Beth Edwards January 28, 2021
Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life and Valley Watch have lost their challenge against the air permit for Riverview Energy’s proposed coal-to-diesel plant in Dale and now plan to appeal again.
In July 2019, the groups filed an appeal with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, saying the permit didn’t provide assurance of protection from the plant’s potentially high levels of air pollution. In fact, Riverview didn’t submit the final design for pollution control or the facility itself before the permit was issued in June 2019.
In December 2020, the Office of Environmental Adjudication ruled in favor of IDEM and Riverview saying there was enough information to issue the permit, and a detailed design plan isn’t necessary to determine particulate matter for the coal handling and milling process because these are well-known processes. Also, the adjudication office said the groups didn’t present c