New power plant proposed

New power plant proposed
Friday, August 26, 2005 Mail to a friend Printer Firendly Version

By Ann Pierceall

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

LOUISIANA, Mo. — Negotiations are under way to build a $115 million waste-to-energy facility — the first in Missouri — and develop an eco-industrial park in Louisiana.

Mark Twain Waste and Energy Corporation and Hercules Inc., a chemical plant in Louisiana, are negotiating a deal that could lead to an environmentally friendly facility to replace the 65-year-old coal-fired power plant used by Hercules. The plant also provides power for neighboring Dyno Nobel, which makes ammonia nitrate.

An eco-industrial park also could be developed on about 120 acres in the industrial park that also houses Hercules. There has been interest in building an ethanol plant on that location.

Drex Rothweiler, executive director of the Mark Twain Waste and Energy Corporation, said the plan has been on the drawing board for 10 years. He said public meetings will likely be scheduled in the next month, when details of the potential project will be released.

Rothweiler said the facility would burn renewable fuel instead of fossil fuel, so "it helps the global warming situation." He said the facility would have the ability to burn about 1,000 tons of garbage a day.

"I can stress it will be burning only regular garbage, nothing toxic," he said.

Rothweiler said there's not enough trash generated in Northeast Missouri — only about 200 tons per day — to meet the facility's requirements. But he said local haulers and other large trash providers would be contracted to deliver enough material to meet the facility's needs.

Replacing the coal-fired plant with a cleaner-burning fuel means the removal of more than 7,000 tons of sulfur dioxide from the air, he said.

Rob Malnight, plant manager at Hercules, said the time was right to restart negotiations on the project.

"This has always been a good idea," he said. "There are significant benefits for the community — both economical and environmental."

However, Malnight cautioned that "it's not a done deal ... but we're making a push to make it happen." He admits the Hercules power plan its "pretty old" and needs a "significant upgrade" to remain as it is.

Rothweiler said the $115 million price tag is a rough estimate. "Our construction costs are being re-evaluated because of the increase cost of steel and cement in recent years," he said.

An ethanol plant could also buy power from the waste-to-energy facility. Rothweiler declined to comment on a possible ethanol plant, other than to say "we've been approached by an ethanol group."

Mark Twain Waste and Energy Corporation is a non-profit organization formed to make use of waste-to-energy technology to assist with municipal solid waste disposal and provide an alternative to landfills.