Coal-to-Gas Plant in Henderson Co. to Impact Watershed

Henderson County, Kentucky could see one of the nation’s first coal-to-liquid gas plants.   The proposed 770 megawatt plant would turn coal from a nearby mine into gas, which it would then burn to generate electricity.  But the plant’s owners are awaiting approval of a permit to impact thousands of feet of streams.  Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Sam Werner says their proposal to pay into a Kentucky fund to improve other waterways could help off set the damage in the wider watershed.“We’re not just looking at this one little area, I mean if there’s other areas in the same watershed we can do and get more bang for our buck to improve the quality of those aquatic resources, you know, that money will get used there," Werner says.Werner says the streams the plant would cover or otherwise impact are already degraded because of previous coal mining activities.