Great Falls Tribune
December 3, 2008
DEQ inspector checks plant's progress By KARL PUCKETT Tribune Staff Writer
A state environmental inspector visited the Highwood Generating Station construction site Monday to check whether the plant's developer has met a key construction deadline necessary for the project to continue.
For Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Co-op's air-quality permit to remain valid, construction of the coal-fired power plant had to commence within 18 months of its issuance, with the deadline falling on Nov. 30, the DEQ's Chuck Homer said.
The inspector showed up Monday, he said.
"We believe construction has commenced," SME General Manager Tim Gregori said Tuesday.
The definition of "commencing construction" is at issue.
Primarily, it means the pouring of concrete foundations, Homer said.
The DEQ will issue a decision next week on whether SME met its construction deadline, Homer said.
"They are working on their report," he said.
SME broke ground on the 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant Oct. 15. The facility is expected to take four years to complete.
The 668-acre site is eight miles east of Great Falls on Salem Road. In addition to the main plant, four 262-foot-tall wind towers with 6 megawatts of capacity are planned. A coalition of rural electric cooperatives say they need the plant to replace electricity they will lose because of contract cancellations with power suppliers.
Concrete has been poured for the foundation of the cooling tower, Gregori said. Construction also has begun on the first cell of a clay-lined monofill that will hold fly ash produced during the coal combustion process, he said.
Meanwhile, SME has executed a contract with a boiler manufacturer to design the facility's circulating fluidized bed or boiler, Gregori said. SME previously identified Alstom Power as the boiler manufacturer, but Gregori wouldn't confirm Tuesday whether the contract was with Alstom, citing a confidentiality agreement.
The boiler will be designed so it can be modified should technology to capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide become available in the future, Gregori said.
In addition to the deadline issue, the DEQ must still decide whether enforcement action is warranted because SME began construction prior to Nov. 26, Homer said.
While SME's original air-quality permit required work to commence by Nov. 30, a revised permit for the project, which the DEQ approved Nov. 10, stated construction could not begin until Nov. 26. The modified permit was for hazardous pollutants and fine particulate controls.
If SME were required to meet the restrictions of both permits, it would have had just five days, from Nov. 26 to Nov. 30, to begin construction and meet the construction deadline Gregori said, adding such an interpretation "doesn't make sense."
The DEQ sent SME a notice of violation Nov. 20 that stated construction began earlier than authorized, and that the department may initiate a formal enforcement action. SME has 15 days to respond. Fines are possible, but the DEQ won't make that determination until it has received SME's response, Homer said.