About 300 interested and vocal citizens from Louisiana and Southern Arkansas attended a hearing in Ruston on September 14, offering views on water consumption from the Sparta aquifer, from which most municipal and industrial water for the region is drawn.

The hearing, held at the Ruston Civic Center, was conducted by Senator James David Cain (D-Dry Creek), chairman, and touring members of the Louisiana State Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

At specific issue in efforts to control depletion of the Sparta underground water source is an application by Duke Energy of North America, to build an electric power plant northwest of Ruston, to draw 250,000 gallons of water per day for cooling.

The Sparta Aquifer is the underground water source that supplies drinking water for 16 north Louisiana parishes, namely, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Richland, Sabine, Union, Webster, and Winn.

The proposed electric plant by Duke Energy is one known as a "merchant power plant", with the electricity generated not necessarily to be used by Louisiana residents.

Strong opposition to the plant, and others like it throughout Louisiana, has been aroused statewide, on charges that underground water sources will be depleted for generation of electric power to be used in other states.

At the Ruston hearing, Richard Kennon of Duke Energy, Houston, said the plant proposed for Ruston is a "peaking" plant, to be activated only during times when power demands across the grid are high. Such a plant would use only 250,000 gallons per day - likened by Kennon to two teaspoons of water from a five-gallon bucket - whereas a regular full-time plant would used 7- to 8-million gallons per day.

Plants of that capacity are being strongly opposed in the Eun ice area, according to Chairman Cain, where the Chicot aquifer would be impacted.

Sen. Cain publicly asked Dale Givens, director of the LaDEQ, who was present at the hearing, to suspend granting any merchant power permits for use of water, until legislation can be put in place to regulate the water. Givens responded that he will "do what he can," but pointed out that he is obligated to follow current law in issuing permits, until the law is changed.

Sen. Cain later directed a letter to Governor Mike Foster asking for an executive order to halt permits for merchant plants until further study is completed.

Altogether, there are applications before the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for as many as 13 "merchant" power plants - a situation questioned by Sen. Cain and others, who disbelieve that Louisiana is short of electric power within its own borders, and who object to furnishing valuable water resources for making product to be consumed out-of-state.

Sen. Cain quotes the Louisiana Geological Survey at Louisiana State University, as saying the need for merchant power has been precipitated in part, by NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) which was signed between the United States, Canada and Mexico. NAFTA was designed to expand free trade to Mexico by eliminating tariffs and trade barriers. One of the direct outcomes is the hastened development of a new middle class in Mexico which will presumably have more disposable income to spend on consumer goods. Electricity is needed to power the factories to produce those consumer goods for this new Mexican middle class. Because of its proximity to Mexico and its large supply of readily available, high quality water, Louisiana is a targeted location for locating merchant power plants.

Currently, Louisiana has thirteen of these merchant power plants, which ship their power out of state or out of the country. Three other merchant power plants, including Duke Energy plant, have filed permits to locate new plants in Louisiana.

Parish tax assessors are also concerned about these plants coming to their parishes. Merchant power plants currently get a big tax break, unlike Louisiana's public utility plants, which supply electricity to Louisiana residents. Specifically, public utility in Louisiana pays 25% of its fair market value in property taxes to parish and local governments. In suits filed in Evangeline and East Baton Rouge Parishes, merchant power plant officials argue that their plants are not a public utility for Louisiana and, therefore, should only pay 15% of fair market value in property taxes.

The Duke proposed merchant power plant will generate approximately four permanent jobs, two full time and two part time, yet it is unknown how many of these jobs would be filled by local residents. Three hundred construction jobs would be created, according to Duke Energy.

Additionally, some of the residents of the area around Ruston, adjacent to the plant, are concerned about the noise associated with the plant and a decrease in the quality of life. Many residents do not feel it worthwhile to sacrifice their quality of life when the power will not be designated for Louisiana use.

The meeting in Ruston was precipitated when Senator Cain was contacted by a member of SPUR (Sparta Protection - Usage Regulation) who requested that the committee come to the area to address concerns about the Sparta Aquifer.

Sen.Cain believes legislation is necessary because current state law provides only for the "right to capture", a whereby whoever gets to the water and draws it out first from the aquifer is considered the owner of that water. "Right now, the City of Houston could come to Louisiana, form a corporation, buy 300 acres of land and pipe all the water it wanted back to Houston." Cain said. That city is currently experiencing a water shortage and is actively searching for additional sources of water. "As I have said repeatedly, we certainly want to see more jobs bought to the state, but we need to protect the industries that we already have. Those existing businesses, like timber and agriculture, employ hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana and need water to stay in business." concluded Cain.

Other speakers at the Ruston meeting represented a variety of environmental issues, opposing the power plants, and accusing the LaDEQ of failing to enforce pollution regulations, resulting n Louisiana having the nation's worst record for air and water pollution.