Indeck will have another hurdle to overcome in its effort to build a peaker power plant in Libertyville.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public hearing on whether the Buffalo Grove based company should be granted a new air quality permit to build a peaker plant in the Mallory Industrial Park, located near Route 137 and Harris Road.

IEPA executive director Tom Skinner said the agency decided that due to the level of public interest in peaker power plants, a public hearing should be held in Libertyville on Indeck’s permit extension request.

“It’s really an opportunity for everybody to be heard,” Skinner said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Indeck was originally granted a permit from the IEPA in Feb. 25, 1999 to construct a natural gas turbine powered peaker plant at the Libertyville site.

However, IEPA guidelines state a permit will expire one year after the date of issuance unless the permit is extended or a new permit issued, or unless construction has begun. Indeck’s previous permit expired last Friday.

Skinner said Indeck’s construction permit was one of the first permits issued by the IEPA for a peaker plant in the state, and since that time, there has been a great deal of interest in the issue in Libertyville and across the state.

Skinner said the agency now plans to hold a public hearing whenever a new permit is sought. He said Indeck’s extension request is being treated as a new permit application.

“Given the fact we didn’t hold a public hearing the first time around (in Libertyville), we decided it would be appropriate at this time,” he said.

No definite date or location has yet been set for the hearing. Skinner expects the hearing will be held sometime over the next 45 to 60 days, and the decision on whether to grant a new permit will be made within about 90 days.

Opponents of the proposed power plant had sent several letters to the state, urging a public hearing be held on Indeck’s permit application.

Larry Eaton is the attorney for Prairie Holdings Corporation, which represents the developer of Prairie Crossings subdivision in Grayslake which opposes the power plant. The proposed peaker plant would be located about 2,000 feet from the southern boundary of the Prairie Crossings development.

Eaton said he is “very happy to hear the EPA will be holding a hearing.”

“I think this hearing will give the public a chance to ask questions and raise concerns, such as the potential of this plant to contribute to ozone problems in northern Illinois,” he said.

Eaton said he believes Indeck has seriously understated projected emissions the plant would generate.

The IEPA monitors two primary sources of air pollution, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds. Eaton said Indeck indicated in its original application that the plant would emit a maximum of 173 tons of nitrogen oxide per year. However, based upon projections of the number of hours the plant would operate, he said actual emissions could be double that amount or 356 tons per year.

“There’s some question as to how much nitrogen oxide the plant would emit,” he said.

However, Greg Wassilkowsky, manager of business development for Indeck, said the air emissions impact of the plant would be “very low.”

Wassilkowsky said the ground level impact of nitrogen oxide emissions from the proposed peaker plant is the equivalent of about three home furnaces and is nine times less than a high school furnace. “The actual impact to the air you breathe is insignificant,” he said.

Wassilkowsky said it’s up to the state if it wants to hold a hearing on the issue but the facts won’t change. He remains optimistic a new permit will be issued, once the hearing process is complete.

“We've already had the permit once. I can’t see why they'd change their minds now,” he said.

The IEPA’s hearing will not affect the hearings currently underway by the Village of Libertyville on the power plant issue. Indeck is seeking a zoning variance and a special use permit from the village to build the plant.

Skinner said the state hearing and local hearings by the Libertyville Plan Commission can proceed on “parallel tracts.”

“I wouldn’t anticipate our decision would have any impact on what they’re doing there,” he said.

John Spoden, director of Community Development for the Village of Libertyville, said the IEPA’s decision to hold a public hearing “wouldn’t change anything as far as our public hearings” are concerned.

“The Village of Libertyville definitely will proceed forward with public hearings,” he said.