Nov. 3--WALTONVILLE -- The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued a construction permit for the Power Holdings synthetic natural gas plant which is to be constructed on Tomahawk Lane.

"We believe the Agency has done a good job issuing a permit in compliance with the law and in addressing public concerns," said Joe Darguzas, vice president of Power Holdings of Illinois, LLC. "The permit is a significant milestone for us, but it is just one milestone. There is still a lot to be done."

The Power Holdings facility, as detailed in the IEPA permit applications, would use gasification technology to produce pipeline quality synthetic natural gas.

"In coal gasification, coal is first gasified to produce a synthetic gas," information from IEPA states. "The raw synthesis gas is then cleaned to produce a clean gas that is either used as fuel at the plant or further processed. At the proposed plant, the clean synthesis gas would be further processed by methanation to produce synthetic natural gas, which would be sold to natural gas suppliers. The design feedstock for the plant would be Herrin No. 6 coal from Illinois."

A public hearing on a draft air permit was held in DuBois on March 3, and due to the outpouring of public comment, the IEPA extended the time frame for public comment to May 4. During the hearing and in public comments submitted to the IEPA, concerns from those living near the proposed site of the facility expressed concerns with CO2 emmission, a change in the way of life for the neighborhoods, possible odors and amount of water usage from Rend Lake as well as fault lines in the area. Residents were joined by members of the Sierra Club in expressing their views.

In May, Maggie Carson of the IEPA said the comments received had been "pretty typical."

"We often get a lot of form letters and form submissions," Carson said at the time. "If 100 people say the same thing, that's counted as one comment. We have to look at the subject matter, the issues. When we do a response summary, we put them together and answer the question as one."

The IEPA has issued a 99-page responsiveness summary for the public comment period. The summary includes answers by IEPA as well as conditions which have been placed on the construction of the pollution control design.

"Following the close of the public comment period, the Illinois EPA conducted its final technical review of Power Holdings' application," the responsiveness survey states. "This review led to a final determination by the Illinois EPA that the application for the proposed plant met the standards for issuance of a permit."

Darguzas said the company is hoping to start construction on the facility next summer or early fall.

"There was no way before now to predict with certainty how quickly the agency would be able to act or put a hold on a permit," Darguzas explained. "We had to wait to find out about the permit conditions that would be imposed so we know what to build."

The permit allows Power Holdings to "construct emission source and air pollution control equipment consisting of a plant to produce synthetic natural gas by gasification of coal, including six gasifiers, two gas processing trains (including synthesis gas cleanup units and methanation units), two sulfuric acid plants, two steam superheaters, a cooling tower, an auxiliary boiler, feedstock storage and handling, and other ancillary operations."

According to the permit, construction is to commence in 18 months, and an extension of the time frame may be granted.

The permit, summary and supporting documents are available for public viewing at Brehm Memorial Library, the Illinois EPA Marion Office, and the main office of IEPA in Springfield. The report is also available online at www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/general-notices.html.

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