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Cob opponents bring in speaker
Jefferson County commissioner fought power plant in her area
By BROOK REINHARD
Opponents of the Cob Energy Facility brought in a county commissioner from out of the area to speak to the Klamath County Commissioners at their regular Tuesday meeting.
About a dozen members of the opposition group Save Our Rural Oregon showed up for the meeting, and Cob Project Manager Rob Trotta attended as well to defend the power plant.
"I'm just a baby commissioner," Jefferson County Commissioner Mary Zemke said. "A year ago I was a Lyn (Brock) or a Ron (Kampwerth,) fighting this plant day after day."
Zemke was elected in 2002 after successfully fighting a proposal for a plant called Cogentrix, which would have been sited about 10 miles away from the world-famous climbing area of Smith Rock.
She said Trotta should be lauded for his efforts to amend Cob's application and make it air-cooled instead of water cooled, but said commissioners should still carefully examine issues like noise, pollution and land use.
"I can't tell you how to be a commissioner," she said. "But these issues are important to me."
Commissioners also heard from former Klamath County Commissioner Roger Hamilton, who lives in Eugene but owns property in the Langell Valley, where the Cob plant would be sited.
"I think you should take a look at letting the state make their land use decisions for you," he said.
Commissioner Steve West directed county counsel Rod Davis to find out whether the county still has any voice in the siting decision for the Cob plant. It has been stated by Commissioner John Elliott and Chairman Al Switzer in the past that the only power the county still has is determining whether to extend the tax-free enterprise zone out to the Cob site. Davis will return with an answer in two weeks.
West then engaged Trotta in a debate as the power plant spokesman answered questions at the end of the meeting.
The commissioners all signed a letter Nov. 8, 2001, in support of the project, but in early July, West began maintaining he had been out of the loop on the project and actually opposed the Cob facility.
Trotta said two Oregon utilities will need power some time between 2006 and 2010, and added the plant will only be constructed if he can find buyers for the 1,130 megawatts of power the gas-fired plant will produce.
Trotta answered several questions posed during the meeting. He said parts of the amendment, filed with the Oregon Department of Energy, might have errors in them, such as a section of the amendment that calls for 900 horsepower pumps to extract 300 gallons a minute of water from a deep-level well.
He said the pumps probably don't need to be quite that powerful. He also clarified that if the plant is built and then shut down later, the company is responsible for completely restoring the area the way it was before construction began.
"If we go ahead with the facility, we have to fully clean the site up to the way it was before," Trotta said.
By BROOK REINHARD
Opponents of the Cob Energy Facility brought in a county commissioner from out of the area to speak to the Klamath County Commissioners at their regular Tuesday meeting.
About a dozen members of the opposition group Save Our Rural Oregon showed up for the meeting, and Cob Project Manager Rob Trotta attended as well to defend the power plant.
"I'm just a baby commissioner," Jefferson County Commissioner Mary Zemke said. "A year ago I was a Lyn (Brock) or a Ron (Kampwerth,) fighting this plant day after day."
Zemke was elected in 2002 after successfully fighting a proposal for a plant called Cogentrix, which would have been sited about 10 miles away from the world-famous climbing area of Smith Rock.
She said Trotta should be lauded for his efforts to amend Cob's application and make it air-cooled instead of water cooled, but said commissioners should still carefully examine issues like noise, pollution and land use.
"I can't tell you how to be a commissioner," she said. "But these issues are important to me."
Commissioners also heard from former Klamath County Commissioner Roger Hamilton, who lives in Eugene but owns property in the Langell Valley, where the Cob plant would be sited.
"I think you should take a look at letting the state make their land use decisions for you," he said.
Commissioner Steve West directed county counsel Rod Davis to find out whether the county still has any voice in the siting decision for the Cob plant. It has been stated by Commissioner John Elliott and Chairman Al Switzer in the past that the only power the county still has is determining whether to extend the tax-free enterprise zone out to the Cob site. Davis will return with an answer in two weeks.
West then engaged Trotta in a debate as the power plant spokesman answered questions at the end of the meeting.
The commissioners all signed a letter Nov. 8, 2001, in support of the project, but in early July, West began maintaining he had been out of the loop on the project and actually opposed the Cob facility.
Trotta said two Oregon utilities will need power some time between 2006 and 2010, and added the plant will only be constructed if he can find buyers for the 1,130 megawatts of power the gas-fired plant will produce.
Trotta answered several questions posed during the meeting. He said parts of the amendment, filed with the Oregon Department of Energy, might have errors in them, such as a section of the amendment that calls for 900 horsepower pumps to extract 300 gallons a minute of water from a deep-level well.
He said the pumps probably don't need to be quite that powerful. He also clarified that if the plant is built and then shut down later, the company is responsible for completely restoring the area the way it was before construction began.
"If we go ahead with the facility, we have to fully clean the site up to the way it was before," Trotta said.
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