New Coal Plant in Kansas Faces Resistance Over Water Use

Last month it was reported that more than 30 new coal-fired power plants have been built in the United States since 2008 or are under construction. In the absence of comprehensive climate change legislation, an electric utility in Kansas is finding out that water – not air emissions – may prove to be a more persuasive argument against building new coal plants.

From the Associated Press:

A western Kansas utility's push to build a new coal-fired power plant has already embroiled it in a lengthy public dispute about potential air pollution, and now the project could touch off a battle over water.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, estimates its new plant in Finney County in southwest Kansas will consume 3.9 billion gallons of water a year. Most of the electricity generated by Sunflower's new plant initially would flow to a partner utility in Colorado, leading critics to suggest Kansas will be, in effect, exporting its water.
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Water has received relatively little attention as Sunflower pursues an air quality permit from the state Department of Health and Environment. But eventually, the project will need a water-use permit from the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

And, Sierra Club spokeswoman Stephanie Cole said, for some western Kansas residents, "Water is of greater concern than the pollution."

Hattip to Nadia Madden from the Union of Concerned Scientists