A subsidiary of a major power company plans to transform a former controversial waste incinerator in Robbins into a renewable energy power plant, which would pump millions of dollars into the struggling area, officials announced Tuesday.
For more than six years the rust-colored former Robbins Resource Recovery Facility, which turned waste into energy at 134th Street and Kedzie Avenue, has sat empty.
Robbins Community Power would use the plant to produce steam and electricity, said Edward Kalebich, the group’s chief operating officer.
The Robbins group is a subsidiary of Sylvan Power Co.
“This is a terrific time in Chicago Southland,” Kalebich said. “The plan here is to invest $20 million into the facility and put it back online.”
The plant shut down after a state law that offered incentives to energy companies was repealed and the company fell into bankruptcy.
While it was operating, the plant was cited numerous times for emitting too much pollution and was opposed by activists who thought it was too near a residential community.
Robbins Mayor Irene Brodie said the new plant would turn wood chips into energy, which Brodie said is an environmentally friendly way of creating electricity.
The 50-megawatt plant would produce energy to be sold to businesses and could attract other industries to the region that want to be near an electricity source.
Power company officials must revamp the plant and secure permits from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Officials hope the facility will be operational by early next year.
The plant initially would employ about 75 construction workers and then provide about 30 permanent jobs. Ultimately, about $300 million would be invested in the plant, Kalebich said.
“We see the Robbins project as a cornerstone in something much larger,” said Michael J. Scholefield, chair of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corp. “What this represents is the first of many projects that will move the Southland forward. … This is only the beginning.”
Like the previous plant owners, Robbins Community Power plans to set aside money each year for scholarships for village students–as much as $80,000 a year, Brodie said. The village would decide how that money is allocated.
Tuesday’s ceremony drew plenty of political leaders praising potential economic benefits. State Rep. William Davis (D-Hazel Crest) said he remembers when, as a child growing up in Harvey, the region was thriving.
“I’m very proud to be part of the resurgence of not only Robbins, but of the south suburbs,” he said.
Jeff Tangel, chair of the South Cook County Environmental Action Coalition, said there were questions that need to be answered before determining if the facility would be safe for the region.
He asked, for example, whether the wood that would be burned will be from demolition debris or contaminated with paint, lead or other toxic substances.
“Burning stuff is not new technology,” he said. “The big question is how clean is this wood, where does it come from and what else could be done with it?”
Richard Trzupek of Oak Brook-based Mostardi Platt Environmental, which is working with the Robbins group, said this type of plant emits pollution at levels considered harmless by the EPA.
The 350,000 tons of wood needed annually would come from a variety of sources where the wood is broken down and recycled, he said.
Historically, Tangel said, some industrial plants in poor communities have taken advantage of residents by polluting and not investing in the region.
“Fifteen years ago, when they were going to burn garbage, they said that was environmentally friendly,” Tangel said. “That was not true.”
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