Power Plant Opponents Send Second Email

Another email from the opponents of the power plant in Oakwood Hills.  Read the comments under yesterday’s email.   There’s some good information there.

OH ZBA 3-31-14 crowd back SW

Some attending the second Oakwood Hills zoning meeting on the power plant.

To those that oppose the Oakwood Hills Power Plant:

We’re concerned about some comments made by the president of Oakwood Hills (Melanie Funk) in a recent Northwest Herald article.  In this article, Mrs. Funk made the following comment:

“She said she did visit a similar power plant in Elgin, which has houses across the street, and a school and a protected fen nearby. Funk said she knocked on doors and spoke to residents who had no complaints about noises or smells, and took a tour of the plant.” – NW Herald

Her comments should make everyone very nervous about either her intentions, or her ability to properly evaluate the impacts of the power plant in Oakwood Hills.

Take a look at the below information about the Elgin and Minooka power plants, and tell us, are you comfortable with Melanie making the that statement in the NW Herald?

It is our opinion that the Elgin facility can’t be considered a “similar facility” to the proposed Oakwood Hills Power Plant.  Its not good that the president of Oakwood Hills thinks this is a fair comparison.  Please read the below and form your own opinion!

About The Elgin Power Plant:

Arial and street views:

http://goo.gl/maps/MRukO

http://goo.gl/maps/LFYIw

  •       The plant in Elgin, Illinois is a a simple-cycle power plant, not a combined cycle plant like the Minooka and Oakwood Hills plants.

o   A simple cycle power plant has a capacity around 10%, while a combined cycle plant around 80% capacity.  This means the Oakwood Hills power plant can be expected to “run” 80% of the time, compared to a simple cycle at 10%. 10% capacity tells you one reason why some neighbors may not be too bothered by the facility in Elgin!
o   Does not have a tall smoke stack like a combined cycle plant does.
o   Does not create steam, thus minimizing plume cloud and any risks from gray water vaporization into the air.
o   Elgin’s plant sits on on 27 acres (almost double the size of the land in Oakwood Hills at 13-14 acres)
o   A simple cycle power plant like Elgin requires less equipment to operate than combined cycle plants (less of a physical footprint)
o   Elgin’s location is in a highly industrial area
o   Uses SIGNIFICANTLY less water, if any water at all.  This is both from its simple cycle design and also because it runs so infrequently.

  • Elgin’s power plant does have a neighborhood across the street, but…

o   …the neighborhood was built after the power plant was in operation
o   …at the time of the plant proposal, there wasn’t a single residence within 2,000 ft.
o   …property values in the neighborhood across the street were established with the power plant already in operation, thus eliminating any immediate property value loss due to the plant.

  • Elgin’s plant has as a school nearby, but…

o   …the school is still 0.5mi away from the plant, not across the street.  Of course noise wouldn’t be as big of a concern 0.5 miles away.

About the Minooka Power Plant referenced in a previous NW Herald article:

Arial and Street Views:

Minooka Is a combined cycle power plant similar in technology to the proposal in Oakwood Hills

  • – Minooka is a much larger facility with a much larger footprint than Elgin.
  • – Minooka is almost 5,000 ft away from nearest neighborhood (nearly a mile)
  • – If you look at the satellite view of this plant, you can see that it is in the middle of nowhere!.

Here are some more videos for your viewing pleasure:


Comments

Power Plant Opponents Send Second Email — 9 Comments

  1. I’m impressed with the evidence presented.

    No name-calling.

    No insults.

    Just facts.

    And relevant facts to boot: on the technology, the amount of time run, distance to the school, and when the homes were built versus when the plant was built.

    One fact they might want to consider including: volume declines with the square of the distance.

    So a plant one half mile from a school will have one-fourth of the noise of a plant one quarter mile away.

    Twice the distance = one-fourth the volume.

    Hence, distance is very important.

  2. Other residents of Oakwood Hills may want to ask Nick Chirikos why he is spending time in the Marengo area attempting to what appears to be intimidate local residents into accepting illegal horse racing in their rural neighborhoods.

    How would he like to have up to one thousand vehicles enter his neighborhood on what used to be a quiet weekends?

    Nick – work for your residents in Oakwood Hills!

    Help stop the power plants!!

  3. Just look at that threatening crowd of thugs.

    No wonder Funk has closed the Village Hall and cancelled the Village Board meeting, put a no trespassing sign in her yard.

    She has altered the Village’s motto, removing the words “neighbors are friendly”.

    She has the media eating up her crazy lies about personal threats and claiming that people were forcefully removed from the zoning hearings by the police.

    She is failing to complete her duties as president and should be removed from office.

    She claims they must all remain neutral yet every time she speaks her support of the project is obvious.

  4. Sorry about the insults Steve, but seriously look at the faces in the photo.

    I think that’s Funk in the very front

  5. Poor deluded citizens ……. most of ’em think their votes count and public servants will, if properly educated, vote in their interests.

    $ talks and sanity walks!

    These people need to rise up and sweep the oppressive town-tyrants from their preening perches …… in the days of Washington, biped rats like the Oakwood commissars would be tarred and feathered ….

  6. Where do the board members live in conjunction to the power plants planned location?

    Will they be seeing it, hearing it from their current residence?

    What will the power plant look like at night?

    Lights and such that can be seen on all night long?

    How will all our lakes in our neighborhoods be impacted if at all?

    Will the fact that we have bodies of water around, allow sound to transfer more from the power plant, than other areas that have power plants without large bodies of water around?

  7. I have a dream, that every man women and child…lol..

    Now seriously, every household in McHenry County should have a sign in their yard in protest of the power plant…

    EVERYONE!

    This is no laughing matter…

  8. Was an impact study done?

    Has someone asked President Funk what she plans to do with all the extra revenue?

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