Mpls 9th Ward Award to Stop Midtown Burner
February 2nd, 2009
It’s dark and hard to see… but the good news is clear — The Minneapolis 9th Ward Award for Neighborhood Project of the year went to all of us who worked against Kandiyohi’s Midtown Eco-Energy incinerator, or as I call it, the Midtown Eco-Crapper.
DRUM ROLL, PLEASE…. the 2009 9th Ward Neighborhood Project of the Years is:
Stop the Midtown Burner
Each year, there are awards for Project of the Year, Leader of the Year, Youth Leader of the Year, Block Club of the Year:
This year’s Award for Neighborhood Project went to “Stop the Midtown Burner” which was a project involving several groups and hundreds of individuals who all got together and made sure this project went down in flames 9as all burner projects should!).
Hearing of the Award, one instrumental fighter said:
After that meeting in the library [August, 2007], I thought it was late in the game, maybe too late, but people stepped up to the plate, worked through personal differences, and made it happen.
That’s something to celebrate…..
And another instrumental fighter said:
They did not know who they were messin’ with — HAH! SO THERE!
TAKE THAT! AND THAT AND THAT! YOU BIG BULLIES!!!
Here’s the Stop the Midtown Burner award:
GO TEAM GO!!!
Victory over Kandiyohi Midtown Burner?
June 7th, 2008
A win without justice… Kandiyohi’s Midtown Burner is dead — at the Phillips site. That’s a very good thing. But there’s bad news too — it appears a deal was struck and that it may rear its ugly head somewhere else in Minneapolis, SE Minneapolis to be precise. Kandiyohi better not even think about it. That’s one outcome that is not acceptable.
One aspect of the “victory” is legislation about an important issue, analysis of cumulative impacts of a project. This is a statewide issue, as evidenced in the MSI and PolyMet permitting on the Range. In this case, however, language requiring analysis of cumulative impacts of proposed facilities was crafted into language so narrow that only the Kandiyohi Midtown Burner would be affected. The quote from Rep. Karen Clark in the STrib said:
How about just saying NO! “Not taking a position on where it should go” but authoring legislation saying anywhere but here… What about impacts of the very real pollutants spewing from an incinerator ANYWHERE? What’s wrong with this picture? Another community in Minneapolis may have been targeted.
Here’s the language of the bill, now SF 3056, Sec. 34, or Chapter 357:
And we know that Kandiyohi Development Partners will do just about anything to keep this afloat, but if, indeed, “the firm did suggest the South East Industrial Area between the Prospect Park and Como neighborhoods as one possible site,” get ready for another round!
I wonder what the SE Como Neighborhood Improvement Association thinks of this idea?
Here’s the STrib report:
No burner in Phillips neighborhood
The developer of a proposed wood-burning power plant says it gave up on the Minneapolis site in exchange for city help in locating another renewable energy facility.By STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune
June 6, 2008
The developer of a proposed wood-burning power plant in the Phillips area of south Minneapolis announced Friday that it is dropping efforts to build it on a city-owned site.
Kandiyohi Development Partners said that it was taking that step in light of city promises to help find another site for an unspecified renewable energy facility.
The announcement was a victory for the activists from the Hiawatha-Lake area who had fought the plant on the grounds that the area already had too much pollution. It also recognized the barriers posed by recent legislation requiring added studies before a state permit could be issued for that site, as well as the city’s move to cancel its sale of the land.
The developer met Thursday with Council Members Gary Schiff and Scott Benson, but Schiff said no explicit commitment was made to help Kandiyohi find another site for producing power.
However, he said the firm did suggest the South East Industrial Area between the Prospect Park and Como neighborhoods as one possible site. Another generating facility has been proposed near there to supply power to the Rock-Tenn paper recycling facility in St. Paul.
Kandiyohi said that with more than $2 million invested in planning for the electrical and steam-producing generator, it deserved more clarity early in the project from the state and city, especially regarding environmental challenges in the Phillips area. Among the investors is Council Member Lisa Goodman, a friend of Kandiyohi’s principals.
“We’re happy that it’s not going to be in the Phillips neighborhood,” said state Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, who helped pass the law requiring study of cumulative pollution in the area. “We’re not taking a position on where it should go.”
Schiff said Kandiyohi expressed an interest in avoiding areas with the high childhood asthma rates that plague Phillips and other areas of high poverty.
Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438
Here’s an article with a quote that says to me that they were having trouble at the MPCA — from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal:
Friday, June 6, 2008 – 5:12 PM CDT
Kandiyohi axes plan for wood-fuel plant in South Minneapolis
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal – by Sam Black Staff Writer
Kandiyohi Development Partners has scrapped plans for a new $80 million energy facility in South Minneapolis, but it isn’t giving up on finding another location in the city.
In response to an RFP by the City of Minneapolis, Kandiyohi had pitched a plan to build a renewable energy facility that would be called Midtown Eco Energy at the site of a garbage transfer station in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.
The facility would have reused a former city incinerator at Hiawatha Avenue and Lake Street that closed in the 1970s.
Today the Minneapolis-based firm pulled the plug on its plans due to “concerns raised by the Phillips community regarding the impacts of decades of environmental and land use policies of the City and the (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) on air and land pollution,” Kandiyohi said in a statement.
The project had come under fire by some residents in the neighborhood and lost the support of some members of the city council in recent weeks as Kandiyohi approached a March 31 deadline to complete its purchase of city land.
The project became a political hot potato when it was reported that investors in the deal included former DFL activist Michael Krause and Kim Havey, a former city official who ran the city’s Empowerment Zone office. Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman is also an investor in Kandiyohi, although she didn’t vote on the project when it came before the city council in 2006.
Kandiyohi has already invested more than $2 million in the project, which would have burned clean wood wastes and some agricultural byproducts.
Kandiyohi plans to look for an alternative site for a renewable energy facility that would add “green collar” jobs and renewable energy to the city.
Xcel says NO to Kandiyohi’s Midtown Burner
May 23rd, 2008
EEEEEEEEEE-HA! The Kandioyhi Midtown Eco-Crapper is DEAD! Well, maybe not dead, but it’s got a stake, a big silver cross, stuck in its ugly slimy heart.
Hot off the press from Barbara Bridgeman, Executive Assistant to David Sparby, CEO & President of NSP-Minnesota (that’s him up there singing praises of his company), some real good and long awaited (dare I say expected?) news:
Northern States Power Company has ended negotiations with Midtown-Eco Energy, LLC, in connection with a proposed biomass plant in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. NSP’s decision was based on a number of factors including its assessment of ongoing system portfolio needs.
It’s about time, but like they say, they have to “negotiate” with everyone, even Excelsior Energy, and Kandiyohi Development is no different.
And of course I sent a jubilant thank you note to Mr. Sparby. Poor guy had to joust with moi and Mr. Muller at the Red Wing Xcel lovefest a couple weeks ago, and we greatly appreciated his willingness to listen.
EEEEEEEEEE-HA! The Kandioyhi Midtown Eco-Crapper is DEAD!
Kandiyohi Midtown Burner in flames
March 27th, 2008
Could this be the last post on this? Sure hope so. But it always takes longer than it should…
Kandiyohi’s Midtown Eco-Crapper, er… Eco-Energy… is going down in flames. It’s a so-called biomass plant, and it would spew about a million pounds of pollution ANNUALLY into the atmosphere, PLUS lots of CO2 (how much?) to add to global warming and toxic fallout in the neighborhood and beyond. Great idea… just great…
Well, maybe, just maybe, it won’t be happening. The City of Minneapolis has said that Kandiyohi has not met the requirements for its option on the property, the site for the Eco-Crapper, and the big problem is that they don’t have a Power Purchase Agreement. So says the city:
Interoffice Memorandum
to: Council Members and Mayor Rybak
from: Greg Goeke
subject: Midtown Eco Energy – Option on Purchase Agreement
date: 3/27/2008
cc: Steve Kotke, Pat Born, Shelley Roe
As many of you know, the City has entered into a conditioned Purchase Agreement with Midtown Eco Energy LLC (the developer) for the sale of 2850 20th Ave South. The sale was predicated on the site being developed for a biomass combined heat and power generation facility.
As required by the purchase agreement, the developer would need to meet certain requirements (at specified dates) in order for the sale process to continue towards closing. The developer has submitted documents and a required payment in with the intent of “exercising their option” to purchase the property. The purchase agreement required that the developer initiate this process and meet the “Option Requirements” of the purchase agreement by March 30, 2008. A staff team comprised of Steve Kotke, Pat Born and Shelley Roe has reviewed the documentation submitted by Midtown Eco Energy, LLC.
The Option Requirements are: (as written in the purchase agreement)
4.2.1 pay to Seller (the City) the entire Option Price ($50,000) …….
The Developer has met this requirement.
4.2.2 demonstrate the Buyer (Midtown Eco Energy, LLC) has submitted all necessary application materials to the State of Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency to request issuance of an air quality permit as necessary to build and operate the Project.
The Developer has met this requirement.
4.2.3 demonstrate that Buyer has submitted all necessary application materials to the City of Minneapolis for a conditional use permit to build and operate the Project.
The Developer has met this requirement.
4.2.4 demonstrate that Buyer has financing commitments for debt and equity sufficient to undertake the Project, which commitments may be reasonably conditioned, as well as a commitment to enter in a power purchase agreement subject also to reasonable conditions.
The Developer has not met this requirement.
4.2.5 provide Seller with a copy of any Title Evidence and Buyer’s Objections ……
The Developer has met this requirement.
It is the staff’s joint professional position that the developer has not sufficiently demonstrated a commitment from a utility provider to enter into a power purchase agreement. The Developer submitted a letter from Xcel Energy dated March 17, 2008 which indicated that Xcel was in negotiations with the developer, but the letter did not indicate a tentative agreement, an agreement in principle or any commitment to enter into an agreement. Additionally, staff was concerned that the letter was written from a mid-level staff person and that such person may not be a person with any authority to speak for Xcel.
A certified letter has been sent to the developer addressing the City’s staff position on the issue. We have offered to meet with the developer and others to address this issue. The developer is entitled to provide additional information any time prior to the March 30, 2008 deadline in order to meet the Option Requirements of the Purchase Agreement.
============================
Midtown Burner project hits snag with the city
By STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune
March 26, 2008
Minneapolis officials have told the developer of a proposed wood-burning power plant that it hasn’t met a key condition for buying city land for the project.
Midtown Eco Energy was told Wednesday that city officials feel it lacks a commitment from a utility to buy the project’s electricity. That’s required in the option agreement for the land.
The move leaves up in the air the developer’s ability to purchase the site at 2850 20th Av. S., now serving as a city garbage-handling station.
Midtown said in a statement that it is disappointed by the delay. “We will continue our discussions with the city, and hope the matter is resolved as quickly and judiciously as possible,” the statement said.
The option agreement requires Midtown to meet city conditions by Sunday.
Midtown earlier asked to extend that option deadline by five months, but withdrew the request and asserted that it had met all option conditions.
But the city determined that a letter dated last week from Xcel Energy said only that negotiations were underway to sell the project’s power to Xcel, without any tentative commitment. The city also wants a commitment from a higher-level Xcel official.
One thing that’s certain is that the council couldn’t grant an extension by Sunday. That raises the question of whether there’s support on the council for granting a new option.
Opinion in neighborhoods around the controversial project appears to have shifted against the project since it moved from the nonprofit Green Institute to for-profit Kandiyohi Development Partners, the politically connected group behind Midtown. Opposition also developed on environmental grounds.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Senate’s omnibus environmental bill would require the project to hire 35 percent of its workforce from nearby, require advanced diesel emission controls on trucks hauling wood to the burner, and mandate quarterly reporting of plant pollutants to neighborhoods.
Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438
And what’s up with the Senate Omnious Environmental Bill? It says that the Eco-Crapper would be OK if it meets these conditions?
- hire 35 percent of its workforce from nearby
- require advanced diesel emission controls on trucks hauling wood to the burner
- mandate quarterly reporting of plant pollutants to neighborhoods
SAY WHAT??? Says WHO??? Hmmmm, can’t find the bill…
OK, here it is:
SF 3385, the Environmental Ominous Bill
Starting on p. 4, l. 13:
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.
Here’s the Finance & Commerce article — it’s in Finance & Commerce, it must be real:
Finance and Commerce
Business NewsMarch 28, 2008
Minneapolis “Midtown burner” plan could go up in smoke
by Burl Gilyard Staff Writer$92 million proposal may be dead as the developer and the city fight over why it hasn’t happened
Michael Krause has long been promoting a wood-burning power plant in south Minneapolis, and his development idea is known as the Midtown Eco Energy facility.
But today, Krause is feeling burned up.
So, too, are officials for city of Minneapolis, which owns the 1.6-acre site where the plant would be built, home to a still-in-use garbage transfer station.
And the councilmember for the Midtown area, Gary Schiff, doesn’t want to spend any more time on the project.
In fact, Krause, a principal with Minneapolis-based Kandiyohi Development Partners, said that his firm is weighing legal action against the city.
Kandiyohi has a contract to purchase the city-owned garbage transfer station at 2850 20th Avenue S. for the $92 million project. But the contract requires Kandiyohi to meet a list of option requirements before a looming March 30 deadline.
City staffers don’t believe that Kandiyohi has met all of the conditions.
Greg Goeke, director of property services for the city’s Department of Public Works, sent a certified letter to the developers on Wednesday, outlining the city’s concern that Kandiyohi has no deal in hand from a utility to buy the power generated at the proposed plant. A separate, internal city memo noted that the city does not believe that Kandiyohi has secured financing for the project.
“[The letter] came as a surprise. We clearly think we’ve met all the requirements for the option,” Krause said.
In response, Krause said that his firm is considering suing the city.
“Yes. If we need to,” Krause said of potential legal action. “And I think that’s clear to everybody.”
City representatives met with the Kandiyohi team on Thursday to discuss the project’s status.
“We are continuing to work and communicate with the developer, but the power purchase agreement requirement hasn’t yet been met,” said Matt Laible, a spokesman for the city.
Krause said that Kandiyohi believes it has demonstrated that Xcel Energy is interested in the project.
A March 17 letter from Xcel Energy to Kandiyohi acknowledges that the utility is “negotiating the terms of a power purchase agreement” at the site, but makes it clear that there is no definitive agreement yet.
Xcel spokeswoman Mary Sandok declined to comment beyond the letter.
Councilmember Schiff, who has supported the project in the past, has become frustrated with the protracted project. The Midtown Eco Energy site is in Schiff’s Ninth Ward.
“They have not made progress on numerous points — we basically have had no communication or progress from them since August,” Schiff said. “They’re stuck in the water, and I don’t think we should be spending more time on it.”
Schiff noted that the developers were already granted a one-year extension on the deal to buy the site, an extension that expires on Sunday.
In a March 2007 letter to the city requesting the extension, Kandiyohi principal Kim Havey wrote, “The primary necessity of the extension is that power purchase negotiations entail a great deal of time and their conclusion is not on any predetermined schedule.”
A year later, Kandiyohi still does not have a deal.
Plans for the long-gestating project date back to 2001, when the nonprofit Green Institute first floated the idea. Krause was then executive director of the Green Institute.
He later left the Green Institute and formed the private Kandiyohi, which took over the burner project and bought the Green Institute’s research.
The city of Minneapolis issued an RFP (request for proposals) in the spring of 2006 to sell the transfer station property and develop a biomass plant. The city drew a single response: from Kandiyohi.
Kandiyohi’s plan calls for a 24.5-megawatt facility that would generate both electricity and heat. The primary fuel source would be wood, but a past Kandiyohi submission to the city also mentioned agricultural byproducts such as cornstalks and corn cobs.
Although the biomass project is touted as eco-friendly, an ad hoc coalition of neighbors, Minneapolis Residents for Clean Air, is organizing against the project.
Jullonne Glad, a member of the group, said that neighbors are concerned about the potential environmental impact of the power plant.
“That area is saturated already, and my concern is the cumulative toxicity. The reason people live there is they don’t have the means to live elsewhere,” Glad said. “We do not feel that our interests and our concerns have been taken into account.”
Krause said that Kandiyohi has been judicious in its environmental review of the project.
“The neighborhood does not have a veto over this project,” Krause said. “We’ve looked at absolutely every detail.”
Two other as-yet unresolved issues for the project are state environmental review and the status of federal production tax credits.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is currently reviewing Kandiyohi’s submitted environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) on the project, which developers submitted in January.
Kevin Kain, an MPCA project manager, said that the MPCA is waiting for some additional information on air emissions from Kandiyohi. He estimates the proposals will be ready for a public comment period in May.
Kain said the comment period should last 45 days, after which the MPCA would review the comments and make its findings.
Federal production tax credits, a financing tool widely used by renewable energy developers, are currently set to expire at the end of the year.
“It’s become a political football,” Krause said of prospects for extending the tax credits.
But those issues are moot if Kandiyohi doesn’t have a site to develop.
Nevertheless, the project still has political support. Jeremy Hanson, spokesman for Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, said Thursday that Rybak remains a supporter of the plan.
“Mayor Rybak continues to support the Midtown energy project and thinks it’s going to create a good source of alternative energy to help us address global climate change and will provide great jobs in an area of the city that’s very important,” Hanson said.
Kandiyohi burner moves to Rockford?
November 10th, 2008
Kandiyohi burner rears its ugly head again, this time in Rockford, Minnesota. Their Midtown burner project went down in flames not even a year ago, and here they are again.
From a blurb on Current Issues on the City of Rockford site:
Proposed Industry – Biomass Plant
Here’s the minutes from the meeting:
Workshop Meeting of Rockford City Council and Planning Commission
Here’s their powerpoint:
… which makes me wonder…
They say that they’ll burn waste wood.
Did they tell the City of Rockford that waste wood produces emissions of formaldehyde, NOx and fine particulates?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that their failed Midtown Eco-burner project would spew nearly 1 million pounds of pollutants in the air?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that there’s enough wood to power the project? (see next section)
They say that Minnesota is one of the best places for biomass, and have a map showing biomass resources.
Did they tell the City of Rockford that there’s enough wood to power the project?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that the Green Institute’s study showed that there is not enough biomass to power a similar burner proposed for St. Paul’s Rock-Tenn facility, that there’s not sufficient wood to go around?
Did they explain what’s changed since the Green Institute report?
They say it employs established technology.
Did they tell the City of Rockford that the MPCA has only issued one woody biomass permit, for Laurentian (Hibbing and Virginia) and that that permit was violated, so extremely that the MPCA issued fines and reworked the permit?
LEGALECTRIC POST: Laurentian “biomass” Air Permit Draft (second time around)
LEGALECTRIC POST: “Biomass” violates air permit – fines likely
They say that it will replace fossil fuel and nuclear.
Did they tell the City of Rockford what fossil fuel or nuclear power plants would be shut down if theirs is built?
Does the power purchase agreement provide for shutdown of any fossil fuel or nuclear generation?
They say it will expand the City of Rockford’s tax base.
Did they tell the City of Rockford that for the Midtown burner they lobbied for and received an exemption from utility personal property tax?
Minn. Stat. 272.02, Subd. 82.
Biomass electric generation facility; personal property.(1) be designed to utilize a minimum 90 percent waste biomass as a fuel;
(2) not be owned by a public utility as defined in section 216B.02, subdivision 4;
(4) be designed to have capability to provide baseload energy and district heating.
Did they tell the City of Rockford that their failed Midtown project would not have paid utility personal property tax to the county, city and school district because of this exemption?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that they would NOT seek an exemption from utility personal property tax for this project?
Did they commit to paying utility personal property tax to the county, city and school district?
They tout process steam and district heat potential.
Did they tell the City of Rockford of the infrastructure expense necessary to utilize this steam?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that the St. Paul District Heat plant had steam heat infrastructure in place for much of its St. Paul customer base?
They say there will be no odors.
Did they tell the City of Rockford the basis for that statement?
Did they tell the City of Rockford how many pounds of emissions are expected?
They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that some in the neighborhood were anti-business and anti-growth.
Did they tell the City of Rockford the basis of the neighborhood’s objections?
LINK: Neighbors Against the Burner
They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that NIMBY caused some local politicians to flip-flop.
Did they tell the City of Rockford the factors upon which local politicians rejected the project?
They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that Xcel Energy was difficult to negotiate with?
Did they tell the City of Rockford the material terms of their power purchase agreement proposal that Xcel rejected?
They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that activists exaggerated emissions.
Did they tell the City of Rockford the specific emissions levels projected?
For Midtown Eco-Burner, per air permit application:
NOx 160 tons (320,000 lbs)
SO2 40 tons (80,000 lbs)
Ozone (O3) (not emitted directly)
CO 160 tons (320,000 lbs)
Lead 150 tons (also a “HAP”)
Particles 36 tons (72,000 lbs)
– PM 10 – 65 tons (130,000 lbs)
– PM 2.5
They say regarding the failed Midtown burner project that cumulative impacts were claimed even though the project had low emissions.
Did they tell the City of Rockford of the existing arsenic contamination and other impacts of prior industry suffered by the Phillips community?
Did the tell the City of Rockford of the efforts that led to legislation passed requiring that cumulative impacts be considered?
They say that emissions for this project would be much lower than for District Energy or Hibbing.
Did they tell the City of Rockford the basis for this claim?
Did they provide the City of Rockford the emissions modeling to back up this claim?
They claim multiple options for water use and discharge.
Did they tell the City of Rockford what their plans are?
Do they have plans for water use, cooling and treatment?
Did they disclose the cost of water and treatment if they use the city’s system?
Did they disclose impacts of on-site water intake and discharge?
They claim their project will reduce emissions that may cause climate change.
Did they explain to the City of Rockford how a new power plant with new emissions without a linked closing of any other facility would reduce emissions?
They say they have $75 million in private capital.
Did they explain to the City of Rockford why they have this capital now but did not have it for the Midtown project and relied on public grants and financing?
They say they have a financing package prepared by Piper Jaffray.
Did they provide a pro forma to the City of Rockford?
Did they provide any documentation of this financing package?
They claim “project team experience” on a number of projects.
Did they tell the City of Rockford what project partners have what experience?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that Kandiyohi has no experience in successful development, construction or operation of a power plant?
Did they tell the City of Rockford that Kandiyohi has experience only in its failed Midtown burner project?
This project is yet another pig in a poke…
Here’s some information from the last time around, so that the City of Rockford can compare with what they receive:
Midtown Air Permit application – note it took them 3 submissions to get one that the MPCA would accept
MPCA Documents
Neighbors Against the Burner & Other Org’s Documents
Petition for Environmental Assessment Worksheet
EAW – Affidavit of Muller in Support of Petition
Green Institute Comments in Support of EAW
David Morris – ILSR – Position on Kandiyohi Midtown & Timeline of Events
Jeff Cook Coyle (formerly Green Institute) letter to Legislators
Alan Muller Presentation
Muller – Saying NO! to permits for Kandiyohi\’s Midtown Burner
(Air emissions info on slide 22)