By Rebecca Penty, Calgary Herald, August 11, 2011
The Alberta Utilities Commission is requiring Maxim Power Corp. to address various potential environmental and community affects arising from its contentious HR Milner coal plant expansion, in a decision issued late Wednesday afternoon.
The regulator's conditions for the 500-megawatt plant proposed as an addition to Maxim's existing coal facility near Grande Cache include that the company mitigate any potential fogging and icing along Hwy. 40 near the facility and capture and dispose of ash produced by the generating station.
In the event of noise complaints, Maxim must conduct a survey and if found non-compliant, devise and implement a plan to quiet down operations.
The company is required to meet various other conditions imposed by Alberta Environment and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and must have the plant built by July 31, 2015.
Approval of the plant expansion by the Alberta regulator, which issued an interim decision on June 30, is being challenged by the Pembina Institute and its supporters in the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Pembina argues its request to act as an intervener, denied by the regulator - which deemed Pembina not directly affected by the plant - should have been granted, along with an open hearing on the project.
The Calgary-based environmental group is fighting what it believes is an effort by Maxim, with the regulator's compliance, to have its project approved ahead of new stricter federal coal regulations expected to be released soon.
Pembina managing director Chris Severson-Baker said he was disappointed with the regulator's decision Wednesday, which he said "doesn't include any environmental decisions."
The Alberta Utilities Commission failed to impose standards it put on two coal projects approved a decade ago in the province - TransAlta's Keephills 3 and Epcor's (now Capital Power's) Genesee 3 - which he said were forced to offset half of the carbon emissions by buying into green projects so the overall impact would be equivalent to natural gas power generation.
"This is actually a big step backwards in terms of greenhouse gases," Severson-Baker said of the decision.
John Bobenic, Maxim president and CEO, said the regulator's conditions are "standard and typical" and that his company intends to comply with the rules and legislation in place.
He disputed Pembina's allegations his company is trying to push its project through before Ottawa announces new coal rules.
"We've been at this application and this project has been under development since 2005. For anyone to characterize this as a race to beat regulations is absurd," Bobenic said.
Jim Law, Alberta Utilities Commission spokesman, stood by the ruling."This has been a very lengthy and thorough review process that began back in 2009."
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