Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Mark Sulzbach, 651-296-7768 Saint Paul, Minn. -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will hold a public information meeting Dec. 13, 2007, to discuss a draft air permit for the proposed Midtown Eco Energy project. The facility would be located in the Phillips neighborhood near South High School in Minneapolis. The meeting will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 2730 E. 31st Street from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend the meeting which begins with an open house from 6:00 to 6:30. The formal MPCA presentation runs from 6:30 to 7 p.m. followed by a question and answer period. Visitors should enter the east door of the church and take the elevator or stairs to the second floor community room. The church parking lot is on Lake Street between 27th and 29th Ave. The presentation will discuss air quality and the draft air emissions permit required of Kandiyohi Development's proposed project - an electrical generation plant at 2850 20th Avenue. The facility would operate 24 hours per day and burn wood waste, such as wood chips and tree trimmings, to produce up to 24 megawatts of electricity. The site is currently used as a solid waste transfer station. Pollution control equipment will include a baghouse to control microscopic particles, sometimes referred to as "particulate matter," resulting from incomplete combustion. The facility will also have equipment for reducing nitrogen oxides emissions. The draft permit for the Midtown project will begin a public comment period in late November and end on Jan. 14, 2008. A copy of the draft permit will be posted on the MPCA Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/news/data/index/.cfm?PN=1. Those with questions should contact Paula Connell, MPCA, 520 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul, MN 55155 or by phone at 651-282-2605.