Baard Public Meetings Begin

Most of you already know there was an open house meeting at the high school hosted by Baard and their engineering firm for their proposed power plant. It was in the print editions of both our local papers and also on their web sites. It wasn't well publicized. There was an article in the ER Thursday morning by Jeremy Lydic for the meeting that evening. That was the only thing I recall seeing about this particular meeting. In contrast, next weeks open house meeting for one of the EPA permits has been out there for quite some time.

Last Thursday's meeting was in accordance with the mandates of the Ohio Power Sitting Board (OPSB). It was for reviewing the plans for Baard's power plant and getting input from the public. According to Lydic's article on Friday it was attended by 45-50 folks. Not a bad turn out for such a short notice. Some of those that attended were residents that live close to the proposed site and expressed concern about emissions from the plant. I can't fault them for their concern and that is mainly what these meetings are all about, to address those concerns.

One resident recalled his days working at Crucible in Midland and was remembering how the city was coated with red iron oxide that came from the mill. I recall those days but times have changed. The EPA was created in 1970 and even before the mill closed in 1982 there was noticeable environmental differences in the emissions from Crucible. Now nearly four decades later the regulations and technology available is immensely improved over what it was in days of old.

One of the things that have impressed me with Baard is that they are showing us that they are willing and very well aware of environmental concerns and what is necessary to take care of it. From all I've read and heard about what they are doing and the processes they are intending to use I haven't found one thing to be worried about yet. Yes, there will be drastic changes to that hill top area but at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet with smoke stacks going another 500 feet plus into the clouds I doubt there will be any cause to worry about what emissions there might be.

One of the engineers from the firm presenting the power plant plans expressed surprise at the lack of negative input from the public. With all the scrubbers and filters that will be used there doesn't seem much to be concerned about. As he said they are hiding nothing. The only quarter that might register a protest is the global warming alarmists and they have been falling out of grace a lot lately. Many of their predictions they threw at us back in the early 1990s have failed to develop. Farmers are still able to plant and grow crops. The east and west coasts are still above sea level.

Last Thursday's meeting was the first of many more to come. The permit they presented is just one of four pending. There is another one this coming Thursday that will pertain to one of the EPA permits. Baard has been commended for working with the various permit issuing agencies all through the applications process. It is an innovative approach to the permit process and eliminates many of the hurdles that could otherwise come up.

There may be protests to come. We'll have to wait and see what develops with the meetings coming up. I seem to recall the WTI antagonists didn't get into full swing until after construction began up there. Hopefully we won't see that happen here. Baard is showing us they fully intend to be good neighbors. I get the feeling they will be giving back more than what they will taking out of the area and making money doing it. It will be beneficial to all.

The above picture is from Google Earth and it is their latest satellite view of the area that will be taken up with the CTL plant. Imagine the view of the area you would be able to get atop of one of those 500 foot smoke stacks...

ole nib