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April 20, 2004Diligent homework exposes plant flawsManistee planning commissioners deserve congratulations for rejecting a developer's economically and environmentally regressive proposal to build a $700 million coal-fired power plant in the Lake Michigan port town.And so do grass roots groups like the Aurora Association and Manistee Citizens for Responsible Economic Development, as well as the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and scores of regular folk who banded together to derail the 425-megawatt Northern Lights project initially embraced by local leaders. The power plant offered little of value to residents of Manistee and northwestern Michigan. There's no doubt a coal-burning plant would have negatively affected the region's air, soil and water, and developer Manistee Saltworks/Tondu Corp.'s murky promises of community-wide economic benefit failed to withstand scrutiny, especially when plant foes ferreted out information that showed it likely would have been a tax-exempt facility. City planners rightly sent Tondu packing, and though it's remotely possible the city could broker an 11th-hour deal, last week's decision likely signals the plant's demise. Plant opponents did much more than sit around and grumble. They organized, researched government Web sites, obtained damning documents through the Freedom of Information Act and pointed out inconsistencies and flaws in Tondu's pitch. They garnered support from physicians who detailed health risks associated with mercury and other toxic emissions. They rallied owners of expensive new homes who most assuredly didn't invest in Manistee for a daily dose of soot and view of a 400-foot smokestack. Ultimately, the grass roots groups outworked, outhustled and outperformed Tondu, leaving the company exposed as a would-be exploiter offering a shiny new dime to a community struggling through difficult economic times. Tondu strolled into town last year humming a tune of prosperity - jobs, tax base, regeneration of a brownfield site - and left muttering and hinting lawsuit. When developer Joe Tondu in post-decision comments to the Associated Press arrogantly dismissed plant opponents as "no-growth, not in my back yard, not on planet earth" gadflies, he unwittingly underscored the difference between winners and losers in this battle. Tondu thought Manistee was economically desperate and gullible enough to embrace a big-time polluter that wanted taxpayers to pick up its tab. But anti-plant residents and groups proved that smarts, dedication and a commitment to environmental stewardship were much better ways in which to invest in their community.
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