Baard liquid coal proposal
Baard Energy, a private Vancouver-based company, has proposed building a $6 billion liquid coal plant in Wellsville (Columbiana County), roughly 40 miles south of Youngstown.
Background: Essentially, Baard's proposal is to take 28,000 tons of coal per day (this is equivalent to about 4 trains each carrying 60 cars full of coal) and convert it into about 53,000 barrels of liquid, diesel-like fuel. At the same time, the facility would produce about 250MW of electric power that could be exported to the grid. Baard has stated it has executed an option agreement for long-term coal supply with an existing Ohio coal producer; if entirely Ohio coal, this could increase destructive coal mining practices in Ohio by up to 40%. Additionally, there exist grave concerns with air and water pollution.
The question of carbon sequestration at the Baard facility is unclear. Baard has made public statements to the effect that the company intends to pipe CO2 to an oil field 40 miles away, and use it to enhance oil extraction. However, the company is not required to do so - and in fact, Baard's air permit states that the facility will vent its CO2 emissions into the atmosphere initially, with no specified date to end such venting. Additionally, many issues surrounding carbon sequestration have not been resolved, including property rights, insurance and long-term liability. The Baard facility would likely be an enormous new source of global warming pollution in this state for at least many years to come, at the very time we need to be cutting back on our carbon emissions.
Read a fact sheet about the economic and environmental risks posed by the Baard facility, compiled by our friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council (.pdf file, 35 KB)
Together with NRDC, Sierra Club has appealed three environmental permits received by Baard: the air and wastewater permits, issued in 2008 by Ohio EPA, and the 404 wetlands fill permit, issued in 2008 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All three appeals are pending.
Read the text of Sierra Club's and NRDC's appeal of Baard's air permit to find out why the permit does not sufficiently protect public health and the environment (.pdf file, 518 KB)
Read the text of Sierra Club's and NRDC's appeal of Baard's wastewater discharge permit to find out why the permit does not sufficiently protect public health and the environment (.pdf file, 2 MB)