Lake County may be the first government agency in Illinois to flex its
muscle against a continuing stream of peaker power plant proposals popping up.
The county is poised to approve a new set of zoning codes that, in part, will
restrict where and how the controversial plants can operate in unincorporated
areas.
The county cannot wield authority over municipalities, including
Libertyville, where a heated debate brews against one such plant locating in
the village.
An official with the Illinois Protection Agency, which is in the midst of
holding public hearings regarding plants across the state, said Lake County
may be the first to adopt regulations.
"I haven't heard of any with specific requirements; they're the first ones to
pass something," said IEPA spokesman Dennis McMurray, adding that both Lake
and McHenry counties have been the most vocal opponents of the plants. "Both
have a history of having environmentally active citizens."
There are three peaker plant proposals in Lake County. Two previous proposals
have been withdrawn.
The county's provision, written under a new set of codes called the Unified
Development Ordinance, would require plants to be at least 1,000 feet away
from residential areas, to include fencing and to meet pollution control
standards set by the EPA.
"We hooked our wagon onto the best standards the EPA can give us," Lake
County Board member Larry Leafblad of Grayslake said.
The plants also would have to operate under the state's recommended
night-time noise levels at all times.
The peaker plants, which are designed to operate during times of highest
electricity demand, have emerged throughout the state and in Lake County as a
result of electrical deregulation in 1999. The natural gas-fueled plants are
most likely to operate during hot summer months.
The peaker plant industry managed to creep up on municipalities just after
deregulation, leaving government leaders at a loss over how to restrict them.
The IEPA has said each town should handle plants on a local basis. The agency
has power only over air quality.
State lawmakers failed this week to come up with legislation to restrict the
plants.
Lake County officials have called on the state to grant a state agency
authority over regulating such issues as ground water use. Some peaker plants
need to tap into local aquifers and use hundreds of thousands of gallons of
water daily for cooling systems. No state law can currently keep them from
