Sinking land could doom proposed Entergy plant in New Orleans East, report finds

​By Jennifer Larino, jlarino@nola.com,
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Entergy gas line bursts in N.O. East The Entergy Michoud power plant in New Orleans East on Thursday, August 18, 2016. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) (CHRIS GRANGER)

The $216 million power plant Entergy wants to build in New Orleans East will help reduce power outages in the city, but sinking land close to the plant site threatens the overall viability of the project. A health impact report released Wednesday (Oct. 5) by the Louisiana Public Health Institute and the Alliance for Affordable Energy highlights the subsidence threat, along with the potential for pollution and higher customer bills.

The groups are urging the New Orleans City Council to consider the findings as it decides whether to approve the new plant.

Plans for the new plant, made public in June, have become a flashpoint in the debate over how the city will get its power and protect its environment for decades to come. Entergy New Orleans is pitching the new natural gas-fired plant as the most reliable and affordable way to meet the city's future power needs.
​
Critics, including the Alliance for Affordable Energy, say it is the result of a shortsighted planning process that fails to consider long-term effects on customers as well as the growing affordability of renewable energy resources such as solar panels.


Read the rest of the article here.