December 2017
Attend the Illinois Pollution Control Board Public Hearing Wednesday, Jan. 17th at the Peoria Public Library, 107 NE Monroe St., Peoria, in the basement level Auditorium.
CRITICAL time for your attendance is 4 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. or attend whenever you can!
You must sign in to give public comments but you do not have to speak: Please attend to give witness to your concern for clean air. Your Presence in the audience is important.
Show the Illinois Pollution Control Board that people count. Clean air matters. Coal-fired power plants pollute and cost us all in health, quality of life, and the future of this planet.
At risk are current clean air regulations regarding the Edwards Power Plant, located just south of Bartonville and directly across from Pekin, which impacts our entire Central Illinois region air quality. Not only the Edwards plant, but coal-fired power plants up-river in Hennepin, and down-river in Havanna, and at Duck Creek near Canton will all have more license to pollute. Other coal-fired plants that are in this permit change are Kincaid, in Christian County east of Springfield, and Coffeen in Montgomery County, southeast of Springfield, and the Newton and Joppa plants in Southern Illinois.
Illinois will be taking a huge step backwards in clean air if the Illinois Pollution Control Board approves the changes under consideration. We in the Central Illinois region will directly suffer as we have four power plants impacting our Illinois River Valley air quality. We get particulate pollution and other harmful impacts from these power plants. The Illinois Pollution Control Board is reviewing major changes to the existing air pollution regulations for these plants with this proposal to have one set annual emissions rate for all the plants, instead of the previous two annual permit controls that helped reduce the amount the most highly polluting plants were run. The change under consideration will allow the dirtiest plants to be run more but still allow the company to meet the overall state limits.
The full hearing begins at 10 a.m. with testimony by attorneys and experts for the power plants and from Sierra Club and other environmental groups. Public comments begin at 4:30 p.m. You must sign in to give public comments. YOUR COMMENTS ARE NEEDED. Even if you just wish to comment about how you value clean air and are concerned about coal plant pollution, MAKE A COMMENT! If you have any breathing problems or have a family member with asthma or breathing issues, it is important to comment on the costs of air pollution, such as medications, missed days at work or school, ER trips, or any other economic issues.
The Illinois Pollution Control Board will be considering the economic impacts of a request from the power plants to change to the proposed annual rate cap. Dynegy (now controlled by Vistra Energy) met behind closed doors with the Illinois EPA for months, basically telling the IEPA what the power company wanted to help them be more profitable for their stockholders. Then the IEPA filed to the Illinois Pollution Control Board for this change in the existing state-wide pollution regulations. This change makes certain communities, like those in Central Illinois, at great risk of increased pollution because the Edwards plant can run much more, even though it is a much more polluting plant. The previous regulations required bi-annual limits which helped keep more polluting plants in check. If the proposed new annual permit change is approved, the harmful impacts could be dramatic for our Central Illinois region air quality.
Edwards is one of the most polluting coal plants in the state, due to the failures of successive owners to upgrade pollution controls at the plant. Edwards was owned by Dynegy, and as of October, 2017 is now owned by the even larger and richer Texas based Vistra Energy.
Please attend as much of this hearing as you can. Let your friends and neighbors know! Bring friends!
Take a stand for clean air. Take action: Your presence matters!
For more information contact Joyce Blumenshine at 309-688-0950 or joblumen@yahoo.com.