EPA Objects to South Dakota Coal Plant, Puts Approval on Ice

Published January 26, 2009

The Denver regional office of the EPA issued an objection to approval of the Big Stone II coal-fired power plant and said the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources has 90 days to resubmit its air quality permit for the proposed facility.

The EPA's regional office in Denver sent a letter stating its objections to the South Dakota agency on January 22. The objections to the proposed $1.6 billion plant included failure to include adequate emission limitations and standards and provisions for compliance.

The Sierra Club and the Clean Water Action organization welcomed the EPA's demand for a resubmission.

The Big Stone II plant said yesterday, however, that the objections would be addressed.

"We are confident the technology and operational procedures we have selected to reduce emissions from the Big Stone site by combining the existing Big Stone Plant's emissions with Big Stone II are the right approach," Big Stone II Project Manager Mark Rolfes said in a statement.

"We do not expect the process to present a significant delay in our schedule."

The Otter Tail Power Company, Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Heartland Consumers Power District, Missouri River Energy Services and the Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. are participants in the Big Stone II project.

The energy companies provide power to one million people in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Montana.

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EPA Objects to South Dakota Coal Plant, Puts Approval on Ice

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