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Sierra Club Lawsuits

Mercury Takes Center Stage in Plans for New Power Plant on Lake Michigan

Case Updates:

May 1, 2005

Lake Michigan is known for its world famous fishery; unfortunately, it is also known for its already high levels of toxic mercury, which have led to a fish-consumption advisory along the Wisconsin lakeshore. Even though mercury is a powerful toxin that causes brain damage, especially among children, a new power plant proposed by the giant utility company WE Energies would dump mercury straight into the lake. The WE Energies’ proposed coal-fired power plant would also draw 2 billion gallons of water a day from the lake, which would have a devastating impact on the world renowned fishery. Sierra Club has teamed up with Clean Wisconsin and S.C. Johnson to challenge the mammoth, dirty power plant in legal proceedings. The move comes as a step in a larger, coordinated effort to stop the power plant and force the state to consider reasonable, safer alternatives such as a natural gas plant. You can read the latest court filing here.

Details and Documents:

Wisconsin Power Plant Project Causes Alarm
June 22, 2005, by Juliet Williams, The Associated Press. Published in The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle

Power bill speeds through process; Senate panel, Assembly OK legislation that may circumvent court's ruling on coal plant
June 14, 2005, by Thomas Content, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin Power Plant is Called a Setback for the Environment
May 28, 2005, by Peter Slevin, The Washington Post

Wisconsin power plant will kill billions of lake fish, Sierra Club claims
May 13, 2005, by Gary Wisby, Chicago Sun Times

Group File Fourth Legal Challenge to Protect Lake Michigan from WE Energies' Proposed Coal Plant
May 4, 2005, Press Release

Contested Case Request
May 5, 2005