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Clear air: Controversy warrants response from utility, KDHE
Published 6/25/2011 in Commentary : Editorial
Latest controversy warrants response from utility, KDHE.
In the ongoing saga over a proposed Sunflower Electric Power Corp. plant expansion, behind-the-scenes exchanges between the utility and state officials have generated still more scrutiny of the plan.
A recent Kansas City Star report revealed the Kansas Department of Health and Environment worked with Sunflower to craft answers to public questions about the coal-fired power plant plan — answers needed to help shape an air-quality permit that would determine emissions releases for the new unit planned at Sunflower's Holcomb facility.
It was just the latest troubling development in the path to a $2.8 billion project designed to provide necessary baseload energy, and deliver an economic boost to southwest Kansas with some 2,000 jobs during peak construction.
A low point in the process came four years ago, when a bigger expansion plan was shelved by then-KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby's denial of an air-quality permit due to concerns over greenhouse gas emissions.
Subsequent wrangling in the Kansas Legislature led then-Gov. Mark Parkinson to broker a sensible deal to allow a scaled-down Sunflower facility expansion (one coal-fired, 895-megawatt plant instead of two 700-megawatt units) along with initiatives to power wind and other renewable energy.
Still, environmentalists have fought the power plant expansion at every turn, to include the Sierra Club's recent appeal of the air-quality permit approved in 2010 by the KDHE.
And now, the report of the KDHE turning to Sunflower for answers to public questions only gives them more ammunition.
The situation suggests an all too cozy relationship. An independent government agency, the KDHE was expected to conduct an impartial review of an operation it has a duty to regulate.
KDHE and Sunflower officials essentially have declined to comment on the report, citing the ongoing litigation. As understandable as that may be, Kansans still deserve an explanation.
After all, it could be as simple as the KDHE seeking technical information from Sunflower on particulars of the complex project.
While the latest revelations shouldn't scuttle the proposed expansion, the dealings between Sunflower and the KDHE and subsequent silence have cast another cloud of doubt over the process.
Both entities should be eager to clear the air.
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