WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University's trustees shelved plans for a new coal-fired power unit Friday amid concerns over the financial and regulatory impact of the project, which environmental activists had strongly opposed.
The trustees' vote against the $28 million coal-fired boiler for the Wade Utility Plant came a day after a trustees committee passed a resolution calling for the cancellation of the unit for the West Lafayette campus based on those concerns.
Purdue now wants to instead replace the campus' existing 50-year-old coal boiler with a new natural gas boiler.
Bob McMains, Purdue's vice president of physical facilities, tells the Journal and Courier of Lafayette that the installation of a circulating fluid bed coal-fired boiler was originally expected to have long-term economic benefits.
But he said the estimated increase in the cost of fuel and expected future regulations for coal use and ash disposal made the plan unworkable.
"We are really trying to look at this in the long term," McMains said. "We are stewards of the university, and we are trying to look at what is good for the long haul. The diversification of fuel types and the future regulatory requirements make this a more sensible approach."
The school's decision pleased environmentalists who had sought to stop Purdue's expanded use of coal through protests and legal challenges to the university's permit application. They had warned that the project would worsen air pollution and heighten breathing disorders in people who live or work in the area.
Last year the Sierra Club and Hoosier Environmental Council filed an appeal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over Purdue's state-approved air permit that would allow the coal boiler.
Bowden Quinn, the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter's conservation program coordinator, said he congratulates Purdue for its decision, despite lingering concerns about the alternate use of natural gas.
"We feel this is a bridge. There are still problems with natural gas. But this is a decision to move away from coal and find alternatives," he said. "I think it is a win for all of us and a win for Purdue and a win for Indiana."
McMains said he felt no pressure from environmental groups, or any group, to step away from expanding the school's coal use. He said the decision was based on economics and the school's decision to adopt a long-range energy plan.
"I personally did not feel any pressure. We just always want to think about the economics in the long run and the sustainability of the plan in the future," he said.
Declines in the price of natural gas and long-term prospects for ample supplies in the future were among the economic considerations, he said.
Alexis Boxer, a Sierra Student Coalition organizer for its Campuses Beyond Coal program, said Purdue marks the 150th coal project targeted by the Sierra Club that has changed its plans on coal. She and other activists had urged Purdue to move away from coal at a time when many other universities are embracing clean energy alternatives.
"The transition to a 100-percent clean energy campus is entirely possible, and we encourage an open and transparent decision-making process while the university develops their new energy master plan," she said.
McMains said Purdue will ask the Indiana Department of Management to alter the university's permit to allow installation of a natural gas boiler instead of the previously planned coal-fired boiler. He said that by May he wants to bring a plan to the trustees for a natural gas boiler.
In 2009, trustees approved the purchase and installation of a natural gas-fired boiler at a cost of $3.98 million and a new "clean coal" boiler at a cost of $28 million. The natural gas boiler is expected to go online later this year.
The Wade power plant supplies steam for electricity and heating as well as chilled water for cooling campus buildings. The plant currently uses more than 160,000 tons of coal annually.
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