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Editorial/Viewpoints |
December 16, 2003 |
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Maine Should Apply For Intervenor Status
Although Maine's location makes it an attractive place to live, it also makes it a difficult place to breathe.
Jet stream currents bring pollution here from many other states, and that's why state and environmental officials are worried about a plan to build the proposed St. Lawrence Cement plant on the east bank of the Hudson River. The facility would be one of the largest cement facilities in North America, and would replace an older cement plant farther up the river.
Gov. Baldacci has sent a letter to New York Gov. George Pataki asking that the new plant show a net air emission reduction.
The plant does intend significantly to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted by the cement-making process. That's good, because sulfur dioxide is a chemical that causes soot, and it can lead to asthma and other respiratory ailments.
The problem is that other types of chemical emissions may be increased, including carbon monoxide, particulate matter and perhaps nitrogen oxide. Plant officials dispute this, saying that the new coal-fired plant will typically produce less of this chemical than the old one.
That may be, but plant officials are asking for the facility to be permitted to emit more than the old plant. That means what Maine could get is worse than what it's already getting. New York environmental officials also point out that plans don't include use of the best available pollution control technology, so the plant could reduce pollution even further.
In any case, the pollution will reach Maine in about six hours. Plant consultants say, however, that the amount that would actually be breathed by Mainers is negligible and that the effect of the new plant won't be any different than the effect of the old one.
Plant consultants point out that pollution from this particular plant isn't comparably significant to Maine's total pollution. Opponents say it would emit smog pollutants equivalent to 200,000 cars.
The fact is that it does - and it will - contribute to Maine's inability to meet federal air quality standards.
For that reason, Maine should apply for intervenor status in the plant's permitting process. That means the state would have a place at the table during hearings in New York, and it would have the right to call expert witnesses. It also could cross-examine the plant's witnesses.
Whether the new plant will be healthier for Maine than the current one - or if it merely aspires to be - Maine should have a say in the project.
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