December 5, 2008
Highwood's federal water, power permits suspended By RICHARD ECKE Tribune Staff Writer
A federal agency has formally suspended a permit allowing the Highwood Generating Station to install water intake equipment and a power line at the Missouri River near the proposed coal-fired power plant.
A Nov. 25 letter from Col. David C. Press, Omaha district commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told the Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative, the plant's developer, that the permit was suspended. In July, the corps told SME General Manager Tim Gregori that the intake and power-line work could not proceed without historical issues being addressed.
The Montana Environmental Information Center's Anne Hedges, a prominent plant opponent, said Thursday that the Nov. 25 suspension letter was stronger than the July action.
"We finally have somebody willing to say no to this plant," she said.
Allan Steinle, Montana program manager for the Army Corps in Helena, said he believed the letter was a more formal way for the corps to state that a federal historical review must be completed. He said the goal is to complete negotiations among the parties and finish the review.
Gregori said Thursday that the corps' action does not kill the power-plant project. He said his understanding is that the corps wants to take a fresh look at the plant's proximity to a Lewis and Clark National Historic Landmark after becoming the lead federal agency dealing with the project.
"It's just something that we are prepared to deal with," Gregori said.
Findings accompanying Press' letter said federal officials had "determined that the direct effects of the undertaking will have an adverse effect on the NHL (National Historic Landmark)." The corps document said the power plant and associated facilities will intrude on the view in the area and make noise.
Gregori said the plant will make less noise than crickets do, and would be only slightly visible from a Lewis and Clark parking area where historic markers are located.
Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark walked past the plant site in 1805; their pathway was declared a National Historic Landmark decades ago.
Gregori questioned the consistency of plant opponents who say the plant would infringe on the landmark.
"It didn't stop the construction of Great Falls Central (Catholic) High School," which is on top of the landmark, Gregori said. He added that detractors may be more interested in trying to delay or stall the project, rather than sincerely being concerned about history.
"I think that this is one of the most threatened landmarks of our country," Hedges said, adding the site is "the best remaining place along the trail to get a feeling of that journey."
In an interview, Gregori said the Section 106 historic review required by federal law must be completed, but added it does not require complete agreement between the developers and preservationists. He said that even if preservationists remain adamantly opposed to the project and refuse to sign an agreement, the project still could be completed. Gregori said the corps could reinstate the permit even if preservationists object.
Other options, Press said, include modifying or revoking the permit.
Gregori said the project has tried to accommodate history buffs.
"We're not on the Lewis and Clark Trail anymore," he said, noting the plant's footprint previously was moved. Plus, natural landscaping proposed by the plant also would help the area look more like it was in the early 1800s, he said.
Preservationists have raised concerns over SME's plans to place four wind turbines directly on the landmark. As a result, Gregori said developers are reevaluating the location of the turbines.
In any case, he said he believes the plant has made a good-faith effort to consider the area's history.
"Can we move the plant off the planet Earth?" Gregori asked. "The answer is no."