Proposed power plant prompts concerns about Puxico refuge

PUXICO, Mo. -- Fishing, hunting, birdwatching, and other forms of nature tourism drive tiny Puxico's economic engine, dependent to a large extent on visitors to a national wildlife refuge a half-mile from the Southeast Missouri town.

So as plans to develop a proposed $2 billion, coal-fueled power plant in Southern Illinois proceed, Puxico Mayor Ruth Temple and others worry the plant 85 miles away may adversely affect air quality -- and tourism -- at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, an ancient hardwood, bottomland swamp forest where waterfowl and other migratory birds rest, nest, and feed.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded the plant would cause haze and acid rain at the Mingo refuge, which already has one of the worst visibility problems of the nation's largest wilderness areas, said Sandra Silva, head of Fish and Wildlife's air quality branch.

But St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp. said its proposed 1,500-megawatt plant at Prairie State Energy Campus near Marissa, Ill., will supply clean, low-cost electricity, as well as hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in economic benefit. It says it's spending half a billion dollars on emission-control technology.

Temple said tourism is "the only income we have. It's hard to get industry in here. I'd hate to see anything that would be harmful" to the wildlife refuge.

In Dexter, Mo., 35 miles away, Chamber of Commerce chief Janet Coleman said nothing should detract from the region's natural assets -- its best tourism selling point for weekend getaways.

"We're losing things all the time from pollution," she said. "We're doing this to ourselves."

Peabody, the world's largest private coal company, crossed another regulatory hurdle in June when the state of Illinois issued a mining permit. The move was announced Wednesday.

Peabody plans to mine up to six million tons of coal a year at the Lively Grove Mine adjacent to the proposed plant.

Illinois also granted Peabody an air permit in January, but the Sierra Club, American Lung Association and other groups appealed the decision to the U.S. Environmental Appeals Board.

The board said Illinois left the impression it had not adequately addressed public concerns in reaching a decision, forcing the state to make some adjustments. Illinois reissued the permit in April.

The groups appealed again. A final decision is six months away.

Fish and Wildlife, which oversees Mingo, recommended Illinois deny Peabody's air permit because it determined the plant's sulfur dioxide emissions would significantly affect the refuge's air quality.

Peabody's deep-scrubbing technology would eliminate 98 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, company spokeswoman Beth Sutton said. But Fish and Wildlife's Silva said it's the remaining 2 percent emissions of high-sulfur coal that is concerning.

"If you start with a large number, and reduce it to 2 percent, it's still too much," she said. "It's very deceiving. This is high-sulfur-content fuel. When sulfur converts into sulfate it creates visibility problems."

She said "national visibility goals" call for remedying past air problems and preventing new ones in national parks and refuges. She also said it's rare for a state to issue an air permit over the objections of federal land managers.

Peabody and the state of Illinois believe the plant's emissions will have no material effect on Mingo, company spokesman Vic Svec said.

He said the plant may emit up to 11,000 tons a year of sulfur dioxide. "We believe it's an outstanding accomplishment to remove 98 percent," he said. "We will continue to do better over time as technology improves."

Mingo is the last, large tract of bottomland hardwood forest left in Missouri's Bootheel and one of the last left in the entire ecosystem. The 21,676-acre swamp was established as a national wildlife refuge in 1945.