INDECK NEARLY OVER FINAL HURDLE FOR NILES PLANT

NILES – A nearly $1 billion development in Niles looks to be moving forward after a public hearing last week. Indeck Energy Services plans to build a new natural gas fired power plant in the Niles Industrial Park and is asking the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to issue them an air emissions permit.
MDEQ officials answered questions from the public and took statements from those both opposed and in favor of the new project. The DEQ has already given preliminary approval to Indeck’s permit request and is expected to issue a final decision on the permit in the next few months.
Last week’s public hearing at the Northside Childhood Development Center in Niles featured comments from people on both sides of the issue as well as assurances from DEQ officials that the plant will be regularly monitored to make sure they are obeying all state and federal regulations.
DEQ representative Catherine Asselin said that while the emissions data looks at first glance like Indeck will be putting a lot of different pollutants into the air, the area will still be in compliance with national standards. She added that a lot of the pollutants will be discharged during start up and levels will subside once the plant is running.
She and other officials said that Indeck will be monitored closely to make sure they are in compliance. They noted that more protections for the public are in place now than was the case 15 years ago when the project was first proposed since federal and state regulations have tightened during that time.
Once the air emissions permit is granted, Indeck would likely not need any further permits or approvals before starting construction. The company stated earlier this fall that they’d like to start constuction next fall and be open in 2020.
Niles City Adminstrator Ric Huff said after the meeting that Indeck has gotten all the local approvals it needs from the city including a zoning variance relative to the height of the structures and site plan approval. He doesn’t anticipate any other local board action needing to be taken.
A number of Niles city officials and area economic development officials spoke in favor of the project. Former Niles Mayor Michael McCauslin said he continues to be “100 percent” in support of the project. He noted that air quality standards are much more stringent than they were in 2000 and the plant will still meet those standards.
Southwestern Michigan Economic Growth Alliance Executive Director Barkley Garrett said the plant will be a “state of the art energy center” that will meet the area’s energy needs at a time when the Palisades nuclear plant is going off line as are coal-fired plants.
“The need is great,” he said. “This will bring 500 construction jobs and 21 full time jobs and a significant amount of tax revenue. This is a wonderful project for the city of Niles, Berrien and Cass counties and the Michiana region.”
Howard Township residents Larry Eckler and Nelson “Sig” Slavik were among the plant’s most vocal opponents then and still have questions about what it will mean to the local area.
Eckler, a local farmer, raised concerns such as noise, traffic, water usage and the plant’s possibly impeding other companies from coming due to the level of pollutants it will produce. He also questioned whether the plant would use so much natural gas that it would make the price of natural gas rise for consumers.
Eckler asked DEQ officials to look at actual local meteorological conditions and take situations such as temperature inversions into consideration. He asked that the DEQ monitor local weather conditions around the plant for a year before giving final approval.
“We’re downwind from the plant and we also have concerns about temperature inversions,” he said. “The St. Joseph River valley has a whole lot of different weather scenarios.”
DEQ officials in attendance said that their concern is only air emissions and said concerns such as noise, traffic and water usage are local matters. They said Indeck is working to get the water it needs from the city of Niles and the state would only get involved if that agreement falls through.
Slavik, an environmental consultant, spoke only during the public hearing part of the hearing. He was concerned about the concentration of pollutants coming out of the plant and what could happen to local residents when there’s a temperature inversion.
“What hasn’t been addressed are the amounts of formaldehyde and benzene that could be deposited in the area around the plant,” he said. “These are known human carcinogens and this needs to be seriously considered.”