Renovo environmentalists applaud end of Renovo Energy Center project

RENOVO, PA – Maureen Ruhl and Sue Cannon, two outspoken opponents of the now defunct Renovo Energy Center project have applauded the decision by project backers to end planning for the billion-dollar natural gas-to electricity plant proposed for the borough’s northside.

Clean Air Council and other project opponents have praised word on the Bechtel Corporation decision to end its nine-year quest to build the plant. Per a Clean Air Council release, two Renovo residents involved in longstanding opposition, voiced their support for the project’s end.

“As a great-grandparent, I’m grateful that this power plant didn’t come to fruition because we are now able to protect what is most important – the health of our children,” said Sue Cannon, co-founder of Renovo Residents for a Healthy Environment. “I opposed the power plant because I was thinking about the children in this community, especially my great-grandchild, and what the pollution would do to their health. After all, children are our most precious assets.”

“This decision gives us great hope for the future of Renovo’s health, quality of life, and future prosperity,” said Maureen Ruhl, co-founder of Renovo Residents for a Healthy Environment. “We look forward to building Renovo’s future with a vision based on tourism, our natural resources, recreation, and our railroad history – all of which we hold dear.”

Other project opponents offered their view also.

“Bechtel’s decision to cancel this dangerous plant is a crucial win for the health, welfare and safety of the residents of Renovo, who have been peddled lies about this project’s purported benefits and illegally cut out of the permitting process,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council. “Pennsylvania’s economic growth depends on a clean energy future and will not be achieved by pumping millions of tons of air pollution every year right into the heart of communities like Renovo.”

“Our lawsuit was about protecting Pennsylvania and this environmental justice community from the additional pollution burdens that this plant would have imposed,” said Jessica O’Neill, Senior Attorney at PennFuture. “It is a win for Renovo and for all Pennsylvanians when we realize that the fracked gas industry doesn’t make sense – from an economic, energy, or environmental health perspective. We will continue to push back against facilities and industries that threaten the health of our communities, our workers, and the sustainable energy future that Pennsylvanians want and that our children deserve.”

“The cancellation of this proposed fracked gas burning power plant helps move us forward to a future powered by wind and solar power,” said Robert Ukeiley, an environmental health lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Every step away from fossil fuels is a step toward averting both climate disaster and the biodiversity crisis.”

The project had the backing of multiple officials from the Renovo area and the region. They included Renovo Mayor Gene Bruno, borough council, the Renovo Community Trade Association, the Clinton County Commissioners, the Clinton County Economic Partnership, state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz and state Sen. Cris Dush.