Elm Road Generating Station (ERGS) Water Permit, Oak Creek Coal Plant
Using outdated, banned technology is not in Wisconsin's best interests

Clean Wisconsin continues to work hard and hold We Energies accountable to the needs of southeastern Wisconsin citizens. There are two main issues Clean Wisconsin is tackling in regard to the coal plants in Oak Creek: 1- The outdated water intake cooling structure at the new Elm Road Generating Station (ERGS), and 2- We Energies' application to retrofit the old coal plant units at the existing site (adjacent to ERGS).

ERGS
Clean Wisconsin waged a long, hard fight to try and prevent the construction of ERGS; a fight that ended with a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling allowing construction to proceed. However, one huge (literally) problem remains: the cooling water intake structure that would extend two miles out into Lake Michigan and withdraw 3.2 billion gallons of water per day. This type of cooling system was banned in Illinois in 1971, is illegal in Indiana, and will result in the destruction of tens of millions of fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and fish eggs and larvae. Additionally, the discharge of heated water would cause further harm by disrupting the timing of egg hatching and causing nuisance species like zebra mussels to flourish. Lake Michigan already suffers from elevated mercury levels – this technology will dump still more of that toxic chemical into the lake.