By S. Janet Weyker The burning of fossil fuel is a leading contributor to climate change and poor air quality. Last week’s announcement that the U.S. will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord was good news for the environment. However, a report just released by the Sierra Club noted that 75% of the U.S.’s most coal-dependent […]
Tag: We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant
Posted inCommunity, Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: We Energies’ Unfinished Business
By Carl Lindner Two years ago, almost to the day, a dozen or so members of the Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin gathered in Ziegler Park, across from We Energies’ headquarters. They were there to protest the pollution and health hazards caused by the two large coal-burning plants in Oak Creek. Since 2017 the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local news
Oak Creek Neighbors Renew Coal Dust Concerns After Fence Falls
OAK CREEK, WI — Officials with WE Energies says it will only be a matter of days before repairs are complete on several panels of fencing that had fallen last week due to storms and high winds that moved through the area. The fence, officials said, was put in place to slow winds down, effectively […]
Posted inCommunity, Public Notices
Public Notice on WE Energies’ Oak Creek Plant (Effective October 2019)
STATE OF WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES NOTICE OF FINAL DETERMINATION TO REISSUE A WISCONSIN POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (WPDES) PERMIT No. WI-0000914-08-0 Permittee: Wisconsin Electric Power Co Oak Cr Plnt Elm R, 11060 S. Chicago Road, Oak Creek, WI, 53201 Facility Where Discharge Occurs: Wisconsin Electric Power Co Oak Cr Plnt Elm , 11060 […]
Posted inCommunity, Opinion
Opinion: We Energies neighbors continue to suffer from exposure to coal dust
On March 4, a thick layer of coal dust blanketed Oak Creek homes, cars, and a neighborhood playground. On April 10 a letter went out from Thomas Metcalfe, Executive Vice President for We Energies, identifying “long-term strategies” to deal with the problem, including “Planting more trees for screening” and “Constructing a wind barrier either partially or fully […]
Posted inBreaking, Environment, Local news
We Energies neighbors continue lodging complaints, utility officials promise change
Still fed up with the lack of attention to their concerns, more neighbors around the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant lodged complaints against the utility. At a public listening session held Wednesday at the Oak Creek Public Library, neighbors voiced concerns about train noise, dust, health issues and the impact on their property values. […]
Posted inBreaking
Editorial: Better leadership needed around We Energies issues
We Energies has bought 30 homes and will likely buy more properties for its expansion of a buffer zone around the Oak Creek Power Plant. The Caledonia Village Board, state Legislators, and We Energies officials need to demonstrate better leadership and communication on the issue of its impact on nearby neighbors’ health and on their property […]
Posted inBreaking
Video: A look at the homes disappearing around We Energies
The landscape continues to change around the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant. The utility knocked down two more homes this week and two more are slated to come down this week. Four raze permit requests were filed last month by We Energies with the Village of Caledonia for the destruction of homes at 7832 Douglas […]
Posted inBreaking
Screening set for movie about Ohio coal plant
A screening of Cheshire, Ohio — a movie about how an Ohio community grappled with living near a coal plant — will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at Riverbend Nature Center, 3600 North Green Bay Road. The event is being sponsored by the Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin, which is […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local news
DHS Omits Key Details In Letter To We Energies Neighbors
For years, residents who live near the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant have looked at the coal-based facility as the source of their health issues. This spring, they were told it was unlikely. In May, residents who filed a grievance with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in November 2015 received a letter from […]
Posted inGovernment
Letter To The Editor: The Cost Of Coal
Drive along Highway 32 and you catch only a brief glimpse of We Energies’ massive Oak Creek power plant, one of the last big coal-fired plants to be expanded in the United States. You can see the plumes of steam from miles around, but the plant itself is mostly concealed behind a series of berms, […]
Posted inBusiness
Editorial: We Energies Coal Issue A Community Communication Problem
[avatar user=”denise” size=”thumbnail” align=”left” link=”file” /] Let me start this editorial by saying that I’m not a scientist and I certainly don’t pretend to be one. I’m a journalist who has questions about what’s going on around the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant. And I don’t think we can even start to come up […]
Posted inBreaking, Business, Community, Government
We Energies Buys First Home From Mediation Group For $350,000
Click on the pins to see more information. Caledonia — We Energies has purchased the first home from a member of the mediation group that raised concerns about the impact of living near the Oak Creek Power Plant. Last week Tim Hupp and his wife Susan Hupp sold their home at 7832 Douglas Avenue to […]
Posted inBusiness, Government
196 Acres Disappears Off Property Tax Roll
Editor’s Note: Click on the map to see details about the transactions. The buffer zone around the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant has grown to include 200 acres over the past seven years and most of those properties have vanished from the property tax roll. Brian Manthey, a spokesperson for We Energies said the […]
Posted inBreaking
Woman Struggles To Keep Home After Husband Dies
Donny Arndt had a thing for red heads and fast cars, which made his wife Kim Arndt an easy match and the two were inseparable for 22 years until his death on Saturday. Now Kim isn’t sure she’ll be able to keep their home. Donny had pancreatic cancer and he died in his home on […]