Sunflower decision a foregone conclusion

Kansas Coal Plant Permit Rush sees Sunflower Electric's Holcomb project sped through public comments, raising EPA concerns over greenhouse gas controls, air quality, regulatory integrity, and emissions impacts as exports head to Colorado.

The rush job on a permit for a coal-fired power plant by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. could be bad news for Kansas, well beyond the southwestern corner where the facility would be built.

While a previous review of 800 comments on the plant took 16 months, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment now appears to be hurrying through 6,000 comments in six months, with state employees working unpaid into the night to get the job done. Critics believe the rush is to help Sunflower get a permit before the year ends, meaning the power company could avoid installing greenhouse gas controls that could cost tens of millions of dollars.

Coupled with lame-duck Gov. Mark Parkinson’s abrupt dismissal of former health and environment director Roderick Bremby, a voice of caution on the plant, the speeded-up process indeed looks suspiciously like a rush for a foregone conclusion to observers at Earthjustice as well.

Helping a power company avoid eco-friendly updates, however, is not in the best interests of the state or its citizens, as groups like the Kansas Sierra Club argue today.

A new coal-fired plant is not a small matter and must be taken very seriously. The power produced, after all, would largely travel west into Colorado. To reduce its emissions amid the ongoing CO2 debate in the region, Colorado is considering shutting down about the same amount of power production that the proposed plant in Holcomb, Kan., would produce.

We hope that while state employees donate their time to a project that has little projected impact on Kansas’ energy needs, they’ll keep the best interests of Kansas citizens in mind. But the rush job makes it even more essential that the federal Environmental Protection Agency take a careful look at the permit process and whether it is being handled correctly. Regional Administrator Karl Brooks has publicly said the EPA would do just that. It’s good to see someone emphasizing due diligence.

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