Kalama Coal Plant is Officially Dead
Columbia Riverkeeper celebrated a major victory against global warming and dirty air on May 12, 2009 when Energy Northwest terminated its application for a new coal-fired power plant in Kalama, Washington. “The coal plant is officially dead,” stated Columbia Riverkeeper’s Executive Director Brett VandenHeuvel. “This is a great day for clean air and clean water.”
Columbia Riverkeeper partnered with our friends at Willapa Hills Audubon Society, Rosemere Neighborhood Association, and Northwest Energy Coalition to oppose the coal plant. The proposed power plant, named the Pacific Mountain Energy Center was slated to import 2.5 million tons of coal each year, emit thousand of tons of greenhouse gases, withdraw 8.4 million gallons of water from the Columbia River each day, and discharge millions of gallons of heated wastewater containing toxic pollutants back to the river each day.
Our victory came after two years of legal wrangling and participating in hearings before Washington Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSEC), as well as organizing citizens to fight dirty coal. EFSEC rejected the proposed coal-fueled power plant in Kalama because it failed to meet standards for greenhouse gases that cause global warming and harm human health. Read Columbia Riverkeeper’s legal filings here: (Opening Brief) (Response) and EFSEC’s decision here. Even though the applicant, Energy Northwest, promised it would capture (or “sequester”) the carbon emissions, when the time came to develop a sequestration plan, Energy Northwest admitted it did not have a plan in place and did not expect to capture the carbon in the foreseeable future.
A critical component of this victory was CRK’s challenge in Washington State court to ensure that the project complied with local land use rules designed to protect areas deemed “critical” for salmon and floodplain protection. While this lawsuit was pending, the State of Washington passed legislation that greatly limited the carbon emissions from power plants.
CRK’s legal staff was assisted by excellent help from attorneys Aubrey Baldwin at Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, Keith Hirokawa, and Peggy Hennessey.
CRK recognizes that clean, renewable energy is critical to the health of the Columbia River ecosystem and the people who depend on it. We are committed to fighting misguided reliance on fossil fuel, as shown by our work on coal plants and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
Letter: Request to Terminate PMEC Application
