Those were the words of Jack Lavin, the Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity at the FutureGen public hearing in Mattoon Tuesday night. That statement echoed the general sentiment of the community members in attendance at the hearing held in Riddle Elementary School from 4 to 8:30 Tuesday night.

The purpose of the hearing was to not only inform the public on the progress that has been made in the research on the plant and the site, but to gain input from the community in developing the draft environmental impact statement.

The public meeting to discuss the Environmental Impact Statement is a crucial step in complying with the National Environmental Policy Act, according to Department of Energy officials. The act requires all federal agencies to conduct thorough research on the environmental impacts of their decisions.

Jerry Oliver, Senior Vice President of Project Development for the FutureGen Alliance said the hearing was important for informing the public about the new power plant, and to address any environmental, economic or safety concerns the public may have. Oliver also stressed the benefits that would reach areas outside Mattoon.

“The world is paying close attention,” Oliver said. “This is the first large scale economic test for sequestering C02. We will prove that you can do this anywhere in the world.”

Most of those in attendance were very supportive of bringing the 1.5 billion dollar coal gasification plant to their hometown. Mattoon is currently one of four sites being evaluated for the new FutureGen power plant, a joint project between the federal Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance.

The goal of the technology is to produce electricity from coal while limiting harmful C02 emissions by converting the gas to a liquid and pumping it more than a mile underground.

Local resident Mike Sullivan came out to the hearing to learn more about the project and show his support. “I think it’s a very important project not only for Mattoon but for all of Illinois and I just wanted to come out and listen to find out what’s really going on and hopefully learn more about the whole project,” Sullivan said. “I think it’s been outstanding and very thorough in many ways.

A lot of people have put a lot of effort into it, and being able to produce energy without releasing C02 into the atmosphere, well that in itself is fantastic.” Sullivan was concerned about C02 leaks, which would contaminate the local water supply, and was glad to have experts on-hand to answer his questions.

“The concerns that I had have been answered several times, and that is their going to pump that down and whether or not it’s going to come back up. And paying a lot of attention to the geology, it’s not going to happen. Of course you can never say never but one of the things is, we’ve got to try it.

I think it’s important for us to try and find new ways to produce energy.” Others raised questions during the one-on-one session about the waste material produced from the gasification process. Resident Jim Guyer wondered about the mercury and other wastes that are released from burning coal. FutureGen and Department of Energy officials assured Guyer that waste products will be monitored.

In addition to the DOE and FutureGen Alliance presentations, a formal session was held to allow public officials to present information and citizens to voice their opinions about the project.

Oliver provided an update on the program’s progress: “The project is moving fast. We are essentially moving towards where we want to go.” Oliver said construction on the plant could begin as early as 2009, with commercial power being provided by 2012.

Jack Lavin said he supported the program and stressed the Blagojevich administration’s commitment to bringing the project to Illinois. He touted the region’s geology, resources, leadership and location.

“The foundation is poured, the house is built, and the table is set. This region wants to show the world how to use coal cleanly.” He said, “Illinois is a coal state, not an oil or gas state. It is a marriage made in heaven. FutureGen needs Illinois and Illinois needs FutureGen.”

Not all were supportive of FutureGen, however. Jim Bell of Mattoon said he concerned about the plant and its effect on the community. “It’s going to change my neighborhood drastically. We’re going to have to start dealing with higher traffic levels, more train traffic, more dust, more noise, all the things that go with a huge plant of this magnitude.

It’s going to change the landscape and there are also concerns about safety. This particular school is very close to the proposed site.” Bell came out of the crowd in the last minutes of the hearing and offered the only voice of opposition during the night.