The Las Vegas Review Journal
www.lvrj.com
Some worry about new power plants' environmental effects
By KEITH ROGERS
February 7, 2001
While the shortage of electricity in the West has companies
rushing to build power plants in Southern Nevada, environmentalists
and wildlife managers said Tuesday they want answers on
how the facilities will affect water supplies, air quality
and the landscape.
The issues were raised at a forum hosted by the federal
Bureau of Land Management, which ultimately must grant or
expand rights of way for power lines and natural gas lines
needed to support a dozen power-generation facilities on
private land in Clark County.
The bureau has fielded seven proposals stretching from
Primm on the California state line northeast to Moapa, where
companies such as PG&E National Energy Group in Meadow
Valley and Calpine on the Paiute reservation intend to tap
the Kern River natural gas line for water-cooled, turbine
plants. Three other existing plants are requesting expansions
and the bureau has received "verbal interest"
for power facilities in Laughlin and Searchlight.
In all, the new and upgraded plants could produce nearly
4,000 megawatts for the Western power grid, or enough electricity
for 4 million homes.
But while the additional power could lessen the threat
of rolling blackouts in the next five years, some who came
to Tuesday night's forum at the Clark County Government
Center said they were concerned about drawing down aquifers
by as much as 8,000 acre-feet per year -- over a span of
up to 30 years in some cases -- to create steam to drive
turbines.
"We don't know the quantities of water available
underground and would this affect the Muddy River"
or streams in the area, said Bruce Lund, a member of the
town advisory board in Moapa. "Those are big questions."
His concerns were echoed by Nevada Division of Wildlife
officials who wondered how drawdowns on the aquifers would
affect recharging streams and wildlife areas that are home
to migratory birds and sensitive fish species.
Michael Snowden, PG&E National Energy's project manager,
said if his company can have its plant on line in 2004,
consumers as well as the environment will benefit from cheaper,
cleaner energy and wiser use of water supplies that otherwise
wouldn't be tapped for 30 years.
Lund and Jon Sjoberg, a state fisheries biologist, said
hydrology studies need to be completed before regulatory
agencies allow plans for the plants to proceed.
Environmentalist Jeffrey van Ee, who compared the forum
to a "science fair," said the power plants also
need to be weighed against visual impacts on the landscape
and releases of air pollutants even though gas-powered turbines
are relatively clean-burning.
The local BLM office will field public comments on power
plant proposals through Feb. 19.
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