r
NPPD, ecology spark debate
by Sara Schwieder'v
It was fodder for apirited discussion, and
the 35 persons who attended the debate
Wednesday night between Eric Sloth of the
Nebraska Power Public District (NPPD) and
J.A. Fagerstrom of the Sierra Club seemed
hardly disappointed. The discussion was on
the effects of future public power needs on '
the environment.
Sloth said industry, and NPPD in
particular, was doing as much as possible to-,
control pollution . caused by" power
generating plants in Nebraska, while
Fagerstrom maintained that the power
company was neglecting its environmental
considerations.
"Any transfer of energy causes a certain
amount of waste," Sloth told the audience.
"Before, we assumed that water and air were
free for our use. But now we've come to the
realization that we must find better ways to
dispose of waste." '
He cited the difference between the
"Technological approach" and the
"ecological approach" to the environmental
issue.
"The technological approach is to make
use of water, while the ecological approach
it to preserve the water's integerity
regardless of technology."
Sloth said there is "no easy way" to
entirely remove sulfer dioxide and nitrogen
oxide-the worst two chemicals emmitted
into the air from a power plant. He also said
that some efforts to control air pollution
from power plants only resulted in a
different kind of pollution.
He told the group that a clean
environment would be "very expensive."
It all comes down to a value judgement:
the costs of cleaning up the environment vs.
health and aesthetic factors," Sloth said.
"There is a certain risk in the way we
live" he said. "Technology should be there
to protect the health and welfare, and I
think that's enough."
Fagerstrom, however, thought technology
shouldn't jeopardize the environment in the
first place, and that it should be legally
responsible for "protecting and enhancing" ,
the environment. - -
"The past history of industry for
voluntarily controlling pollution themselves
is not good. We need to have some good
national laws," Fagerstrom said.
Faterstrom hit the national
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
-standards for adequate pollution control,
which provides industry guidelines for
pollution control. EPA has two kinds of
standards: A primary standard, which
Fagerstrom characterized as "established at
the level where there's harm to humans and
quickly visible effects." '
He said the secondary standard is elso a
level of pollution that causes damage to the
respiratory system, but it "just takes longer
for the effects to appear."
He said industry in Nebraska only has to
meet , the primary standard, but air in
Nebraska at present is far above that
''standard. Allowing industry to meet the
primary standard actually would allow
degradation of the air and water in this state.
y
He said the Sierra Club brought a case
which is currently in the U.S. Supreme
Court. Should the court decide in its favor,
degradation of air in any state that has
cleaner air than EPA minimums would be
prohibited.
Fagerstrom particularly criticized a plang
that NPPD plans to build near Sutherland.
He said the plant would degrade the air and
water in the Sutherland area.
Sloth replied that NPPD "will use the best
pollution control devices available" at the
Sutherland plant.
He said the Sutherland plant would be a
;'model" plant so far as its effect on the
town and surrounding farmland. He said
NPPD will burn low sulfur coal to control
chemicals emmitted from the stack and the
mercury content of the emissions "will still
be below health department standards.
"We're also spending $43 million on a
crash pollution control program in our four
plants," he said., "That's a considerable
, ampunt, and
- eventually. ''
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