ULERK’S

SEP 2 5

OFFICE

2000

STATE OF 1W

illinois Pollution Board

Ron Molinaro

LIiiOfl

p..

~ontro/ B

S

lOOwest Randolph St. suite 11-500

542 Whitney Ave.

oar

Chicago, IL. 60601

Winthrop Harbor, IL. 60096

Dear Pollution Board Members,

~‘

I am writing you to express my concerns

about

the possible

construction

of2 peaker

power

plants

in Zion. I have

many issues with these plants

from the

amount

ofair

and

noise pollution they

create,

to the

amount

ofwater

they use, It is

my

understanding that

the sate of

illinois

is operating under 20

year

old

guidelines established

for coal plants.

In an apx. 10-mile radius ofthe Zion area, we

already

have

two

coal burning plants, one

in Waukegan IL. another in

Pleasant

Parrie WI.

One

ofmy

concerns,

as well as that of

many ofthe area residents, is the

accumulated

effect these plants will haye on

our

overall

air quality. We

are already in an

area that has been

considered

to

have

poor air

quality.

My

fear

is

that

on a hot summer days, when all

these

plants

are

in operation, our

neighborhoods will be covered with a cloud ofsmog. This would force anyone with

any

type

of

respiratory disease

to be a prisoner oftheir

own

home,

and

force them to

stay

indoors.

This

is

hardly fair

to all

those

who have

invested their life saving

into

their

homes

and

the

community

in which they live.

The next

cause

for concern is the noise. I

find it difficult

to believe

that

a development of

this size

would not be heard from the nearest home, which is

only

a few

hundred

yards

away, as the developers ofthis plant would

like

us to believe.

Thirdly, there is the

amount

ofwater used.

These plants can consume

up 2 million

gallons

ofwater a day. At a recent Zion

City Council meeting a gentlemen

who

owns a

local confectionery co. spoke ofthe possibility ofthe expansion of

his

business. When

checking into the accessibility of

additional

waterhe

discovered

that

the

city ofZion

exceeded its allocated amount

for

1999

by 22

million gallons. If

we were to

allow

theses

plants to be

constructed

inZion, will

there be enough water allocated

for the expansion of

existing

business or the

construction

ofnew homes? This is a question

that needs

to be

answered before we allow

any

power plants to be constructed in

this region.

Finally, there is the issue ofthe economics of

peaker

power plants. In conversations I

have had with a

few ofmy friends who have lived in

California,

they

expressed

to me the

concerns

ofhow the cost of

electricity skyrocketed

after de-regulation. Willthat have the

same effect

on us? We all

know that

the

owners

ofthese

companies are

going sell their

electricity

to the

highest

bidder. Is

this going

to cause an

increase

in our electric bills? We

have

already

been told to prepare for

our natural gas

bills to increase

due

to possible

shortages caused by peaker

plants

consumption of

natural gas.