Future Events & Opportunities for Action:
City Council Meeting Schedule (regular and special meetings) - Regular meetings are on Monday nights at 7pm, typically twice a month. Additionally, special meetings may be called.

Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Calendars, State of Michigan - These calendars show the most recent permit requests, particularly those open to public comment. Please note that unless they receive a request for a hearing in writing from an interested person, any "scheduled hearing" will not be held (The more requests received the better chances that a hearing will be held, particularly if there are many requests for a local hearing). Permits relating to the Midland site will refer to "MidMichigan LLC."

Past Meetings & Events:

• July 19, 2008 Elkton, MI - Wind Festival, "Get Blown Away" - Wind farm tours & more!
• July 7, 2008 MidlandCARES General Meeting
• June 25, 2008 DEQ holding meeting in Lansing about Coal Plants (more details to come)
• June 20, 2008 Tour of the Windfarm in the Thumb, arranged by CNC & Creative Spirit Center (details at CSC)
• June 18, 2008 at 6pm "We Can Do It Town Hall" Meeting, USW Local 12075 Hall (details below)
• June 16, 2008 at 7pm Documentary "Burning the Future" UU Fellowship of Midland (details below)
• June 2, 7:30pm - UU Fellowship of Midland, MidlandCARES General Meeting
• May 29, 2008: 6:30pm, Wheeler Rd Church of Christ: Forum hosted by Mom's Club - Presentations by Vanderpool and MidlandCARES
• May 20, 2008: 7pm, UU Fellowship of Midland, Q&A forum - Vanderpool/Sinclair
• April 21, 2008 7pm - Midland Township Hall, DEQ Wetlands Permit Hearing
• April 14, 2008: 7pm, Midland City Hall - CITY COUNCIL - Site Plan Approved
• April 8, 2008: 6pm, Wirt Library, Bay City - Informational meeting
• March 25, 2008: 7pm, Midland City Hall - SITE PLAN REVIEW (2nd Session)
• March 11, 2008: 7pm - Midland City Hall - SITE PLAN REVIEW (1st Session)
• March 5, 2008: 5-9pm - Valley Plaza - ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OPEN HOUSE

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Past meeting summaries and articles:

DEQ Wetlands Permit Hearing held April 21, 7-7:55pm 

The first public hearing in the DEQ permit process was held Monday April 21. The meeting was very short despite the large numbers attending. Many arrived on-site after the meeting concluded. Comments were restricted by the DEQ representative Brian Rudolph who occasionally cut off speakers who were speaking in a rapidfire to get their comments spoken during the set time limits. However, 10 people spoke against approving the permit, and 4 people spoke for approving the permit. Additional comments were accepted for 10 days after the hearing. To check on the status of this permit, go to the DEQ website and look up Permit Application Number 07-56-0055-P, submitted by Mid Michigan Energy, LLC, Attn: Doug Mulvey, 400 Chesterfield Center, Suite 110, St. Louis, Missouri. The applicant proposes to construct a coal-fired power plant, near the intersection of South Saginaw Road and Waldo Avenue, to produce electricity and steam. Wetland mitigation is proposed. Information Contact: Brian Rudolph, Land and Water Management Division, 989-686-8025 , extension 8366.

 

Site Plan Review (second session), Midland Planning Commission, Tues March 25, 7-9:30pm

Summary: This meeting was open to public comment. Comments were limited to 3 minutes per person. Many of the comments raised concerns about the insufficiency of the responses to the original questions and also about written comments missing from the publically posted packet. The commission ultimately voted 8-0 to approve the site plan with an abstension from the chairperson. The approval was given with a large number of contingencies, including a provision that MidMichigan Energy not be allowed to begin construction until all permits were acquired. Many of the persons commenting as well as some of the commissioners expressed opinions ranging from regret to frustration that the process allowed for so little review of the health and safety issues related to the plant, due to the city council's rejection of allowing conditional use provisions, and requiring the commission to examine the site from an extremely narrow scope of concern.

To see the minutes from the meeting or a video recording of the meeting, go to the city website. Additionally, letters and other information may be sent to the Planning Commission through the City Planner Keith Baker at the City Hall Planning Department (2nd floor), either in person or by emailing Keith Baker.

Address any submissions: To Keith Baker, For Distribution to All Planning Commissioners and Councilpersons, and be sure to ask for a receipt (or confirmation email).

Site Plan Review (1st session), Midland Planning Commission, Tues March 11, 7-12midnite

ARTICLES:

Coal-fired plant draws more questions, comments in Midland
Posted by Cathy Heng | For the Saginaw News March 13, 2008 07:23AM

MIDLAND -- A coal-fired plant that will produce steam and electricity here also is generating plenty of statements, hundreds of questions and some warnings.

The comments kept coming and kept Midland's Planning Commission busy for five hours Tuesday in a marathon session.

Several hundred people attended the overflow meeting while Keith Baker, the city's director of planning, outlined the 201 pages of background for the electric-generating plant proposed by Mid-Michigan LLL, which is proposed for 4201 South Saginaw.

Baker covered 21 different points from site design characteristics to sequence and development to coordination with adjacent sites.

He said the site is proposed to have 11 buildings, two access points, internal road networks, and take four years to construct.

Janet Vanderpool, project development manager for the company, said the $1.9 billion plans would create 100 full-time jobs and 141 spinoff permanent jobs for Bay, Saginaw and Midland counties.

She added the plant will produce $13.7 million in new earnings yearly and produce $4.2 million in taxes each year for Midland.

Mid-Michigan LLL is developing the plant with LS Power and Dynegy.

"Even with a 1 percent slowdown in Michigan-based industry, there is an increasing need for energy," Vanderpool said. "Now coal is cleaner, safer and more efficient."

Baker said the city and the project leaders met with neighbors to discuss concerns about noise, road improvements, wetlands, trees, berms and trains using the plant.

Richard Fosgitt of Wilcox Professional Services in Zilwaukee outlined the plant's footprint from wetland mitigation to rail line placement and plant operations.

"The rail line encircles the site so it will not obstruct traffic on Waldo Road. We are also using a rotary car dumping building for rail cars to contain noise and dust," he said.

Fosgitt outlined the plant's need for 10 million gallons of water per day, the control of noise, the new sanitary lift station and storm and water discharge for the plant, which will burn soft coal from Wyoming.

But two dozen Midland-area residents who supported the project and 14 who peppered the developer and planning commission with questions wanted answers.

Supporters said the proposal will bring jobs to the area, the state needs electricity and energy and coal is a safe option.

"Now is a time for technology, industrial interests, plants and the environmentalists to join hands and support the plant," said Eldon Graham, a founder of the Chippewa Nature Center. He called it a "golden opportunity" to use coal in an environmentally friendly way.

A number of residents said the plant is proven technology that will keep Midland growing.

Scott Walker, president of Midland Tomorrow, said the plant can attract new industry.

"We have already had inquiries from other industries based on Mid-Michigan Energy. It will leverage new investment," he said.

But, others were opposed. They said coal burning was short sighted, some 40 truck loads of ash to the landfill daily is a problem, and coal is in short supply.

The plant will release toxic chemicals -- as much as 108 pounds of mercury a year into the air -- and there are health risks, they said. Carbon capture also needs a look, they continued.

Janea Little, an employee at Chippewa Nature Center, asked about possible toxic discharges into the river near the boat launch. Several nurses, meanwhile, questioned the health ramifications from asthma to lung cancers. Others wanted to know about evacuation plans.

Dr. Daryl Zelenak said incredibly small "particulate matter" can enter the lungs. He added a school is near the site, putting children at risk from passing coal cars and sludge and fly ash.

Resident Nancy Janoch came armed with 46 different questions from rainfall diversion to toxic chemicals and waste management at the landfill.

"Consider the 40 trucks full of waste, times 365 days a year for 50 years. That is a lot of waste. I cannot comprehend how Midland officials are binding us to this huge quantity of waste and danger and expense," she said.

Vanderpool said plant officials will answer all the questions in writing. The planning commission expects to take additional comments and consider the issue at its March 25 meeting and eventually send a recommendation to the City Council.

Alternative Energy Open House Valley Plaza, Great Room D, Wed March 5, 5-9pm

ARTICLES:

Local Citizens Put on their Own Open House, Local Group Promotes Seeing Both Sides of Coal Issue

Midland, MI: LS Power/Dynegy is holding an Open House on March 5th to show their plans for a new pulverized coal plant in Midland. Worried that rather than getting full information, Midlanders will instead be getting a sales pitch from two multibillion dollar corporations, a group of concerned local citizens are providing an additional opportunity to address the questions and concerns of those who attend.

The event will be free and open to the public to investigate both sides of the coal issue. Informed Midland citizens will be available to answer questions and discuss the issue. Literature and handouts will be provided. Video and powerpoint presentations will be ongoing throughout the event, and questions will be answered about public health, the economics of coal, Climate change, and energy alternatives.

The group has very serious concerns about the sustainability of coal as an energy source, the effects of coal burning plants on health, Global Climate, and the long term economic future of the region and state.

“America has turned a corner, and the end of the fossil fuel age is upon us. The alternatives are here, now, and the opportunities are exciting for communities that seize them” stated Suzette Zelenak, co-founder of MidlandCARES. “As America moves towards a New Energy Future and communities across our nation reject these dirty coal proposals, why is Midland considering a 50-year commitment to 19th Century technology? This will threaten our health, environment and economic future. ”

This event is just one more sign of the growing opposition to the proposed coal plant and follows a national trend in which communities, states, and the nation are turning away from dirty coal. In just the year 2007, 59 coal plant proposals were rejected or cancelled.

Last spring New Jersey-based LS Power and Texas-based Dynegy announced their plans to build a new pulverized coal plant with a price tag that has now risen above 1.9 Billion dollars. During the past year, a number of local citizens and groups have begun to question the need for the new plant, and ask what its impacts on the community will be. They have been unsatisfied with the answers that these coal giants have been providing. Commenting on the side-by-side events, Zelenak stated that “in the marketplace of ideas, this is one stop shopping."