• Gabe Semenza •
• Originally published July 2, 2009 at 7:15 p.m., updated July 2, 2009 at 10:51 p.m.

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• PLANT EXPANSION TIMELINE

  January 2008: International Power applied for a state air quality permit.

  November 2008: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued a draft air permit for Coleto Creek Unit 2.

  October 2009: The state agent will either grant ...

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PLANT EXPANSION TIMELINE

January 2008: International Power applied for a state air quality permit.

November 2008: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued a draft air permit for Coleto Creek Unit 2.

October 2009: The state agent will either grant or deny the air quality permit.

Early 2010: Final permits are due.

Mid-2012: If the permitting process progress as planned, construction will begin.

EMISSIONS LEGISLATION

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill limiting emissions, like those from coal-fired power plants, that are blamed for warming the planet. The legislation awaits action in the Senate.

If the bill passes as is, the Coleto Creek Power Station expansion continues as planned. Power company planners expected carbon-emission regulations when it budgeted for the expansion, said Mike Fields, the Coleto Creek plant manager.

"Based on the way the bill is written today, it's very workable," Fields said. "It wouldn't stop the expansion. We've projected this legislation was going to happen all along. Barring anything unexpected, nothing changes on our end. But, the Congress can do many things to us."

GOLIAD - Coal-fired power plants are the dirtiest of all power plants when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions.

The leading greenhouse gas is blamed for global warming. It's the basis for a worldwide push in stricter regulations and renewable energy sources.

Why, then, does a proposed second coal-fired unit at Goliad's Coleto Creek Power Station face such quiet local opposition?

While Goliad County and many residents fight proposed uranium mining, most folks here seem to welcome another coal giant.

"We are in favor of the coal plant for what it can generate for us," said Jan Wheelis, a vocal 76-year-old Goliad rancher. "It doesn't threaten our water. And the U.S. has enough coal to keep us running for the rest of our lives."

Dollar signs

Coal generates about half of U.S. and global energy supplies. The country is home to what most say is the largest coal reserve on Earth.

Companies that use coal turn a homegrown product into economic boosts and affordable energy, a must because Texas faces future power shortages if not, many say.

Goliad County Commissioner Jim Krenek said the existing Coleto Creek Power Station provides 40 percent of the county's tax base.

Power plant officers estimate the proposed expansion to two units would inject, after 10 years of operation, $128 million in new property tax revenues and $266 million in temporary construction and permanent salaries.

The 650 megawatts of energy the plant would produce each year could power 500,000 homes.

The state's heavy reliance on natural gas has resulted in increased electricity costs, according to the 2008 Texas Energy Plan. It's cheaper for the Goliad plant to order cleaner-burning coal from Wyoming than it is to mine natural gas in South Texas.

The $1.2 billion expansion could help to keep costs down for consumers, supporters say.

"My perception is that the lack of concern is because the plant's been a good neighbor," said Dale Fowler, president of the Victoria Economic Development Corp. "From an economics perspective, it's great. It's $1.2 billion on the rolls in Goliad County, and that spills into Victoria County. We all benefit from those plant jobs, even if you don't work there."

Environment

The Coleto Creek Power Station, 15 miles from Victoria, was built three decades ago and designed to one day house two coal-fired units.

International Power, the plant's parent company, added a $50 million emissions control system recently to the existing plant to further suppress pollutants.

The proposed expanded unit, Coleto Creek 2, will be among the most strictly regulated of any new unit in the country, with the lowest emission for key pollutants of Texas coal plants.

Mike Fields, the plant manager, stood in front of a framed aerial photograph of the company's 8,000-acre compound. He walked outside and pointed to a long series of train cars. The plant receives 16,000 tons of coal on most days.

Engineers designed Coleto Creek 2 to be retrofitted with carbon-capture technology, he said. Until that advance is developed, he explained, the unit would employ the latest technology to reduce emissions across the board.

Victoria environmental leaders paid University of Texas researchers to study how another unit would affect local ozone.

Neither of the two worst-case scenario models pushed Victoria or Goliad ozone levels beyond federal limits, said Cyril Durrenberger, a university researcher.

"I'd be more worried about the effects of adding more cars in the area than I would about adding that new power plant," Durrenberger said.

Jerry James, Victoria's director of environmental services, said the city supports the expansion because it increases regional energy reliability, and allows for other large industries to one day operate in the area.

The critics

The handful of Goliad residents who oppose the plant say supporters focus on tax base and job growth, and leave clean air and the environment out to dry.

Larry Gray was the first to build a home in the lake community formed in the shadows of the existing coal plant. The avid fisherman and retiree sought his dream life here.

During winter months, northerly winds drop ash on his car and driveway, he said.

"I fished almost every day when I first got here. I'm here to tell you the people who fish this lake don't catch the fish we used to," Gray said. "I'm worried about the temperature of the lake. It's gotten warmer."

Citizens for Clean Environment, an area environmental group, is contesting the power plant's permit to double the amount of wastewater discharged into Coleto Creek lake.

The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club contests the company's state air-quality permit.

The 16 coal plants in Texas emit half of the state's carbon dioxide, the group notes. Texas led the nation in 2008 by polluting 260 million tons of carbon dioxide, twice as much as the second-place state, Ohio, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Coleto Creek plant released 4.4 million tons of pollutant in 2007, the federal agency reports. Together, the current and proposed plants would also lead the way in the emission of a handful of other key pollutants.

Whether you believe in global warming or not, there is no arguing coal-fired power plants - even the new, cleaner models - pollute the most carbon dioxide worldwide.

Jim Blackburn, a Houston environmental attorney who represents Goliad County in its fight against uranium mining, said most Goliad residents are more concerned about water quality than air quality.

This concerns Cyrus Reed, the conservation director for the Sierra Club said.

"The question is: What's the best way to get our electricity in the future? There's no reason to think alternative energy sources can't also be good neighbors and provide an economic boon to the area," Reed said. "We can't afford more coal power plants that would only add tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year. The Earth can't sustain that."

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