RESET: Concernec Citizens Call For Full Review of Oak Creek Power Plant by Army Corps
9/29/2004

Contact:
Eric Uram
(608) 257-4994

Public hearing attendees point to numerous unanswered questions as reasons for concern

Oak Creek – Local members of the community, including many who are part of the Sierra Club and other environmental watchdog groups, will call on the Army Corps of Engineers to direct an Environmental Impact Statement of WE Energies’ Oak Creek Power Plant proposal at tonight’s Corps’ public hearing.

“The DNR and EPA should welcome an independent review by the Corps based on what we do know, and everything we don’t, about the serious negative environmental impact of this proposed project --both locally and throughout the region,” said Eric Uram, Midwest Regional Representative of the Sierra Club.

Hearing attendees plan to raise a number of concerns about the project. Many of them focusing on a recently reported EPA whistleblower memo as proof that scores of questions are still left unanswered regarding the power plant’s impact on human health and the environment.

Some of the higher-level-of-concern issues focus on:

• The lack of consideration given to alternative cooling systems that would have less environmental impact than the currently proposed once-through cooling water system.
• The lack of consideration by the PSCW and WDNR to fully reconsider viable alternative site locations once the PSCW rejected the third coal unit because of cost.
• The lack of a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impact of the proposal based on the most recent site layout.
• The total amount of mercury and other poisonous wastes that will be dumped directly into the lake ecosystem each year.

Uram said, “It is beyond belief that a project of Oak Creek’s magnitude has received as little review as it has by these agencies. If left as is, this clearly violates the public’s trust these agencies are sworn to uphold.”