Number: 1981-25
WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States has established a crash program to produce synthetic fuels by creating the U. S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation; and
WHEREAS, this program will be the most ambitious single industrial development program in the nation’s history, involving the expenditure of more money in a shorter period of time than was spent in the space program, nuclear power or offshore oil production; and
WHEREAS, there are presently no operating commercial size synthetic fuel plants in the U. S. and, consequently, no actual experience with the design, construction, or operation of these plants or the control of their environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, synthetic fuel plants have the potential of producing severe harm to the environment inasmuch as the plants:
- will emit toxic, and carcinogenic substances;
- may contaminate underground water supplies through spills of hazardous materials, leaching from waste disposal sites, and the discharge of process waste;
- will consume large quantities of water;
- will us significant amounts of land including, in some instances valuable wetlands;
- will destroy wildlife habitat, and
- will produce significant adverse social and economic impacts in nearby communities; and
WHEREAS, EPA has identified over 150 planned oil shale, coal liquefaction and coal gasification plants in the U. S.;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 26-19, 1981, in Norfolk, Virginia, urges the President and the Congress to undertake an intensive research effort directed toward minimizing the adverse environmental impacts of synthetic fuels development; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the U. S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation and the Environmental Protection Agency to analyze fully potential adverse environmental effects of proposed plants and to take all possible steps to minimize them.