FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

---

OPPOSITION TO A GIGANTIC COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT IN NEVADA

Sempra Energy of San Diego is proposing to build a 1450 megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Smoke Creek Desert on the southwestern edge of the Black Rock Desert National Conservation Area.  This plant would use 15,000 acre feet of water per year (precious water that is needed for the wildlife of the area), and it would totally impact this pristine area.

Sempra admits that this remote area was selected because it could not build such a plant in southern California because of environmental laws, in spite of the fact that all of the power is intended for the San Diego area.  Coal would come in by train from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, and a short railroad spur would have to be built to the plant.

Some of the cleanest air in the country would be affected by the emissions from the power plant.  The BLM is preparing an environmental impact statement on the proposal by Sempra to build its facilities on public land: a railroad line, pipelines, and transmission lines.  Archeological, historic, and cultural values of the area would be severely impacted.

The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs strongly opposes the construction of a gigantic coal-fired power plant at the edge of the Black Rock Desert National Conservation Area and urges Washoe county, the state of Nevada, and the BLM to reject plans to build such a plant because of the impact it would have on the land, water, air, and wildlife, and historic and cultural values of the area.

next >>