AMP-Ohio proposes new coal plant in Southeast Ohio

In October 2007, Ohio Citizen Action and other environmental organizations announced the largest environmental settlement in American history, forcing American Electric Power to put pollution controls on its coal-fired power plants. For more on Ohio Citizen Action et al v. AEP et al., click here.

Ironically, American Municipal Power-Ohio (AMP-Ohio) has now proposed to build a new coal plant in Southeast Ohio. The proposed plant would use traditional pulverized coal technology and would add 20,000,000 pounds of dangerous pollutants to the air each year. This pollution can cause heart disease and asthma attacks, and damage the environment with acid rain and greenhouse gases.

Gatling Ohio LLC is buying up land and mineral rights in Meigs County. It is seeking state permits to mine 1,895 underground acres near Racine, Ohio. The mine is expected to operate for 40 years; however, if you look at Ohio's 200-year history of coal mining you will see that that the damage lasts much longer. There are only two ways to get coal: surface mining and underground mining. Both devastate the environment. With surface mining, the soil and rock above or around the coal is removed to expose the coal bed. With underground mining, miners create underground rooms, and then a continuous mining machine is used to cut coal away from the walls.

AMP-Ohio has asked over 70 Ohio communities to finance the plant - placing the financial risks of the skyrocketing costs of constructing and operating the plant on the municipalities. Communities have until March 1 to withdraw from the contract.

As the world looks to cleaner and more efficient sources of energy, Ohio should not lock itself into 50 more years of highly-polluting coal plants.