Durbin: Ill. town has until week’s end to decide on participating in revised FutureGen project

Durbin demands FutureGen answer from Mattoon

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin demanded Monday that officials in an eastern Illinois town decide by Friday whether they still want it to be part of a futuristic clean-coal project despite radical changes that scrap plans to build an experimental power plant.

A representative for U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, meanwhile, said his request for a meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu to discuss abrupt changes in plans for the FutureGen project has been turned down. The changes announced last week eliminate plans to build a plant in Mattoon and instead call for $1.2 billion to retrofit an existing plant across the state and pipe its carbon dioxide to Mattoon for storage.

In a letter to Angela Griffin, a local economic developer who has pushed to make Mattoon the home of FutureGen, Durbin said the Department of Energy needs an answer by the end of the week so, if need be, a new site for carbon dioxide storage can be found.

“Make no mistake, Coles County has the right of first refusal and I will support Mattoon if that’s the local consensus,” Durbin wrote. “But, this project which will bring much needed job creation, economic activity, environmental benefits, and more than $1.2 billion in federal funds to the State of Illinois must go forward.”

Griffin, in a written response to a request for comment from The Associated Press, said the community doesn’t want to make a hasty decision.

“We understand the desire to quickly execute this new project for the State of Illinois, but it took our community years to evaluate and embrace the original FutureGen project and we want to give the citizens sufficient time to thoughtfully consider the changed project,” Griffin wrote. She is the president of the Coles Together economic development group.

However, she also said in an interview that she wasn’t bothered by Durbin’s deadline and he deserves credit for keeping the project alive through several ups and downs.

Until last week, the FutureGen project called for a power plant to be built in Mattoon with carbon dioxide from its coal stored underground. The project promised 1,300 construction jobs and 150 high-skilled positions.

The Department of Energy now wants to retrofit a plant in Meredosia and try out a different kind of technology. Mattoon would store carbon dioxide piped from that plant and become home to a training center for people to learn how to do retrofitting work. The carbon storage facility would bring 75 jobs, while no figures have been provided for the center.

The department has said it needs to finalize revisions by Sept. 30 to use $1.1 billion in stimulus funds.

Johnson, an Urbana Republican whose district includes Mattoon, urged Chu in a Friday letter to reconsider and asked to meet with him.

Johnson’s spokesman, Phil Bloomer, said Monday that the congressman was told Chu was not available this week.

Department of Energy spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller said the agency is trying to arrange a meeting for Johnson with Assistant Energy Secretary James J. Markwosky.