Biomass | Milltown Power Plant
A state-of-the-art 28 megawatt biomass-to-electricity facility is to be built by Liberty Green Renewables just to the north of Milltown in Crawford County, Indiana. The project is scheduled to begin in around 20 months time with engineering and other work that needs to be completed before construction can begin.
The plant will be fed by woody biomass material from several local forest product industrial sources in south central Indiana and central Kentucky. Industries providing the materials include logging, sawmills, furniture, cabinet and pallet manufacturers. Further biomass will be sourced from tree trimmings and brnaches that have been downed through storm damage.
The Milltown plant will utilize a fluidized bed boiler technology to enable utilization of a wide variety of woody biomass materials in an efficient, environmentally friendly manner.
More than 100 construction jobs will be created during the 18-month building period and the facility will provide jobs for around 25 people.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Biomass has a massive future, if everyone can get their head around distributed power.
It doesn’t work on a very large scale, but thats a feature, not a problem. Like this project, each facility exploits local existing resources.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I TOTALLY opposed this project, since they plan to build right behind my property. This is the WRONG LOCATION; it’s near our community, within a 1.5mi from our Elementary School and near our Blue River. This is insane…A peaceful and quiet community will have to worry about noise pollution by the trucks, Air pollution that we didn’t have before and our well water. And not forget the future health of our children and the value of our property. I could go on and on. I said, NO BIOMASS Plant for this Milltown Community.
January 27th, 2009 at 2:05 am
I live in Milltown and have 2 children under the age of 5. I think that I power plant in our small community is crazy. The amount of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emitted cannot possibly be considered environmentally safe or healthy. There is an elementary school close to the location as well. Though we are a small community it is not right to put us at risk. Also, the county’s a tourist attraction during the summer with Cave Country Canoes and Marengo Cave. How is this going to affect the river. No one is going to want to canoe in a river that is along side a power plant. This is crazy. How will anyone be able to sell their homes and move to another location. And it is not like it is providing jobs to the community. 25?? WOW!! That will really help out.
March 4th, 2009 at 6:04 am
As long as it is not beside my place, do to nature what you like. This opinion is quite close minded and not very up to date.
When you have a BBQ it doesn’t matter if you increase your risk of cancer. It doesn’t matter if your private little romantic fireplace emits more NOx and CO relatively seen.
How about nuclear or coal or oil power plants that deliver your electricity emit their gases and radiation somewhere else? The people on that place don’t want it too. So no electric generation any more? No water power, because the beautiful landscape is destroyed by it? No wind mills, No solar panels?
Not in my place ?!
Using renewable energies is the only way today to ensure a longer term supply of comfortable electricity to your home. Reducing CO2 emissions that would make the environment of todays school children less worth living, no matter where the plants are located.
Renewable energies also take the CO2 they emit, so a sustainable use is precondition for that. No senseless transporting ways of wood or even electricity transmission losses over long distances.
Think honestly about it and don’t refuse the future.
Handling the biomass in decentralized plants brings more jobs than one central automatical nuclear, oil or coal plant, right?
March 26th, 2009 at 2:51 am
You have stated that this plant will provide approximatly 25 new jobs? I would like for you to consider how many others will lose their jobs or be put out of business because it will be very unlikely that tourism will continue to flourish in a community with a power plant that will disrupt the natural beauty & wildlife. Not to mention the Blue River which is stated as being the cleanest river in the state of Indiana. I am afraid that the tourism business in Milltown will be put out of business. The citizens will be unable to sell their homes or property & this will become a town of 25. That is, if their employees choose to live in a noisy, polluted environment? Which I very much doubt. In which case Milltown may become a ghost town.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Off subject some but I just can’t believe the comment made by Raban Endres about fireplaces. How uninformed do people have to be before they stop speaking in public? I mean, come on, are you serious???? Burning wood does release carbon into the air, yes of course. But where did that carbon come from? The air. And if I don’t use a tree for firewood, when it dies and rots on the ground the carbon goes into the environment anyway. Hello, burning wood does NOT add to the green house gas situation, it merely moves them around. The problem is the carbon that is locked deep within the earth in the form of oil or gas or coal. If it was left where it is, it would never see the light of day. To go after firewood or cattle due to their gas production is just ignorant. Do some research and know what you are talking about please. Spreading falsehoods helps nobody.
As far as the biomass plant goes, cheap renewable engergy, I’m down with that. Stop spreading irrational fear. Truck drivers won’t be targetting school children, nobody is going to start dumping in Blue River, it won’t produce so much noise as to disturb people in their homes or yards, they are not starting deforestation, tourism won’t suffer at all, and in time you will all brag about your proactive and forward thinking biomass energy plant. And adding 25 jobs to Milltown should be welcomed, not made fun of. Imagine, 25 people living in Milltown will have a morning commute all of five minutes. That’s 25 more people that do not have to buy $100+ in gas each month. 25 more keeping an eye on the community during the day. 25 more that can drop their kids off and pick them up again in the afternoon from school. And it will probable raise property values, not hurt them. I’m not a tree hugger, just not afraid of progress.
May 1st, 2009 at 3:59 am
Has anyone considered that 400 people work at a nearby paper factory? This power plant could impact their fiber costs and we could lose a substantail amount of employment in the nearby region. Not to mention how many contractors work at that location. It spans into the 1000s.
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:35 am
I am an environmental consultant with Golder Associates and work to develop these and other power projects. I can say from experience that the installation of one of these plants greatly reduces the emission of many pollutants when compared to a coal plant (which it will likely displace power from)most notibly sulfur dioxide. To say that the emission of SO2, NOx, and CO are not safe is not true. I do the air dispersion modeling for projects such as this. Every facility in the U.S. has to meet the same national ambient air quality standard rules, which are established to protect human helath and welfare. It is my experience that these plants rarely have any problem meeting these standards. It is the small emission sources such as a generator at a hospital or the firepit in a backyard that pose the greatest chance of exceeding the amibient air quality standards. The benefits of a biomass plant far outweigh the risks and I wholeheartedly support them.
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 am
It seems to me that there are two schools of thought here, belonging to those that live in Milltown and those that don’t. I belong in the latter group, but can understand the concerns of those in the former. However, I feel certain that these will prove to be unfounded.Someone mentioned a paper mill. Traditionally, ths wll have been far more polluting of your no-doubt beautiful river than the new biomass power plant, and yet tourists seem to have been flocking to visit you despite its existence, so why hould a biomass power plant put the tourists off? Also, it should be able to buy waste from the paper mill to burn, thereby making it a more efficient and profitable business and helping to safeguard those 400 jobs, as well as creating another 25 in the community directly and others in the logging and ransportation industries. Your local economy should benefit a great deal from this.
It’s obviously upsetting when any kind of industrial unit is built in a community setting, but I imagine that these are not generally permitted to be built on brand new greenfield sites unless absolutely avoidable, so I presume that there has been some form of industrial unit in this location for some time already.I can guarantee that this plant will not only be far less polluting than the previous occupant of the land but will contribute to saving our environment and to the local economy. And you all get to feel a little less guilty if you accidentally leave your air-con on when you go out.
Finally, Nimbyism is never very attractive.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:39 am
As an artist and nature lover, I am drawn to the forests and streams of Southern Indiana. At one point I looked at property along the Blue River and was pleasantly surprised to find that there are laws about building next to the Blue River to keep the ecology in balance and preserve this pristine environment. Big business is not concerned with pristine water, but looks at streams as sewers for waste by-product chemicals. Please preserve this lovely tourist area. DO NOT BUILD this incinerator. See attached story.
Story from “Green.com”
The developers of a proposed $90 million biomass power plant in Southern Indiana say it would release hundreds of tons of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, as well as some hazardous air pollutants by burning wood waste to generate electricity.
Liberty Green Renewables LLC estimates in its state air permit application that the plant would release 245 tons of nitrogen oxide and 226 tons of carbon dioxide a year.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:54 am
After driving through parts of Crawford County this past week my wife and I noticed all of the no biomass incinerator signs in front of several houses, we became very curious as to where and what this project was all about. After reading through the posts and information on this website we could not locate any info as to where they are planning on building this place, or even if it has gone that far.
Is this still talk or is this project really going to happen?
If so does anyone have the address of where this place is being constructed?
September 16th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I live in Dubois COunty, and consider myself a friend to all of rural southern Indiana. The Milltown area of the Blue River is one of the remaining unpolluted places in the state. This is not a good site for a large incinerator. It is important to recognize that biomass is NOT green energy. While it may have less problems than coal, it is simply incineration.
The idea that we can burn wood, switchgrass, old tires, methane from garbage, animal waste etc, to create sustainable energy is logically indefensible.
Quickly one such plant morphs into several (I noted that Liberty Green has sights on other places in Indiana as well.) First, you take the wood waste. When you haul the biomass out of the forests and the fields you deplete the soils there and destroy the ecosystem. Then you cut the forests to plant switchgrass. This is a repeat of the problem with ethanol. YOu begin growing plants to burn instead of growing forests and food. And soon you are up the proverbial creek.
It’s important to look into the future of this. It won’t work. We need to cut back on energy use–a lot. And we need to find other energy sources that don’t jeopardize the food system, the water quality, the forests, the biodiversity of an entire ecosystem or the quality of life for local residents.
Biomass is a terrible idea. This proposed plan should be stopped.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:02 am
To answer the above questions: the proposed site is indeed a greenfield location, and not an existing industrial site. It was chosen for proximity to power lines and railroad lines. I agree that a small, clean-burning biomass plant is better than an old-style coal plant. However there are complicating factors. The major one is the discharge of waste water from this plant – about 170,000 gallons a day – into the local karst topology. This could cause collapse at the surface, which could happen far from the plant, could cause contamination of the adjacent Blue River (a state Wild and Scenic river), and possibly impact the habitats of state and federally endangered species – not to mention contaminate local wells and groundwater with heavy metals.
The developers have already amended their permit application to include burning dirty sources such as wood from demolition. This wood is often contaminated with lead pain, arsenic and other preservative, etc. These contaminants would also go into the air and water waste. Why be in a hurry? If this plant is such a good idea, it will still be a good idea AFTER all the environmental studies have been done. And it is IMPOSSIBLE – sorry for shouting, but don’t rush past this – it is IMPOSSIBLE to restore a contaminated river and groundwater system to health. You never recover the species that are lost. Karst topography is very complicated, and it takes time to understand exactly where discharged waste water is going.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Before you comment on biomass you should do some research. Always someone against everything.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:36 am
People, they have the best emissions filtering and opacity equipment technology. Least to say that the EPA has very strict compliance laws,they monitor these energy plants on frequent basis . I understand your concern, but do you realize that not only does it add some much needed jobs, but it can help, in some cases, lower local energy costs? I worked at one of these facilities and know from experience that we had very strict guidelines on operation. Not that it matters to you but the closer to populated areas, the higher or taller the output stack has to be. We must be able to use this industry to create energy rather that coal. Burning garbage is a way to do that. It doesnt help the global warming issue at all, but then, look at all the industrial plants around your area. Do you think they are not putting polutants in the air to be carried thru your town?
January 24th, 2010 at 6:01 am
I here a lot of ignorance and not in my backyard syndrome here. In the state of NH there are several of these plants and I would dare to say that most residents hardly know that they are there. They are very quiet and blend into the scenery. All new power plants have very efficient pollution control and monitoring equipment on the stacks and they release very little if any water back into the environment. Go talk to some people that have some knowledge before you make up your minds.
February 7th, 2010 at 4:30 am
AS THE CONCERNED CITIZENS OF CRAWFORD COUNTY WE HAVE DONE HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF RESREACH, WENT TO OTHER BIOMASS PLANTS WHERE THEY ALL ARE BURNING TIRES, AND HAVE STUDIED THE LGR SOLID WASTE AND AIR PERMIT APPLICAIONS. THEY ARE NOT CLERN OR GREEN! THEY AT FIRST STATED THEY WERE DUMPING THE WASTE WATER, 170,000 aday IN THE BLUE RIVER, AND TAKING THE WATER OUT OF THE BLUE RIVER! NOW THEY ARE PUTTING IT IN THE GROUND THROUGH PERFORATED PIPES, 12 to 18 INCHES DEEP ON A KARST LANDSCAPE WITH CAVES ON THE SITE AND 10 SURROUNDING THE SITE A 1/2 MILE FROM THE RIVER 3/4 MILE FROM THE BLUE RIVER WATER COMPANY WELLS WHICH SUPPLIES WATER TO TWO TOWNS, THAT IS 67 MILLIION GALLONS A YEAR AND 700,000 OF OUR DRINKING WATER THAT IS 3 1/2 TIMES WHAT THE WATER COMPANY USES A DAY. WE ARE ALREADY IN SHORT SUPPLY OF WATER THIS IS DIRTIER THAN COAL WE HAVE THE PROOF, PLEASE JUST LOOK AT THE COMPANY PERMITS TO IDEM, THEY ARE EMITTING 249.9 TONS OF HAZARDOUS EMISSIONS ANNUALLY. JUST APPROXIMATELY A TENTH OF A TON FROM BEING A MAJOR SOURCE OF POLLUTION, WHICH WOULD REQUIRE STRICTER REGULATIONS FROM IDEM. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PERMITS IDEM SAY THEY DENIED? O YES THEY SAID THAT AT THE SCOTTSBURG MEETING ON FEB.3 2010. IDEM IS IN THE BUSINESS OF GRANTING PERMITS NOT DENYING THEM.
February 11th, 2010 at 11:33 am
The ideas that burning trees is carbon neutral is absurd. Trees can’t take in CO2 if they are cut down, and burned to release more CO2. These plants can burn 100 tons of “biomass” per hour, so unless you can show me a forest that can grow at that rate, it’s not sustainable, renewable or sane. The notion that wood waste is a significant percentage of what is to be burned is absurd. To feed the beast, clear cutting is the only way to keep up. Not, “oh, I found a few downed limbs in my yard from the storm. Let’s throw those in.” Deforestation and pollution. This is an absolute scam and will come to light as such in the next decade. I just hope too many of these plants aren’t built before then.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
I think the simple thing that so many people are trying to get across and so many others are just not understanding is that Blue River and the surrounding natural areas of this portion of the Indiana hold more natural value than nearly all of Indiana put together. I agree, the most substantial negative impact of this plant is the use and discharge of so much water (whether it is contaminated or not). Many people don’t even understand what a karst is or the value of one of the cleanest rivers in the continental US! What so many people keep missing is that we continue to destroy our environment everyday because humans are so damn arrogant that we think we can improve on what nature has already provided. It sickens me, really! I just think every day when I see all of those cookie-cutter housing developments, factories, malls, etc… the kids growing up there will never have any idea what was once beneath their feet. The beauty of nature. It disappears so quickly every day. Let us, at the very least, salvage one small area that holds so much value. There are several animal species in Indiana that can only be found right in this area. Indiana has already lost the Eastern Hellbender (large aquatic salamander) and several darters (absolutely beautiful stream fish) across all of the state except this one last place because of human-related issues in our rivers and streams. Please just understand the value. People are always thinking they know what is best until it’s too late. YOU CAN NOT REVERSE THE POTENTIAL DAMAGE THAT THIS WILL CAUSE ONCE IT STARTS. It’s worth way more to people of Milltown and elsewhere to save this landscape than it is to provide 25 measly jobs and save a little on their electricity. This will definitely put a huge damper on tourism in this town. I’ve seen this kind of thing happen before. For the record, I don’t live in Indiana and never have, but I know the beauty and natural value that this place holds because I’ve been there to experience it. Please rethink this.
April 12th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Folks Madison IN has a coal fired plant(IKE)right across the road from Clifty Falls State Park and 5 miles from several schools. We also have a coal fired plant (LG&E) in Trimble County Kentucky 10 miles away and at Ghent Kentucky 25 miles away. The water that runs over the falls in the park has not turned black! I agree this is not true green energy. The only non polluting energy is wind and solar. I also bet there is 75 homes that burn wood to heat with in Milltown and Scottsburg areas that put the same stuff per hour in the air as these plants would not to mention both areas have a major interstate highway running near them with all the exhaust fumes. Until we get smart enough to make steam needed for turbines without burning something or splitting the atom to make it, or everyone has an electric car, we will have to live with it or go back to the stone ages. We also need to think about how this looks to other companies that might look to build in the area. Will they want to go thru the hassle of dealing with the people here to create good paying jobs which we need bad (trust me I know, I just lost a $19 hour due to the place closed and have not had any luck finding anything close to what I had). Coal will not last forever and oil to make gas projections are to run low in 60 years. We need to think about the future not just the right now, AND 60 YEARS IS NOT MUCH TIME TO GET IT RIGHT!
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:28 am
I truly agree with all. If you live in this pristine area you do not want it polluted. But if you want electricity then locally you are on your own. Do not put that environmentally burden on a small community somewhere else that has a two gig watt coal fired power plant and is supplying theirs and your power. If you are opposed to this plant you need to do more research. You say that you have never seen a forest grow that fast Rachel but you need to look at the natural carbon and nitrogen cycle. I am a student in environmental science and know that when you burn the biomass only the carbon and nitrogen that the plant first absorbed for growth is emitted. there is not some freak reaction that creates 10 times as much carbon. As far as the river goes you need to come together as a community and make the power plant environmentally friendly. Put filter ponds and wetlands in place to filter out any possible emissions. But one thing I think that everyone is missing is that no matter what to get off of our addiction to coal and fossil fuels from overseas we need to start using home brewed power. And if your community does not want to put in a power plant that would use waste from sawmills, lawn care services, storm damage trees, logging treetops, black liquor from your paper mill, ext. Then you are out of luck because in small towns on the Ohio and Mississippi river they are taking the burden for you. You are needing the additional power. You can put up windmills and solar panels but I guess you might kill a bird or two also huu. You need to get over your community act and visit a community where one is in place and then go visit the community where your power is coming from right now. I’m sure you will like what you see from the community with the biomass power plant compared to where your power is coming from.