Community Groups Urge State Regulators to Update Air Pollution Guidelines and Increase Monitoring
Beloit, WI—On Monday, May 5, four Beloit-area organizations—Healthy Climate Wisconsin, Wisconsin EcoLatinos, Good Trouble Beloit, and League of Women Voters of Beloit—submitted comments to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) calling on the agency to do more to protect Beloit residents from harmful air pollution. The DNR will be receiving additional testimony at a May 6th public hearing at 1:30 PM.
The groups, which are represented by the nonprofit law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates, are speaking out in response to a preliminary decision by the DNR to issue an air pollution permit for Alliant Energy’s plan to construct and operate additional gas-fired generating units at its Riverside Energy Center in Beloit. They are particularly concerned about any increase in PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) emissions. Particulate matter negatively impacts almost every system and organ throughout the body.
In order to evaluate their clients’ concerns about PM2.5, Midwest Environmental Advocates retained Wingra Engineering to conduct an analysis of the Riverside Energy Center and the proposed expansion. The analysis concluded that PM2.5 emissions from the current facility and the expansion may cause or exacerbate exceedances of federal NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) in Beloit and Rock County in Wisconsin, and Winnebago County in Illinois.
“The DNR’s preliminary decision to issue a permit for this project is based on an outdated approach to regulating PM2.5 emissions that doesn’t reflect the latest science. As a result, Wisconsin families are being unnecessarily exposed to harmful air pollution that is doing real damage to their health,” said Dan Gustafson, Senior Staff Attorney at Midwest Environmental Advocates.
Christina Carvajal of Wisconsin EcoLatinos said, “The DNR is overlooking the serious health risks and environmental consequences that expansion will impose on our community. Wisconsin EcoLatinos will continue to advocate for cleaner energy solutions and oppose decisions that harm our community.”
In addition to urging the DNR to update its air dispersion modeling guidelines, the community groups are also urging the DNR to install a regulatory air monitor for PM2.5 in Beloit. The analysis conducted by Wingra Engineering, as well as data collected by volunteers using inexpensive air monitoring devices, strongly suggest that ambient levels of PM2.5 currently exceed legal limits. There is no way to know for sure, however, because the closest regulatory monitors are located far away in Madison and Rockford.
“In the past,” said Gustafson, “both Alliant and the DNR have been critical of the quality of the data gathered by low-cost citizen-installed monitoring devices. At the same time, they seem confident that PM2.5 levels aren’t exceeding legal limits. We invite them to work with our clients to support the installation of a reference-quality monitor to verify those assumptions.”
Betsy Brewer of the League of Women Voters of Beloit said, “Expansion is inconsistent with the League of Women Voters’ position on energy, which supports energy generation that lowers, rather than increases, the air pollution burden already experienced by communities downwind of the plant.”
Brittany Keyes of Healthy Climate Wisconsin said, “No new industrial pollution sources should be approved in Rock County until adequate monitoring is underway, and the DNR can prove our communities are safe and air pollution levels are not violating federal standards. As an organization of clinical and public health professionals, Healthy Climate Wisconsin cannot overstate the importance and the urgency of pollution prevention for community health, especially in historically overburdened communities. Expanding fossil gas production in Rock County will increase the risk of asthma, chronic disease, and early death.”
