Oct 13 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Jo Napolitano Chicago Tribune

The City of Chicago has told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that a coal-fired power plant proposed in Will County would use outdated technology and create far too much air pollution.

The city's "friend of the court" filing from Friday supports contentions made by the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, the Sierra Club and Clean Air Task Force among others.

The brief states that even though the proposed plant would be located some 52 miles from downtown Chicago, it would increase the level of pollutants in the air.

The city is having a hard time meeting federal air quality standards and plants such as the one proposed in Elwood only add to that challenge, Chicago officials said.

"We are not opposed to a plant per se, but we want a plant with the latest technology that would minimize emissions," said Ron Jolly, senior counsel for the city. "There have been plants that have been proposed in the last couple of years in Illinois that use a newer technology that reduce emissions."

The proposal by Indeck Energy Services Inc. of Buffalo Grove to build a 660-megawatt plant in Elwood has raised concerns among local residents and environmentalists.

Indeck's air permit issued by the state is under appeal at the federal level. Indeck officials also are seeking a water permit for the new plant. A public hearing on that issue Tuesday night drew some 50 critics who said they were concerned about the plant's potential to release harmful toxins.

Much of their worry stems from Indeck's decision to use treated human wastewater in its cooling towers. Although this is a common practice in other states, it is new in Illinois and environmentalists fear that state officials, because of their lack of experience with the issue, will set their standards too low.

Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said that though the state office is in charge of approving the permits, the state must follow federal guidelines.

"The state and federal government works together on this," she said. "The federal government sets the standards and it's up to the states to make sure they are complied with."

Her office had not yet received a copy of the city's brief, she said, so she could not comment on it.

"The city of Chicago is a very important player," said Bruce Nilles Midwest representative of the Sierra Club. "Mayor Daley is a very important figure in the state. For him to speak out is perhaps the beginning of the end of this project."

Indeck officials could not be reached for comment.