GROUP VOICES CONCERNS OVER NEW POWER PLANT

JACKSON, Mo. -- A proposed power plant sparked environmental worries among nearly 70 Cape Girardeau County residents at the county commission meeting on Monday.

The crowd included farmers and others who live near the site of the proposed plant south of Crump, Mo., along Highway U in southwest Cape Girardeau County.

They said they are worried the proposed plant would pollute the air and cause their wells to run dry.

"None of us wants emissions that will endanger our health," said Cliff Rudesill, whose fishing club owns property near Whitewater, Mo., a few miles from the proposed plant.

Representatives of the developer, Kinder Morgan Power Co. of Lakewood, Colo., insisted the $250 million, 550-megawatt power plant won't harm the environment and meets federal Clean Air Act requirements.

The plant would produce electricity from natural-gas- and steam-fueled turbines. "It's the cleanest thing out there outside of nuclear power," said Rick Kuntze, a Cape Girardeau lawyer who represents Kinder Morgan.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission is considering issuing bonds to pay for construction of the plant. Kinder Morgan would repay the bonds and receive tax breaks over 10 to 20 years, and also make payments to the Delta School District.

But that won't happen unless the Missouri Department of Natural Resources grants a construction permit for the project. Even then, the commission would hold a public hearing before deciding on the financing plan.

"The commission doesn't plan to do anything that is environmentally unsafe," Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones told the crowd.

The company won't break ground any time soon. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources doesn't want the plant to spew out nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions, which can cause smog. DNR officials say they won't give Kinder Morgan a construction permit unless it agrees to install equipment to restrict emissions, reduce the number of hours the plant would operate or go to a different type of generating system.

So far, Kinder Morgan has refused to change its plans. The company has appealed to the state's Air Conservation Commission to secure the permit needed to construct the plant.

No water usage laws

Many Crump area residents are worried more about the water than air quality.

"People are very worried about the water table," said Cheryl Kieffer, who lives near the site of the proposed plant. She and other concerned residents have formed a loose-knit coalition known as Cape Citizens Against Pollution to press their case.

Kinder Morgan officials say the plant would use 2,800 gallons of well water a minute during peak operating hours. The plant would generate electricity about 16 hours a day. The DNR says the power plant would use 840 million gallons of water a year.

Kieffer and others worry that if the plant draws down the water table they'll have to spend thousands of dollars digging deeper wells to provide water for their homes and farms.

DNR says the level of wells close to the site could be lowered, but the state has no water usage laws. As a result, Kieffer said, the state and rural residents are powerless to stop the plant from drawing down the water table.

The company already has constructed two 1,600-foot-deep test wells and is planning to drill a third.

Pumping tests have been conducted on the two wells. The pumping of 1,000 gallons a minute during tests this summer lowered the water level in nearby wells and even lowered the water level in one of the Kinder Morgan wells.

Six wells may be needed

Smith & Co., a Poplar Bluff, Mo., engineering firm, is conducting tests to determine if there is enough water for the plant. The firm's Paul Ridlen said up to six wells may have to be dug to produce enough water for the plant.

"We're trying to go about this in the right way," he said.

Kuntze told the crowd that the plant won't be built if there isn't enough water to cool the turbines.

Alvin and Nora Seabaugh live adjacent to the proposed 22-acre plant. They're convinced the drilling of one of the test wells caused a massive sinkhole to develop on their farm. Kinder Morgan officials say they don't know what caused the sinkhole.

Dennis Seabaugh, one of the Seabaughs' sons, said Kinder Morgan hasn't been upfront about the project.

"I think everything you have done has been under the rug," Seabaugh told John Gibson, Kinder Morgan's site development director, who wasn't at the meeting but attended via speaker phone.

Second District Commissioner Joe Gambill said Kinder Morgan hasn't kept county residents informed about the project. "There has been a lousy job of communication on this project, and Kinder Morgan has the full blame," he said.