing and compelling evidence that mercury deposition can impact the terrestrial ecosystem, namely songbirds, bats, and other insectivores.
Michiganders have long understood the harms to public health caused by mercury and other air toxics. Reflecting the findings of scientists, the Michigan state government has taken some helpful actions. The Michigan Department of Community Health, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Michigan Department of Natural Resources have collaborated in issuing statewide fish advisories for every lake in Michigan.
Moreover, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality adopted rules going into effect in 2015 to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in our state. We commend the state’s actions and urge the Michigan Congressional Delegation to understand the need for federal standards to reduce mercury and air toxics pollution from power plants nationwide.
These efforts in our state fall short of addressing sources of mercury and other air toxics from other states that also harm Michigan’s people and animals. Most (greater than 50%) of the mercury deposited in our state comes from coal-fired power plant emissions, with a substantial amount coming from coal-fired power plants in other states. The U.S.
EPA’s MATS provides an important path to protecting the air and water in our state by limiting the emissions from these coal-fired power plants in Michigan and beyond. Also, the federal standards address a wider range of toxic emissions and facilities in Michigan than the state standards. The U.S. EPA estimates that annually MATS will prevent hundreds of deaths in our state and result in over one billion dollars of health benefits to Michiganders.
We, Michigan university and college scientists, urge you to support U.S.
EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in the interests of improving public health, protecting wildlife, preserving natural beauty, and supporting the economy of the state we call home.
Sincerely,
Joel Blum, Professor- UM Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Nil Basu, Assistant Professor- UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Timothy Dvonch, Assistant Professor- UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Howard Hu, Professor – UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Epidemiology and Internal Medicine
Jerome Nriagu, Professor- UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Dozens of coal-fired power plants across the United States are facing closure over the next few years. Many communities are actively engaged in planning what is next for these sites. Each closing poses challenges and opportunities. Kari Lydersen examines the issues and takes a look at what is happening in Chicago in Midwest Energy News. Read the story.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Victory! Chicago Coal Plants to Shut Down
After more than a decade of advocacy by ELPC and our many allies in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, two of the oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the nation will close. The Fisk plant in Pilsen will shut down later this year and the Crawford plant in Little Village will shut down in 2014.
For more than 10 years, ELPC has provided the legal counsel to the effort to shut down these damaging plants. This effort has included active participation in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, a ground-breaking grassroots campaign to make Chicago coal-free.
For more information, please see the Chicago Clean Power Coalition Press Release, some victory celebration photos on our Flickr page, and media coverage from:
Also, you can listen to a podcast of our March 2nd webinar here.
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012
On Thursday, March 1st, hundreds of Pilsen and Little Village residents, along with supporters from the Chicago Clean Power Coalition will gather at Dvorak Park in Pilsen to take part in a press conference and historical celebration in reaction to the retirement of the Fisk and Crawford coal plants. Community members have been waiting for years to see an end to the pollution from Midwest Generation’s Fisk and Crawford coal plants that contribute to over 42 premature deaths, 720 asthma attacks, and $120 million in health costs every year. Children and families from the neighborhood will gather to celebrate this enormous victory for clean air and the health of Chicago residents.
What: Press Conference and “Retirement Party” for Midwest Generations Fisk and Crawford coal plants.
When: Thursday, March 1st – 11:00 am
Where: Dvorak Park, 1100 W. Cermak (corner of Cermak & May St.) Chicago, IL 60608
Who: Members of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition and local community residents
Speakers:
Kim Wasserman, LVEJO — Little Village Community
Leila Mendez, PERRO — Pilsen Community
Rosalie Mancera, Pilsen Alliance — Pilsen Community
Brian Urbaszewski, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago
Faith Bugel, Environmental Law and Policy Center
Exciting Visuals: Hundreds of Pilsen and Little Village residents will gather with environmental leaders in a public park, in the shadow of a coal plant that has been retired. Large colorful signs and banners, children and celebratory chants will feature prominently in the celebration.
B-Roll Package
Print Quality Photos
Chicago Clean Power Coalition Press Release
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Monday, February 13, 2012
In this article from the Chicago section of the New York Times, Kari Lydersen reports on the imminent closing of the 83-year-old State Line Coal Plant. Its shutdown is being praised by environmentalists and others, but also raises new environmental and land use issues. Read the story.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Six-Year Delay in Enforcement Could Allow Greater Pollution from Area Coal Plants
CHICAGO – Eight Chicago-area environmental and public health organizations are petitioning federal regulators to take over an Illinois permitting program that has failed to meet Clean Air Act requirements for more than 15 years. For instance, the state has failed to issue effective operating permits for the largest pollution sources in Illinois– namely, the 22 coal plants in Illinois – potentially leaving residents at risk.
“These federal operating permits are critically important for monitoring Illinois’ old, highly polluting coal plants,” says Senior Attorney Faith Bugel from the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC). “Without effective Title V permits, Illinois residents have lost the right to sue coal plant operators when they break the law.”
Federal operating permits (or Title V permits) are important because the Title V program gives citizens (and not just state agencies like the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) the right to sue for permit violations. These permits also contain important provisions for monitoring pollution and reporting the results to the state – and without the permits it is almost impossible for citizens to verify whether coal plants and other major sources of air pollution are within pollution limits.
According to attorneys from ELPC and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), two Illinois agencies are responsible for these delays. First, the Illinois EPA delayed the initial issuance of the permits. Then, when coal plant operators appealed the permits before the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB), the IPCB compounded the delays by ‘staying’ the permits during the appeals process. As a result, these huge sources of air pollution have not had federal operating permits for decades.
“Title V is supposed to make Clean Air Act permitting more transparent by giving the public regular snapshots of the requirements for coal plant operators,” said NRDC attorney Ann Alexander. “But since we haven’t gotten those public updates, Illinois has essentially given some of the nation’s worst polluters a regulatory safe house from modern permit requirements that protect the public.”
Those stays have remained in effect even though the operators and the State have failed to resolve the permit appeals in settlement discussions that have dragged on for six years. The IPCB, nonetheless, continues to accept the parties’ representations that they are making progress in those discussions.
“When your child has asthma, six years can seem like an eternity,” says Kim Wasserman, a mother of an asthmatic who lives near the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago. “There are laws meant to protect us – to protect people from getting sick. But what good is a law that goes unenforced?”
The petition was filed on behalf of the following organizations: Environmental Law & Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Sierra Club, Environment Illinois, and Illinois Environmental Council.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Read the Commentary.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Clean Energy & Clean Air
Growing Wind Power, Accelerating Solar Power and Improving Energy Efficiency. ELPC’s leadership to create, enact and implement renewable energy and energy efficiency standards is achieving major results. Iowa and Illinois are now 2nd and 7th nationally for installed wind energy as more than 6,000 megawatts of wind power operates across the Midwest. Solar development is accelerating as Illinois’, Michigan’s and Ohio’s programs take flight. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio all met their energy efficiency goals in 2010 and 2011 as the programs are injecting $1 billion for efficiency improvement investments, producing energy bill savings for consumers and avoiding harmful pollution from power plants. Efficiency is flattening out electricity demand while renewables generate cleaner power for the Midwest’s environment and economy. Learn more about ELPC’s work on wind power, solar power and energy efficiency.
Growing the Clean Energy Economy: 1,000 Supply Chain Businesses and 50,000+ Jobs in Five Midwest States. ELPC is telling the clean energy economic growth stories in powerful on-the-ground ways that persuade policymakers, business leaders and civic influentials. ELPC’s Wind/Solar Supply Chain Business reports for Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin identify the manufacturing, technical, installation and professional services businesses and jobs in each state. Old-line Rust Belt manufacturers are retooling to produce new equipment for the growing renewable energy industry, and there are now 15 wind energy corporate headquarters in Chicago alone. ELPC partnerships with Chambers of Commerce and labor groups are advancing strategic policy solutions that drive economic growth and job creation in the Midwest. Learn more about ELPC’s Supply Chain Reports.
Advancing Solar Energy Policies to Drive the Market and New Installations. Solar energy is a fast-growing economic sector, and ELPC is leading the charge to make the Midwest a solar development center. Creative policy advocacy is driving the market expansion, developing new financing approaches to make solar work in more places and supporting new large-scale solar “brightfields.” ELPC advocacy achieved Illinois’ solar “carve out” in the state’s Renewable Energy Standard that will produce 650 megawatts of installed solar by 2015, and we are removing barriers to distributed solar generation for households and small businesses. ELPC helped lead Michigan to re-launch incentives supporting distributed solar projects, and we’re advancing policy improvements in Ohio’s solar programs. ELPC and Iowa start-up solar businesses are working to advance supportive policies for more rooftop installations, as solar accelerates across the region. Learn more about ELPC’s solar power work.
Cleaning Up and Shutting Down Highly Polluting Coal Plants. ELPC’s advocacy protects clean air, reduces mercury and global warming pollution, and saves communities millions of dollars in health and environmental costs. ELPC’s and partners’ legal pressure and economic analysis has led to the shutdown of six old highly-polluting coal plants in Illinois and the nearby old State Line coal plant on the Lake Michigan shoreline, while others now invest in and install modern pollution control equipment. ELPC attorneys represent local groups holding off proposed new old-technology plants in Michigan and Kentucky. ELPC is a leader in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition creating pressure to either clean up or shut down the old Fisk and Crawford coal plants that cause 41 premature deaths and 2,800 asthma attacks annually. Learn more about ELPC’s work to clean up or shut down coal plants.
Clean Transportation
Breaking Ground on the Midwest High-Speed Rail Network. This train is moving! ELPC’s long-term advocacy for modern, fast, comfortable and convenient Midwest rail has moved from vision to reality: Thousands of workers are setting new tracks and signals on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor, and Michigan has acquired almost all of the track for 110 mph service on the Chicago-Detroit corridor. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $733 million to a consortium of states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and California — to jointly procure modern new locomotives and railcars that will improve the train passengers’ experience and boost Midwest rail equipment manufacturing jobs and businesses. High-speed rail development will improve mobility, reduce pollution, create jobs and spur economic growth. Let’s go! Learn more about ELPC’s work to advance high-speed rail.
Clean Water & Natural Resources Protection
Cleaning Up the Chicago River. Turning point! Victory! ELPC’s persistent and effective legal and policy advocacy with our clients Friends of the Chicago River and Sierra Club and additional partners to clean up the Chicago River achieved a stunning victory: Chicago will soon disinfect the 1.2 billion gallons of wastewater that are dumped into the River each day. Future generations will look back on 2011 as when Chicagoans finally moved forward to make their namesake river safer and cleaner. The Chicago River will be healthier, ultimately “fishable and swimmable” and a better community and economic asset for all of us to enjoy. Learn more about ELPC’s work to protect clean rivers and lakes.
Preserving Michigan’s Saugatuck Dunes. ELPC attorneys representing the Saugatuck Dune Coastal Alliance and other local conservation and civic leaders achieved a huge legal victory in Federal District Court for the Western District of Michigan, which held that a proposed consent decree between the developer and under-duress local officials was illegal and fundamentally flawed. This court decision shifts the momentum to help preserve a pristine assembly of beaches, freshwater dunes, water, woods and wetlands along the Lake Michigan coast. The proposed massive development project would harm the Saugatuck Coastal Dunes Area, which the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified as among the 11 most endangered places in the country. ELPC is protecting both the vital dunes conservation area and the local community’s authority to make better land use and planning decisions for the future. Learn more about ELPC’s work to protect the Saugatuck Dunes.
Expanding E-Waste Recycling Opportunities. ELPC crafted and successfully advocated for Illinois’ improved recycling law, which diverts electronic waste with toxic components from landfills where the chemicals can leach and contaminate groundwater used for community drinking water supplies. The state’s annual recycling goal is doubled, creating jobs and spurring recycling businesses, and making more e-waste recycling available to the public. Learn more about ELPC’s work to advance e-waste recycling opportunities.
Protecting Water Quality in Iowa and Wisconsin. ELPC achieved important Clean Water Act phosphorus reduction and anti-degradation standards, which are now under attack. ELPC’s and local partners’ advocacy helped stop Wisconsin politicians from repealing the phosphorus pollution standard for Wisconsin rivers and held off Iowa naysayers challenging the anti-degradation standards designed to “keep clean water clean” and help clean up the Mississippi River basin. Learn more about ELPC’s work to protect clean rivers and lakes.
Honoring U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
ELPC honored U.S. Senator Dick Durbin for his long-term effective leadership. At ELPC’s October 10th dinner event, Senator Durbin discussed opportunities to achieve economic growth and job creation together with better environmental protection. Experience part of the event online with excerpts from Senator Durbin’s speech, videos and more.
ELPC’s Chicago Office Receives LEED Platinum Rating
ELPC’s office was awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest green certification. Our new eco-office puts ELPC’s values into practice, creates a workspace that improves the environment, makes good economic sense, is healthier for our staff and can be replicated by downtown businesses. Learn more about ELPC’s LEED Platinum eco-office.
From ELPC Executive Director Howard A. Learner
ELPC has achieved remarkable results on our core vision and mission: achieving environmental progress, job creation and economic development together. During this time of extreme political partisanship and economic challenges, we are producing successes on improving environmental quality and preserving natural resources with solutions-focused strategies.
Cleaning Up the Chicago River – A Turning Point! For years, Chicagoans have tolerated our namesake river being unsafe and unhealthy for recreation and enjoyment. Chicago is one of very few major cities in which wastewater is not disinfected prior to discharge into the river. ELPC’s and our colleagues’ persistent and effective advocacy over the past six years succeeded in 2011. Modern pollution control equipment will now be installed to disinfect Chicago’s wastewater. Twenty years from now, Chicagoans enjoying the Chicago River in their communities will look back, shake their heads and ask why it took so long to clean up our river. 2011 will be seen as the turning point. We are very proud of this breakthrough.
Cleaner Air and More Clean Energy. ELPC’s Repowering the Midwest and Job Jolt studies in 2000 and 2001 presented a visionary clean energy development plan for our region. We are now achieving this transformation. More than 6,000 megawatts of wind power are running, solar is coming and energy efficiency is flattening out demand while old highly-polluting coal plants are either installing modern pollution control equipment or shutting down. The growing clean energy economy is “jolting” new job creation, and old-line manufacturers are retooling to make new wind and solar energy equipment. ELPC is leading the policy charge for this transformative change to a cleaner energy economy.
Midwest High-Speed Rail – From Vision to Reality. Thousands of construction workers are now working to upgrade the Chicago-St. Louis and Chicago-Detroit corridors to provide modern rail service that can improve mobility for businesses and families, reduce pollution, create new jobs and pull the regional economy together. ELPC, the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO are on the same page, working together to get new fast trains running soon.
Protecting the Saugatuck Dunes Conservation Area. ELPC attorneys’ representation of the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance led to a Federal District Court legal victory that is heading off, for now, a damaging large-scale development in this special natural area. This litigation success exemplifies the importance and effectiveness of ELPC’s public interest lawyering and opens the door to better solutions that protect vital lands.
Together with ELPC’s Board and Staff, I’m proud of our 2011 accomplishments. We all look forward to seizing more strategic opportunities for environmental solutions and progress.
ELPC’s Staff & Board Thank You for Your Interest & Support!
From Executive Director Howard A. Learner
ELPC has achieved remarkable results on our core vision and mission: achieving environmental progress, job creation and economic development together. During this time of extreme political partisanship and economic challenges, we are producing successes on improving environmental quality and preserving natural resources with solutions-focused strategies.
Cleaning Up the Chicago River – A Turning Point! For years, Chicagoans have tolerated our namesake river being unsafe and unhealthy for recreation and enjoyment. Chicago is one of very few major cities in which wastewater is not disinfected prior to discharge into the river. ELPC’s and our colleagues’ persistent and effective advocacy over the past six years succeeded in 2011. Modern pollution control equipment will now be installed to disinfect Chicago’s wastewater. Twenty years from now, Chicagoans enjoying the Chicago River in their communities will look back, shake their heads and ask why it took so long to clean up our river. 2011 will be seen as the turning point. We are very proud of this breakthrough.
Cleaner Air and More Clean Energy. ELPC’s Repowering the Midwest and Job Jolt studies in 2000 and 2001 presented a visionary clean energy development plan for our region. We are now achieving this transformation. More than 6,000 megawatts of wind power are running, solar is coming and energy efficiency is flattening out demand while old highly-polluting coal plants are either installing modern pollution control equipment or shutting down. The growing clean energy economy is “jolting” new job creation, and old-line manufacturers are retooling to make new wind and solar energy equipment. ELPC is leading the policy charge for this transformative change to a cleaner energy economy.
Midwest High-Speed Rail – From Vision to Reality. Thousands of construction workers are now working to upgrade the Chicago-St. Louis and Chicago-Detroit corridors to provide modern rail service that can improve mobility for businesses and families, reduce pollution, create new jobs and pull the regional economy together. ELPC, the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO are on the same page, working together to get new fast trains running soon.
Protecting the Saugatuck Dunes Conservation Area. ELPC attorneys’ representation of the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance led to a Federal District Court legal victory that is heading off, for now, a damaging large-scale development in this special natural area. This litigation success exemplifies the importance and effectiveness of ELPC’s public interest lawyering and opens the door to better solutions that protect vital lands.
Together with ELPC’s Board and Staff, I’m proud of our 2011 accomplishments. We all look forward to seizing more strategic opportunities for environmental solutions and progress.
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Monday, October 19, 2009
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued an objection to the operating permit for BP North America’s refinery in Whiting, IN that will require the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to rewrite the permit.
The decision is a victory for ELPC and the other citizens and environmental groups who petitioned EPA to object to the permit in August 2008 on the grounds that it did not accurately account for the large increases in dangerous air pollution that would be caused by BP’s expansion of the refinery. ELPC filed the petition with a coalition that included Hoosier Environmental Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Save the Dunes Council, Sierra Club, Susan Eleuterio and Tom Tsourlis.
BP began a major expansion of the Whiting Refinery in 2008 in order to process dirty Canadian tar sands crude oil at the facility. The expansion would make the refinery the largest refiner of tar sands oil in the U.S. and would increase numerous traditional air pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. In addition, the expansion would create approximately as much new global warming pollution as a new 300-400 megawatt coal plant, about a forty percent increase from current refinery levels.
“BP needs to come clean about what this expansion really will mean for clean air and public health.” said ELPC Staff Attorney Meleah Geertsma.
Read the Press Release Here
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Coal combustion produces smog, soot, acid rain, the neurotoxin mercury, and is the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions, a leading cause of global warming. ELPC works throughout the Midwest to clean up old, dirty coal plants and prevent the building of unnecessary new plants. Our current includes:
Chicago’s Fisk and Crawford Coal Plants
Michigan’s Wolverine Coal Plant
Kentucky’s Trimble, Cash Creek and NewGas Coal Plants
Chicago’s Fisk & Crawford Coal Plants
In Chicago, a team of ELPC’s attorneys, policy advocates, and communications experts is working with the Chicago Clean Power Coalition to clean up or shut down the old, dirty Fisk and Crawford coal plants located in the city’s Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, respectively.
ELPC’s and the Coalition’s work includes advocacy for the passage of a City ordinance that would significantly reduce soot and greenhouse gas pollution from Chicago’s coal plants. The Clean Power Ordinance would make Chicago the first city in the nation to regulate pollution from coal plants.
The Ordinance was introduced in July 2011 with enough votes to pass City Council. It now has 35 co-sponsors (26 are required for passage) and is supported by majority of the City Council, including 9 newly elected aldermen. In addition to the cosponsors, the ordinance is backed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a grassroots campaign of nearly 60 community, health, labor and environmental groups from across the city.
Michigan’s Wolverine Coal Plant
In Michigan, ELPC is lead counsel for a coalition that opposes the proposed new 600-megawatt Wolverine coal plant in the picturesque fishing town of Rogers City. Our work has included massive, coordinated statewide efforts to document legal deficiencies with 8 coal plants proposed in the state as well as more robust legal challenge of the Wolverine plant in particular.
The coalition scored a major victory when former Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE) Director Rebecca Humphries denied a permit needed to build the controversial plant. But a state court overturned that decision, and the state agency issued the air permit to Wolverine in June 2011. ELPC is now preparing to appeal that permit.
Kentucky’s Cash Creek and NewGas Coal Plants
ELPC represents the Kentucky Chapter of the Sierra Club and other local groups in legal challenges to air permits issues to two coal-to-synthetic natural gas plants, Cash Creek and Kentucky NewGas. Currently, ELPC’s appeals of the plants’ Clean Air Act Title V operating permits are in the Kentucky state court system. ELPC has also petitioned the U.S. EPA to object to the permits.
Recent Highlights
In April 2010 and again in July 2011, ELPC joined Chicago Alderman Joe Moore and a coalition of business and community groups to introduce a City ordinance that would significantly reduce soot and greenhouse gas pollution from Chicago’s coal plants. The Clean Power Ordinance would make Chicago the first city in the nation to regulate pollution from coal plants.
In August 2009, US EPA and the Illinois Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Midwest Generation for Clean Air Act violations committed by the company’s coal plants in northern Illinois. ELPC and our partners have joined this lawsuit.
In February 2009, ELPC and its coalition scored a victory on its legal challenge of the proposed Wolverine coal plant; Governor Granholm announced a major policy shift for Michigan—the state will not issue any more permits for new coal plants without first assessing cleaner energy alternatives.
In Fall 2008, the Federal EPA supported our legal challenge that Kentucky violated the Clean Air Act in issuing state permits to the Trimble coal plant and now state officials in Kentucky must “correct” the permit to be more restrictive.
In 2006, ELPC and a broad coalition of environmental and public health groups were successful in the adoption of the Illinois Mercury Reduction Rule, and three years later, we continue to monitor the utilities’ compliance with this law.
