Wood-powered prison approved by state panel

Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE

CARSON CITY -- Despite air pollution concerns of neighbors of the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, a state panel approved a $6.5 million contract for a wood chip-fired power plant at the prison that proponents say will eventually save state taxpayer money.

The state Board of Examiners, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn, approved the contract with APS Energy Services for the biomass power plant after prison system representatives described the plant as an environmentally sound venture that wouldn't be detrimental to the south Carson City area where it would be located.

Carson City supervisors have imposed tough emission standards on the power plant, and engineers working on the project say they're optimistic about meeting those standards.

Supervisors acted after a group of homeowners living near the prison expressed concern about a plant that would burn wood chips round the clock, and challenged the engineers' claims that the plant wouldn't be a health hazard. The plant would run on wood chips made from slash left from forest-thinning projects in the Sierra Nevada. Advocates said that would help in limiting the risk of wildfires in the Tahoe Basin and Carson City area. They also said the plant would create little noise, and emissions would be significantly less than those created by open-air burning to get rid of forest waste.

Financing for the project will bring total costs to just over $16 million over 15 years. But prison system officials presented a report stating that revenue from power sales could run as high as $17.7 million over the same period -- and for several years after that the plant would produce power that could be sold to Nevada electric utilities.

By this time two years from now, the 1,300-inmate prison in Carson City will be running almost entirely on wood chips, proponents of the project said.

"Where's the down side?" asked Attorney General Brian Sandoval, a Board of Examiners member.

"I don't see one," replied state Budget Director Perry Comeaux, who explained that the project will more than pay for itself over time.

The projected benefits to state taxpayers aren't enough to outweigh the air pollution concerns for people who live near the plant site, however.

Doug Minter, who lives about a mile and a half from where the plant is to be built, said the original plan would have produced 254 pounds of particulates every day. That particulate matter would have settled "over the whole area."

On days of temperature inversions, people would breathe in the tiny invisible particles and that could cause respiratory problems, asthma attacks and even lead to lung cancer after prolonged exposure, Minter said.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors gave the prison a permit, conditioned on reducing the particulates by 50 percent. Minter said he and other opponents of the plant "did the best we could." He preferred a 90 percent reduction but the prison suggested only a 30 percent cutback.

Scott Leftwich, another homeowner in the area of the proposed plant, said the project still has to acquire more environmental permits so he hopes the emissions can be reduced even further. But, Leftwich complained, the fact that the state is pushing the project will make it tougher to win any more concessions for air quality.

Lori Bagwell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said the next step will be submitting the application for the plant to the state Environmental Protection Division.

She told the examiners board the project would pay for itself in 15 years and produce a savings of $386,000. And from the 15th to the 20th year, the department will save $4 million in electricity and natural gas costs.

Comeaux told the board a 2005 law requires that energy savings for this kind of project must be sufficient to cover the project's cost. The federal government has chipped in $430,000 in grants to further the project as well.

Bagwell said the federal government is interested in removing the wood from burned out areas of the forest, and the plant also will be fueled with wood from the Carson City landfill.

A contract should be ready within the next month or so with the U.S. Forest Service for supplying the wood.

Bagwell said the plant should not produce any smoke and equipment will be purchased to cut down the particulates. She said the plant may have to run only 12 hours a day instead of the original planned 24 hours in order to meet air quality standards.

When completed, the biomass plant will eliminate the need for natural gas. The plant will have to be closed for maintenance seven days every year and the prison will use electricity then. But Bagwell said the plan calls for selling excess electricity to Sierra Pacific Power Co., the utility that sells power to the prison now.

The $6.5 million contract is with APS Energy Services Company Inc. for the biomass plant. According to the Nevada Secretary of State records on the Internet, the officers for the corporation are: Vicki G. Sandler, president; William J. Post, director; Barbara M. Gomez, treasurer, and Nancy C. Loftin, secretary. All list addresses in Phoenix, Ariz.

Noel Bonderson, air quality supervisor for Washoe County, which is adjacent to Carson City, said said he did not anticipate that the biomass energy plant at the state prison would have an adverse effect on the air quality in Washoe County because the prevailing winds blow away from Washoe.

Washoe does have some air quality regulations that limit wood burning. Homes on smaller lots that had wood-burning stoves or fireplaces prior to that regulation being adopted are allowed to continue using them but when those homes are sold the stoves and fireplaces must be inspected and certified as meeting EPA standards. If it does not pass the test, than a new certified unit must be purchased or the old one must be shut down.

When air quality is poor, Washoe County can order all stoves and fireplaces to be shut down until the air improves, Bonderson said. There was no such "Red Alert" last winter. The regulation on the stoves has helped improve the air quality in the Reno-Sparks area, he said.

Sun Capital

Bureau reporter Cy Ryan and Associated Press reporter Brendan Riley contributed to this story.