It's No Go for Waterloo Coal-Fired Plant

An energy plant that has generated controversy in the Waterloo area has been denied the ability to begin construction. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Iowa regulators have denied a construction permit for a proposed $1.3 billion coal-burning power plant in Waterloo because its developers don't have legal control of the project site.

The application from Elk Run Energy Associates LLC and LS Power Development LLC was rejected today by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, less than four days after the application was filed.

Elk Run and LS Power "failed to meet the requirement to show legal entitlement to the property at the proposed location," the DNR said in a prepared statement.

The application was denied because the site proposed for the plant in Black Hawk County is zoned for agriculture, according to DNR officials. Waterloo has attempted to annex the property, but the City Development Board has denied the request. The denial is under legal appeal.

Elk Run Energy plans to ask the state to reconsider the permit application denial, according to a statement released by the company late Thursday. Elk Run Energy believes state regulations allow the state to continue with the evaluation of its permit request, the statement said.

DNR officials had already indicated that Elk Run and LS Power had alternatives.

"Elk Run and LS Power can submit another construction permit application after revisions are made to meet the objections specified in the application denial," Air Quality Bureau Chief Catharine Fitzsimmons said in a prepared statement. "At that time, it will be treated as a new project."

The 750-megawatt Elk Run Energy Station would be the first "merchant" power plant built in Iowa in modern times built to sell power at wholesale to entities unrelated to the owner. It faces strong opposition from some neighboring property owners and environmental groups concerned about the long-term effects of the plant's carbon emissions on climate change and on the health effects of toxic emissions such as lead and mercury.

About 17 farmers are also in opposition to a 10-mile transmission line proposed to link the project to the electric grid, according to Carrier La Seur of Cedar Rapids-based environmental law center Plains Justice, which is representing the farmers.