Dec. 13--MATTOON -- Feedback from Washington and scientific data from Coles County show FutureGen is still a sound investment, FutureGen Alliance CEO Mike Mudd said.

On Friday, Mudd announced the completed purchase of 420 acres of land on the proposed FutureGen power plant construction site west of town, near Dole Road.

Joined by state and local officials at a news conference, Mudd also said President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has offered favorable signals on the project during recent discussions with FutureGen Alliance officials.

"What encourages me is that they are asking good questions, and they're open-minded, and they are asking about jobs. That is a recognition that President-elect Obama knows and understands FutureGen, and his transition teams knows it," Mudd said after the news conference in the board meeting room of the Mattoon School District.

While FutureGen Alliance stays in contact with the new administration to secure federal funding for the $1.8 billion project, there was good news on what a seismic underground survey revealed.

Rob Finley of the Illinois State Geological Survey said a seismic survey of the Mattoon site showed no evidence of faults or breaks anywhere 10,000 feet below the surface, a key to preventing leaks of carbon dioxide emissions.

"This shows the Mattoon site is an excellent site for carbon sequestration. The images show no faults or fractures that could risk the escape of CO2 to the surface," he said.

Underground carbon capture, or sequestration, is a key feature of the FutureGen site. The carbon dioxide emissions would be captured and converted into liquid more than 7,000 feet below in saline deposits.

Previous surveys showed enough capstone layers to prevent escape of those emissions. That helps end the greenhouse effect of carbon emissions from a coal-fired power plant.

Finley said the survey used technology similar to ultrasound and other sound-imaging techniques, such as oil well logging. Three seismic sound vehicles dropped weights equal to 106,000 pounds to send sound waves in color images up to 10,000 feet below the surface for several miles around the FutureGen site.

Transmission lines for recording the sound waves were stretched along local roads to produce a grid, Finley said. Hannes Leetaru, a senior geologist with the geological survey, helped interpret the images with his expertise in petroleum surveys.

Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said the survey results and land sales show the partnership is working well on the private and public level.

"The team that worked to bring FutureGen to Illinois is still moving the ball forward to make this critical project a reality," said Lavin. "With this effort, we're making the best possible case to President-elect Obama and his energy policy team that the path to energy independence goes right through Mattoon, Illinois."

And Coles County has shown its support for the project, Coles Together President Angela Griffin said. That included a $3 million fund drive to help with costs on the land deal, which will total more than $6 million with a sharing of costs by FutureGen Alliance, a group of worldwide coal-related companies.

The sale of 25 more acres will be completed in coming weeks to wrap up the final step on land acquisition near Mattoon. Land sale options have been in place for a long time.

Present at the announcement were state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon; state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion; and representatives of U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, and U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana.

Other state lawmakers, including Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, and Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, said the project is important to the Illinois economy by creating hundreds of jobs directly, and possibly thousands indirectly by helping the coal industry in the state.

"We want this so we can put people to work. That is why I am glad to be here today," Forby said.

hmeeker@jg-tc.com|238-6869

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