There is very little change to the immediate area. The site that has the building and some of the ponds has changed somewhat but there were only a few farmhouses. There are some impacts that are going to come with any industrial site. The Big Stone plant was designed to minimize the environmental impact. This plant is a zero discharge facility, meaning all of the water and ash stays on our property.
Nothing is discharged to any lakes or streams.
The only emissions that leave the site come out the stack and are within all current federal and state operating limits. The critical role of the physical plant building is to house the boiler and all of the equipment necessary to support the boiler in our climate. Many power plants in the southern part of the country are open. They don't have any siding. All of the equipment sits outside because this is a very heat intensive process.