Tag Archives: permit
Fair Fight?
Whether people are opposed to or supportive of Sunflower’s coal-fired plant, the regulatory trail this project has traveled over the last four or five years raises questions and concerns. This is a contentious fight, but it doesn’t help KDHE or Kansas to be caught misrepresenting the facts of the case. Continue reading
More Dirt on Sunflower Electric’s Coal-fired Power Plant
State legislators, Govs. Mark Parkinson and Sam Brownback, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have not acted in the public’s best interest during this tortured five-year saga. As a result, a weak permit was rushed through to allow the expansion. Continue reading
EPA Says KDHE Not Honest About Permit Objections
An Environmental Protection Agency official has accused lawyers representing a Kansas agency of lying to the state Supreme Court about support for a permit that would allow a $2.8 billion coal-fired power plant to be built in southwest Kansas. Continue reading
Resources for “Comparative Analysis of Selected Emissions From the Proposed 895MW Holcomb Station Coal-Fired Unit”
This post contains resource links and documents related to the GPACE white paper titled “Comparative Analysis of Selected Emissions From the Proposed 895MW Holcomb Station Coal-Fired Unit”
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Kansas Officials Totally Not Rushing Coal Power Plant Permit to Beat End-of-Year Deadline
For several weeks, nine Kansas state employees have been voluntarily working weekends and late into the night to finish a review of a permit for a power plant. Continue reading
Permit Process for Coal-Fired Power Plant in Kansas Draws Criticism
Sunflower would benefit greatly if the permit is issued before Jan. 1, when new rules would force the utility to install greenhouse gas pollution controls that will add tens of millions of dollars to the price of the proposed plant in western Kansas.
That doesn’t mean the state is doing Sunflower any favors, acting Health Department Secretary John Mitchell said in an interview. Although the state’s deadline coincides with Sunflower’s, the two timelines are independent, he said. Continue reading
EPA Leader Pledges Fair Decision on Power Plant
EPA has not yet been party to the Sunflower controversy. That’s as it should be. Our U.S. Constitution shares federal and state responsibility to protect our nation’s air resource. Our keystone Clean Air Act assigns Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) initial responsibility to decide if Sunflower’s pollutants will damage Kansans’ health too much. But EPA will soon have to make some important legal decisions. And recent developments in Topeka and Washington, D.C., warrant a brief explanation of this agency’s duties if the Sunflower controversy hits my desk. Continue reading
Regulator Who Blocked Kansas Coal Plants Ousted by Governor
“It was a midnight execution,” says NRDC senior advocate Theo Spencer. “When everybody’s eyes were on the election, the governor fires the guy who was responsible for protecting public health and the environment so he can ram this power plant through against public opinion.” Continue reading
Sunflower Electric submits application for coal-fired plant
A controversial power plant proposal is under consideration again. Continue reading
GPACE Comments from Scott Allegrucci at Final KDHE Hearing
This is a written draft of comments from GPACE Executive Director Scott Allegrucci to KDHE at the 10/25/10 final public hearing on the draft permit for the proposed Sunflower Electric/Tri-State Generation and Transmission 895MW coal-fired power plant. Actual verbal comments were excerpted from this draft, in an attempt to comply with the 3-minute time limit.
A comprehensive written comment on the technical aspects of the draft permit (referenced in this text) was submitted by GPACE to KDHE prior to the 10/23/10 deadline. Continue reading →