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The company would like to build a coal combustion residue monofill - a landfill that only accepts one kind of waste - south of the plant, on approximately 100 acres of land that is currently owned by Pottawattamie County.
Mid-American proposed the amendment because the production of coal combustion residue from the new Council Bluffs Energy Center Unit 4 will exceed the capacity of the existing settling ponds already located at the facility.
Construction began September 2003 on a $1.2-billion, 790-megawatt coal-fueled electric generating facility. A monofill is needed, the company argues, to manage the coal combustion residue that Unit 4 will generate when the plant goes online in the spring of 2007.
Coal combustion results in the production of a sand-like ash. A majority of the current residue produced at the plant is re-used as construction material, and the rest is stored in onsite ponds.
Unit 4 will feature a supercritical boiler that allows for coal to be burned more efficiently. A beneficial use of this new byproduct has yet to be developed.
Matt Finnegan, supervising engineer at Mid-American, said a coal combustion residue monofill resembles a pile of dirt. The residue would be transported to the monofill by covered conveyors, and a sprinkler system would be used to control the dust.
A group of concerned citizens who live near the plant attended the July 10 meeting, but only one person voiced concerns about the proposal to the board.
Board Chairman Loren Knauss said the board toured Mid-American's Neal Energy Facility in Sioux City on July 15, where the company already operates a coal combustion residue landfill.
If a suitable site is not found for the residue (or not finished) before the new CB4 unit goes online in the spring of 2007, Finnegan said the residue would be sent to either an existing landfill in the area or the Neal Energy Facility.
If the amendment passes, Mid-American would have to file an application to build a facility and the process would again have to go through Pottawattamie County Planning and the county's Board of Supervisors.
Anyone wishing to express his or her concerns or voice support for the amendment will have a chance to be heard at Monday's meeting. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors' hearing room on the second floor of the Pottawattamie County Courthouse.
