The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is holding a hearing on the Waukegan coal plant tonight, at 7 p.m. at Illinois Beach State Park Resort in Zion.
I have prepared a comment to present at the hearing, the text follows:
Good Evening,
I am Christopher Fischer, a twenty year resident of Zion, and I’m speaking tonight as a concerned citizen.
This is not the year 1902, we know that the sky is not limitless and we know that the lake cannot carry away everything we deposit into it. We cannot feign ignorance of the environmental and economic costs that will continue to fall upon the citizens of North East Lake County if the operating permit for the NRG Coal Plant is renewed as currently written.
Today, we who live here are paying the tab on an environmental legacy resulting from short-term decisions made over decades. Ignorance of the long-term toxic effects certainly played a role, but all too often economics and expedience were the driving factors in those decisions.
We know that expedience in the service of short-term profit is no bargain. The five Superfund sites in this area alone, testify to the price of expedience. It is long past time we stop subsidizing corporate profit margins at the expense of our health, quality of life, and ultimately with our tax dollars.
It is 2015, and we know better. Therefore I ask that the IEPA re-draft this permit to include the current air quality standards, and stronger inspection, monitoring and record-keeping protocols to ensure compliance.
Thank you for your attention.
Christopher Fischer
This is an issue that effects everyone in Waukegan, Beach Park, Zion, and Winthrop Harbor. If you live here, you should be concerned about the outcome of this permit process. If you can join me at the meeting tonight, I would love to see you there.
