Environmental-group leader calls for public comment

The leader of a group of environmental organizations on Monday thanked state officials for an opportunity to comment on memorandums of agreement on carbon dioxide capture plans at coal-fired power plants in Nevada but said the public also should be allowed to comment.

Charles Benjamin, president of Nevadans for Clean and Affordable Energy, sent a letter on Oct. 25 to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, asking for an opportunity to comment on agreements with developers of coal-fired plants.

The division is asking the coal plant developers, including Sierra Pacific Resources, to make written promises to capture carbon dioxide emissions when so-called sequestration technology becomes available.

The division on Friday announced that it was giving NCARE an opportunity to comment before the agreements are finalized.

Benjamin said he was pleased that his group will be allowed to comment, but he said the state also should take comments from others as well and should post the proposed agreements on a Web site.

In addition, Benjamin question why the division was not allowing for more than one week to comment.

"We also don't know what the rush is," Benjamin said. "These coal plants will be operating for six decades or more."

In a statement on Friday, division administrator Leo Drozdoff responded to Benjamin's original request for an opportunity to comment: "Despite the fact that there are not no federal or state laws with regard to carbon capture and sequestration, NDEP has been working with these companies in good faith for more than two years and discussing these (agreements) since August. NDEP and the companies chose to pursue the strategy of (memorandums of understanding) because they would help address carbon dioxide impacts in advance of any state or federal legislation."

Sierra Pacific is developing the 1,500-megawatt, coal-fired plant called the Ely Energy Center. LS Power proposes a 1,600-megawatt, coal-fired power plant also near Ely. Sithe Global Power wants to build a 750-megawatt, coal-fired project near Mesquite.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0420.