LOCAL RESIDENTS TO MEET WITH POWER PLANT REPS

A meeting involving the people proposing a power plant in southwest Cape Girardeau County and local residents who fear its environmental effects could be electrifying.

Rick Kuntze plans to be there. He's the local lawyer for Kinder Morgan Co. of Lakewood, Colo., which wants to build the 550-megawatt plant along Route U north of the Route A junction south of Crump.

So does Cheryl Kieffer, who represents a group that calls itself Cape Coalition Against Pollution. It is made up of neighbors who are concerned about problems a power plant might cause.

The meeting is on the Cape Girardeau County Commission agenda for 11 a.m. Monday.

The commission would issue bonds to finance the $250 million project, which means the county would technically own the land and plant while the company paid off the bonds over 10 to 20 years.

Kieffer could not be reached for comment, but a letter she sent to the county commission expresses concerns about Kinder Morgan seeking waivers from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on air-quality emissions. It also says neighbors worry about noise, the effects on wildlife, other potential power plants proposed for the area and effects on the water table and drinking wells.

Southeast Missouri State University biology professor Alan Journet, conservation chairman for the Trail of Tears group of the Ozark chapter of the Sierra Club, shares her worries.

"They argue that they don't need clean-air requirements when they're trying to put out 1,700 tons of noxious chemics," he said. "They're saying, Hey, it's not going to be very much, so don't worry about it.' I'm sorry, that doesn't cut it."

Journet said he can't imagine the power plant will employ local people while shipping the energy to the highest bidder, which won't always be Cape Girardeau. "So all we're really getting is the pollution," he said.

Journet said he would like to attend the meeting but won be able to.

Good opportunity

Kuntze said he is glad to have the opportunity to clear up misconceptions that neighbors have about the project. He said the biggest misunderstanding is that Kinder Morgan is seeking a waiver on air-quality standards.

"Kinder Morgan is not seeking special treatment," he said.

The Department of Natural Resources would like Kinder Morgan to make selective catalytic reduction -- SCR -- part of its plans for the power plant, Kuntze said. He said that is a method of reducing certain emissions similar to a catalytic convertor on a car.

DNR hasn't ordered it yet, and Kuntze said it isn't a federal requirement. Other plants, including one in Arkansas, are under construction without SCR, he said.

"There is no law or regulation that says it has to have these types of controls," Kuntze said. "What the federal regulations and statutes say is that, to make SCR a requirement, you have to have a cost-benefit analysis. That's what we're doing right now."

Kuntze said the type of plant proposed is designed to be "extremely efficient and extremely clean."

The contention that the power won't benefit Cape Girardeau County at all is also misleading, Kuntze said. The power will be sold to a marketing firm in Oklahoma, but that doesn't mean the power will automatically go there, he said. The plant's biggest customer likely will be AmerenUE, which provides power to Cape Girardeau, Kuntze said.

"I think the fear stems from neighbors misunderstanding what we're doing," Kuntze said. "That's why I'm looking forward to addressing those concerns."

County Commissioner Joe Gambill said it's good that Kinder Morgan and the local residents will sit down and discuss concerns.

"We just got a letter from some of the citizens from around the area asking 47 million questions," Gambill said. "They need to get together and talk about this. The county commission does not have the answer to the citizens' concerns about the power plant."

Want to go?

What: Meeting of Cape Girardeau County commissioners, Kinder Morgan Co. representatives and local residents.

When: 11 a.m. Monday

Where: Cape Girardeau County Administrative Building in Jackson, Mo.

Details: 243-1052Hall, Heidi 8/16/01 cq