Gasification plant takes step forward

ROCKPORT, Ind. (AP) - A company that wants to build a $2.65 billion coal-gasification plant in southwest Indiana says the state Department of Environmental Management has filed a proposed permit for it with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Indiana Gasification contends the project will create 3,000 jobs to build the plant and 500 permanent jobs. Opponents say the plant will harm regional air quality.

The plant would turn coal and petroleum coke into pipeline-quality synthetic natural gas and liquefied carbon dioxide.

The company says about 80 percent of the plant's natural gas would be sold to the Indiana Finance Authority under an agreement that guarantees Indiana ratepayers savings of at least $100 million over 30 years.

The plant would be built in the Ohio River city of Rockport about 30 miles east of Evansville.