MERRILLVILLE -- A college professor said Thursday that if an Illinois company builds a power plant in town, people living nearby might as well pack up and move.
"People are salivating over the tax dollars they're going to get, but here's the other side of the story," said Ball State University chemistry professor Jim , who for 65 minutes rattled off a laundry list of problems his research has found power plants to cause.
He cited plummeting property values, emission of cancer-causing chemicals and noise complaints.
"Find as much ammunition as you can to get this stopped," Rybarczyk told a crowd of 75 crammed into a room at the Lake County Public Library. "It's going to take putting a lot of pressure on local officials to change their minds."
Rybarczyk, who's advised several Indiana communities on energy issues, was invited by residents to give them advice on how to oppose the plant.
The Merrillville Town Council will vote Tuesday whether to approve a $69 million tax abatement requested by Indeck Energy Services, which wants to build a 100,000-square-foot natural-gas burning electric power plant near 83rd Avenue and Clay Street.
The plant would be a wholesaler to power companies such as the Northern Indiana Public Service Co.
Indeck officials say they won't build in Merrillville if the abatement isn't approved.
After Rybarczyk's speech, people stood up and encouraged each other to protest at the council meeting.
"I don't care what I have to do," said Merrillville resident Susan Garrard, who lives a quarter mile east of the building site. "I'll get a huge billboard and put it in my front yard. I'll stop everyone on the street and tell them to be at this meeting Tuesday night."
Rybarczyk said he based his data on power plants similar to the one Indeck is proposing.
He said homes near power plants in Wells and Henry counties experienced 40 and 35 percent drops in property values. He said a power plant will sound like a busy freeway to people standing three miles away, and will produce as much carbon monoxide as the BP Whiting Refinery.
"Indeck didn't tell you this," he said.
Jim Thompson, Indeck's senior vice president of business development, told The Times on Thursday afternoon that the proposed power plant would be clean and safe.
"Whoever says the plant emits dangerous pollutants is not knowledgeable of the facts," Thompson said. "We've never had a problem getting clearance in the past from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency."
Once a company gets local approval, it still must pass IDEM and EPA air emissions and acid rain tests. The agencies have approved 16 power plants in Indiana. They've never denied a request.
"If you want this stopped, you've got to stop it (locally)," Rybarczyk said.
Most councilmen have said they would approve the 10-year tax abatement because Indeck is promising the plant will generate $26.5 million in tax revenue after 10 years.
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