COLUMBUS — To many people in Meigs County, the Natural Resources Defense Council has become synonymous with fighting the $3.25 billion American Municipal Power Generating Station proposed for Letart Falls.

With the latest unemployment figures in Meigs County reported at 15.2 percent, up three-tenths of a percent from January’s reading of 14.9 percent, many residents welcome the jobs the proposed AMPGS may bring to the area and some are frustrated with efforts to stop the project.

The NRDC, an environmental group with offices across the nation, is leading the legal fight for the appeal of AMP-Ohio’s final air permit-to-install and final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, both approved final by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. So why is this group taking the charge to fight the AMPGS?

“NRDC believes that there are far better options for power generation in Meigs County and the State of Ohio,” Josh Mogerman, spokesperson for the NRDC said. “A focus on energy efficiency, wind, and solar is a clear direction for our national policy that can pay real dividends in Ohio, where the new industries would likely create strong manufacturing jobs. These technologies offer huge potential payoffs throughout the state without the public health dangers that will burden the people who would have to live near this coal plant for the next half century.”

As for the air permit, Mogerman said the NRDC feels there’s been no firm commitment by AMP-Ohio and the Ohio EPA to require AMP-Ohio to address carbon dioxide emissions as part of their air permit. At this time CO2 emissions are not regulated by the state of Ohio.

AMP-Ohio says it will use Powerspan to control SO2 emissions, with co-benefits for the control of mercury and particulate matter. Earlier this year, Powerspan initiated a commercial pilot of its carbon-capture technology at the RE Burger plant in Shadyside. AMP-Ohio is participating in that pilot. AMP-Ohio reports in laboratory testing performed by the company and by the US Department of Energy, Powerspan demonstrated the ability to capture up 90 percent of CO2 emissions.

Thom Cmar, lead counsel for NRDC said the Powerspan technology specifically aimed at capturing carbon, the ECO2 scrubber, was not addressed in the Ohio Power Siting Board’s issuance of the plant’s environmental compatibility and public need certificate, only the use of Powerspan to capture other traditionally regulated air pollutants.

Mogerman said the NRDC is not only concerned about CO2 but the amount of other pollutants the proposed plant is permitted to emit, including mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. Mogerman then stated medical research that he said showed “very clear public health impacts” from particulate matter, adding: “Serious public health concerns are motivating our appeal.”

As for the appeal of the NPDES permit, Mogerman and Cmar discussed issues the NRDC has with what they called an absence of analysis required by the Clean Water Act that AMP-Ohio and the Ohio EPA were required to undertake.

In addition to problems with the use of specific pollution technologies, Mogerman said “our biggest problem is the analysis isn’t there.”

Cmar explained overall, the NRDC’s thoughts of the project are “coal is never clean.” He then discussed the environmental and social impacts of coal from mining to combustion to air pollution. He also stressed the use and development of wind and solar energy. AMP-Ohio is investing in wind technology at this time as well as hydroelectric technology as well as the coal-fired AMPGS project.

Mogerman explained: “Our focus is not to keep people out of jobs, our focus is to ensure the public health and rule of law are protected and in this case, neither of those things are being served at the moment.”

The NRDC’s website describes the organization as “the nation’s most effective environmental action group, combining the grassroots power of 1.2 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals.”