Bartlett village officials say there is much misinformation circulating in the community these days about plans for what could be a 1,500-megawatt power plant that a Swiss technology giant proposes to build in a former quarry.
But members of a grass-roots activist group seem unlikely to back down from concerns they expressed at a recent Village Board committee meeting that plans for the project were moving too quickly.
“What’s good is good now, plus six months from now,” said Daniel Barron, a member of the steering committee for the group Citizens Advocating Responsible Environments (C.A.R.E.).
“There’s a lot of information about air emissions and noise impact that nobody knows as yet,” Barron said. “Chicago is an area with poor enough air quality as it is. I’m also personally concerned about the proposed site near Nature Ridge Elementary School.”
ABB Energy Ventures Inc., a New Jersey-based arm of ABB Group, proposes to build a merchant power plant on 47 acres north of Stearns Road and east of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad tracks, at the new Brewster Creek Business Park in Bartlett.
The business park is being developed by Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co. on the site of a former quarry.
Roughly a third of Bartlett High School’s 900-seat auditorium was filled at the meeting by people voicing concerns about what initially would be a 500-megawatt plant. ABB has disclosed plans for an eventual expansion of the facility.
C.A.R.E. organizers met people outside the auditorium, offering sign-up sheets and taking orders for “Stop the Plant” T-shirts the group is selling.
Inside the auditorium, placards reading “There Are Many Ways To Generate Revenue” were being carried around the room.
Dianne Turnball, an environmental consultant for C.A.R.E., said a lot of the information supplied by ABB has been incomplete.
“The presentations or findings presented thus far have shown the emissions for two of the eight turbines,” Turnball said. “The figures have been based on 500 megawatts of the 1,500-megawatt capacity.
“We need to know what the environmental impact of the whole plant will be. There still is no engineering or traffic plan. The village needs to sit down and continue to work on this.”
Richard Wexler, of the firm Lord, Bissell & Brook of Chicago, who is representing the ABB group, was greeted with groans by the audience.
“All of the statements about water depletion, air quality, safety to children and the others mentioned here are absolutely false,” Wexler said.
“We have signed letters from some of the citizens of Bartlett in support of this project, and we hope after tonight’s meeting we’ll have more.”
Board member Sally Hodge, chairwoman of the planning committee, told residents no decision about the plant has been made.
Committee members took no action at the end of the meeting, which will be continued later this month.
