{"id":4675,"date":"2019-07-11T14:48:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T20:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=4675"},"modified":"2019-07-11T14:48:48","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T20:48:48","slug":"earthjustice-to-represent-valley-watch-and-sw-indiana-citizens-for-quality-of-life-in-challenge-of-riverview-air-construction-permit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=4675","title":{"rendered":"Earthjustice to represent Valley Watch and SW Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life in Challenge of Riverview air\/construction permit."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The coal-to-diesel plant would emit millions of tons of dangerous pollution using a technology that has never been employed in the U.S.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

July<\/strong> 11, 2019 – Press Release from Earthjustice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Riverview Energy Corp. plans to build a coal-to-diesel plant one mile from the heart of Dale, IN. Citizens put up a billboard to voice their disapproval of the project.<\/strong> Photo: SW Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Community groups appealed an air quality permit<\/a> issued to Riverview Energy Corporation for its proposed construction of a massive coal-to-diesel refinery in Dale, Spencer County, Indiana.  Earthjustice worked with Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life and ValleyWatch.  The proposed refinery, which would be the first of its kind ever built in the United States, would emit dangerous air pollution in a county that already ranks among the worst one percent nationally for toxic releases.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community groups\u2019 appeal describes how the permit is rife with errors that provide no reassurance to the public that they would be protected from the refinery\u2019s dangerous pollution. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued the permit<\/a> on June 11, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis permit is deeply flawed,\u201d said Charles McPhedran an attorney with Earthjustice<\/strong>. \u201cRiverview Energy must not be allowed to site this dangerous project near vulnerable communities, including an elementary school and nursing home.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRiverview Energy’s coal-to-diesel refinery is in close proximity to residential homes,\u201d said Mary Hess, President of Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life<\/strong>. \u201cThis refinery would be adding to several facilities already in our community emitting toxic air pollution. We won\u2019t let our neighborhoods become a sacrifice zone for public health.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been down this path several times before,\u201d said John Blair, President of ValleyWatch<\/strong>.  \u201cNone of the prior projects even broke ground due to the horrible economics of coal conversion projects. In the end, Riverview Energy will be little more than a failed ‘get rich quick scheme’ for the sponsors.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background:<\/strong> The proposed refinery would use \u201cVeba Combi Cracker\u201d technology, which has never been used before in the United States and is licensed by KBR (the former Halliburton subsidiary), to transform coal into liquid fuels like diesel and naphtha through the process of \u201chydro-cracking.\u201d This process would require crushing more than two million tons of coal every year and mixing it with toxic additives and heavy gas oil. If built, the refinery would emit massive amounts of hazardous air pollution every year, including known carcinogens like benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in addition to significant amounts of particulate matter and other pollutants that contribute to asthma. The refinery also would emit more than two million tons of greenhouse gases every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the appeal.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The coal-to-diesel plant would emit millions of tons of dangerous pollution using a technology that has never been employed in the U.S. July 11, 2019 – Press Release from Earthjustice Community groups appealed an air quality permit issued to Riverview Energy Corporation … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4675"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4677,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675\/revisions\/4677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}