VBT announces co-generation plan withdrawn by developer

Van Buren Township has announced that a long-planned, green-energy project at the former Visteon Village that has brought continued opposition from neighbors, has been cancelled at the developer’s request.
On Friday, Arthur Mullen, VBT Planning and Economic Development Department Director, issued a press release giving the township’s thoughts on the cancellation.
Director Mullen said that on June 20, Hoosier Energy notified VBT that it would not be moving forward with the Hoosier Energy Co-generation project. Supervisor Linda Combs announced this publicly July 16.
Mullen said Hoosier Energy proposed to develop a co-generation facility that would use landfill gas from the Woodland Meadows landfill to fire four electric turbines and hot water would be used to heat the Grace Lake Corporate Center during the winter months. This project has been under review since 2010.
Mullen said that in the last six months, significant progress towards the issuance of construction permits had been accomplished in regards to beginning construction by the project’s Aug. 22, 2013 ground-breaking deadline.
Mullen said since the project’s beginning, the township has worked with the developer through a number of complex issues in regards to noise, site and building design, and zoning use classification. Through long negotiations, these issues were addressed by the Aug. 22, 2012 Planning Commission approval, he said.
Mullen said the township anticipated this green-energy investment at the Grace Lake Corporate Center and the project benefits would have included: renewal energy production in VBT, use of a landfill byproduct (methane) that is currently being burned off and wasted at the Woodland Meadows site to create energy, increased assessed property values in the LDFA district, support environmental stewardship in the township, support job creation, and support economic development in the township.