C.P. drafts list of questions regarding trash-to-ethanol plan

A proposed Crown Point City Council resolution refers to a county trash-to-ethanol plan as an "experiment" on taxpayers and seeks answers to lingering questions regarding the public-private partnership.

The City Council is set to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a special meeting to consider the resolution, which demands answers from the Lake County Solid Waste Management District.

The waste district board plans to break a three-month hiatus to address the same project in a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lake County Government Complex in Crown Point. Two waste board members -- who voted for and remain in support of the plan -- acknowledged Monday that several concerns raised by municipal leaders and others must be addressed before asking municipalities to sign on to the plan.

The meetings and questions come as the waste district board courts region cities and towns to adopt an agreement that would send 1,000 tons or more of trash per day to the future trash-to-ethanol facility slated for construction in Schneider.

Municipal and county officials from Crown Point, Griffith and elsewhere have begun questioning the partnership through which the plant will be privately built and operated but owned by county taxpayers.

Among the questions listed in the proposed Crown Point City Council resolution:

-- How can taxpayers be assured the commercially unproven process will work on the "large scale" proposed?

-- What are the identities of the private business owners and investors partnering in the project?

-- How will the costs of transporting the trash to the plant be paid?

-- What are the liabilities to Lake County if the proposed technology doesn't work or if the plant or its business plan fails?

City Councilman Bob Corbin pushed for the resolution earlier this month, arguing city officials have voiced these same unanswered questions to waste district officials since the district and trash-to-ethanol business owner Earl Powers courted the city in 2009 as a possible host site for the $250 million-plus plant.

Corbin and other Crown Point council members said they want comprehensive answers to those and other questions before considering whether the city should sign an interlocal agreement to send municipal trash to the future plant.

That agreement and questions surrounding it likely will be discussed at Thursday's waste district board meeting, said board member and Schererville Town Councilman Hal Slager.

Slager voted in favor of a waste district agreement with Powers in 2008. He said Monday he remains a supporter of the trash-to-ethanol plan but acknowledged many "legitimate" questions exist that demand answers.

In particular, Slager said plant compliance with interstate commerce laws needs to be explored.

Under the Powers contract, the county waste district will assume ownership of the trash-to-ethanol plant before it begins operations. County officials have said this allows for local government to route trash to the facility without violating legal precedent, which bars government from routing trash to private processing facilities.

However, an attorney for a national trash haulers trade group has argued that because the facility will be operated by a private company -- Powers Energy One of Indiana LLC -- the Lake County plant would not comply with the law.

"The interstate commerce issue may be the red herring in the whole thing," Slager said.

Another waste district board member, Winfield Town Councilwoman Paulette Skinner, also voted in favor of the Powers partnership but said she has questions she expects will be addressed at Thursday's waste board meeting.

In particular, four of eight firms listed in the original 2007 Powers proposal to the waste board told The Times last week they were never part of the project team.

"I am sure that issue will be addressed Thursday," Skinner said, adding that the proposal she saw in 2007 and 2008 was a good one.

If you go:

Wednesday

What: Special meeting of the Crown Point City Council

When: 6 p.m.

Where: 101 N. East St., Crown Point

Thursday

What: Meeting of the Lake County Solid Waste Management District Board

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Lake County Government Center auditorium, 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point