Groups say air permit process 'critically flawed'
Hyperion opponents urge state to require environmental impact statement
By Michele Linck | Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
PIERRE, S.D. -- Several groups opposed to Hyperion Refining's proposed oil refinery are renewing the call for South Dakota to do an environmental impact statement, or EIS, on the 400,000 barrel-per-day, $10 billion project.
In comments dated Nov. 13, the Sierra Club's local and state chapters and grassroots organizations Save Union County and Citizens Opposed to Oil Pollution ask the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources to put the refinery through the EIS process in addition to the requirements of a draft air quality permit. It claims the permit is incomplete and the process is "critically flawed."
The public comment period on the air permit, which the DENR had extended by 30 days, closed Friday. The Sierra Club and local opponent organizations will be represented by a Chicago law firm, Jenner and Block, at a meeting of the state Board of Minerals and Enivronment on Thursday in Pierre.
James Heisinger, a professor emeritus of biology at the University of South Dakota and chairman of both the Living River Group and the South Dakota Sierra Club, acknowledged Monday the request for an EIS echoes that made in July by Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls.
But, Heisinger said, "I think what makes this different is, we know a lot more about the process of getting the air permit. People have had a chance to study the air permit and see it as inadequate. There are things that are left out."
In July, DENR Secretary Steven Pirner responded to Heidepriem's request for an EIS in a letter, stating that under the law, the permitting process does not trigger an EIS. And, he added, "It has been our experience that these individual regulatory reviews are more detailed and specific than an EIS."
Among more than 35 items not taken into account by the air quality permit process, Heisinger said, are: noise; odor; the effect of night lighting on insects, birds and people; the placement of petroleum carrying pipes within the refinery; the impact on housing and services during construction; and the impacts of the associated traffic on local roads, such as dust in the air. He said an EIS would address those concerns.
The critique is part of comments the group has submitted to the DENR on the draft preconstruction air quality permit. The full document is 83 pages long and comes with a table of contents.
In addition to the list cited by Heisinger, Save Union County spokesman Ed Cable said, the groups will show that the state failed to take air pollution from Iowa into account in a table showing the refinery would produce much less pollution than auto traffic in either Minnehaha County or Union County in South Dakota. He said adding Iowa's numbers for particulate matter to the mix puts limits "over what anyone will accept."
"The interesting thing about this is that Hyperion and the DENR discussed this early in the process and chose to ignore Iowa's input," Cable said. "It will be interesting to see in depositions why they did that."
Cable has said all along that his group is prepared to take legal action against the state. He said depositions will be part of the contested hearing process. A date for the contested hearing is expected to be set during Thursday's meeting.
Because the comment period has ended and the hearing is a contested one, DENR personnel may no longer discuss any particulars about the permit, department spokesman Kim Smith said Monday.
Documents available online
The 83-page comment by the Sierra Club, Save Union County and others is posted on the DENR Web site, along with correspondence on the subject received and sent by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Go to http://www.state.sd.us/denr/denr.html, click on Hyperion Energy Center Permits, then click No. 1 - Hyperion's Air Quality permits. The documents are listed by date under the capital letter I.
In comments dated Nov. 13, the Sierra Club's local and state chapters and grassroots organizations Save Union County and Citizens Opposed to Oil Pollution ask the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources to put the refinery through the EIS process in addition to the requirements of a draft air quality permit. It claims the permit is incomplete and the process is "critically flawed."
The public comment period on the air permit, which the DENR had extended by 30 days, closed Friday. The Sierra Club and local opponent organizations will be represented by a Chicago law firm, Jenner and Block, at a meeting of the state Board of Minerals and Enivronment on Thursday in Pierre.
James Heisinger, a professor emeritus of biology at the University of South Dakota and chairman of both the Living River Group and the South Dakota Sierra Club, acknowledged Monday the request for an EIS echoes that made in July by Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls.
But, Heisinger said, "I think what makes this different is, we know a lot more about the process of getting the air permit. People have had a chance to study the air permit and see it as inadequate. There are things that are left out."
In July, DENR Secretary Steven Pirner responded to Heidepriem's request for an EIS in a letter, stating that under the law, the permitting process does not trigger an EIS. And, he added, "It has been our experience that these individual regulatory reviews are more detailed and specific than an EIS."
Among more than 35 items not taken into account by the air quality permit process, Heisinger said, are: noise; odor; the effect of night lighting on insects, birds and people; the placement of petroleum carrying pipes within the refinery; the impact on housing and services during construction; and the impacts of the associated traffic on local roads, such as dust in the air. He said an EIS would address those concerns.
The critique is part of comments the group has submitted to the DENR on the draft preconstruction air quality permit. The full document is 83 pages long and comes with a table of contents.
In addition to the list cited by Heisinger, Save Union County spokesman Ed Cable said, the groups will show that the state failed to take air pollution from Iowa into account in a table showing the refinery would produce much less pollution than auto traffic in either Minnehaha County or Union County in South Dakota. He said adding Iowa's numbers for particulate matter to the mix puts limits "over what anyone will accept."
"The interesting thing about this is that Hyperion and the DENR discussed this early in the process and chose to ignore Iowa's input," Cable said. "It will be interesting to see in depositions why they did that."
Cable has said all along that his group is prepared to take legal action against the state. He said depositions will be part of the contested hearing process. A date for the contested hearing is expected to be set during Thursday's meeting.
Because the comment period has ended and the hearing is a contested one, DENR personnel may no longer discuss any particulars about the permit, department spokesman Kim Smith said Monday.
Documents available online
The 83-page comment by the Sierra Club, Save Union County and others is posted on the DENR Web site, along with correspondence on the subject received and sent by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Go to http://www.state.sd.us/denr/denr.html, click on Hyperion Energy Center Permits, then click No. 1 - Hyperion's Air Quality permits. The documents are listed by date under the capital letter I.
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brule creek running wrote on Dec 2, 2008 6:51 PM:
You remind of me of my cat, as I sit here watching him chase his tale mindlessly getting absolutely no where. "
EPJeff wrote on Nov 24, 2008 12:09 PM:
Can you explain what is mediocre about my argument that state statutes supercede administrative rules? Is that not the case? "
EPJeff wrote on Nov 24, 2008 12:07 PM:
When did I ever say I knew more than the EPA?
What scam is Hyperion trying to pull off?
Do you know what a fascist is? "
AnnieO wrote on Nov 23, 2008 12:39 PM:
Kevin Kline wrote on Nov 22, 2008 8:29 PM: