WE Energies to Install Air Control Monitoring System

For months, neighbors living near a WE Energies power plant say coal dust from the facility has made them sick. At least 30 families have threatened lawsuits if something isn't done. WE Energies is responding to the demands from the community with a proposal to install an air quality monitoring station in a Caledonia neighborhood.  

Brian Manthey, a WE Energies spokesperson says the company is voluntarily installing the monitoring station at the request of neighbors, who say they want to know what's in the air.

The goal is to install it by the end of the year or early 2016. WE Energies is still working to secure permits to build the station. Manthey says the plant itself already has constant air emission monitoring, and this new station will put one in the neighborhood nearby. The monitor will be located near the railroad tracks and 7 Mile Road.

"We'd like to think this is a step forward. We've taken a number of steps actually since they brought up the concerns," said Manthey.

Some of those steps include testing both inside and outside neighborhood homes to find out if there are issues that may affect health, as well as new procedures at coal storage facilities to mitigate blowing coal dust on windy days.

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