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Here's why we oppose this project as healthcare and public health professionals:

• Indigenous Health and Rights: Tribal burial grounds of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are within 150 feet of the site. Those burial grounds were disinterred and moved in 1918 for a steel plant and now this plant threatens to repeat. once, are located within 150 of the proposed the proposed plant site. Air pollution would also harm those in Tribal areas downwind.  Learn more >>

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• Community Health: National Institutes of Health research shows that those living in a zip code with a fuel-fired power plant experience rates of asthma hospitalization 11% higher, respiratory infection hospitalization rates that are 15% higher, and COPD hospitalization rates that are 17% higher than those that live in a zip code without a powerplant. The air and water pollution associated with fossil gas extraction and combustion contributes to a range of health impacts, including pre-term birth, respiratory issues, cardiovascular harm, developmental changes, and learning issues. Harvard research shows that pollutants from gas plants have already surpassed deaths from coal plants in 19 states. When health challenges occur, limited healthcare access in this area of Wisconsin would compound the health suffering. 

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• Overlapping Burdens: NTEC has been proposed in an area already overburdened with dangerous industrial and fossil fuel infrastructure. Superior is home to the Cenovus/Husky Refinery, which exploded in 2018 evacuating the city, and had a propane and heavy fuel oil leak in 2023. It is home to Enbridge pipelines, which spilled over 19,000 gallons of oil into the Nemadji River. Taconite dust from the Allouez facility coats homes and playgrounds.  Areas of Superior are already in the highest EPA percentile for air toxics cancer risk and low life expectancy. Superior residents are struggling with the cumulative health risks of several industrial exposures, let's not add another. 

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• Climate:  The EPA has estimated that this 600 MW fossil gas plant would cause around $2 billion in climate damages from greenhouse gas emissions if built. That's because the main component of fossil gas is methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. In Wisconsin, climate change increases heat-related illness and extreme weather, increases the transmission of infectious diseases, worsens air pollution, exacerbates food insecurity and undernutrition, increases economic losses, increases allergic diseases, and heightens psychological stress. Over 200 leading medical journals and over 150 major health organizations have issued joint statements about climate and the health impacts of fossil fuels. This type of universal concern is uncommon in the medical world. When the British Medical Journal published their joint statement on climate change, they noted it was the first time so many publications have come together to make the same statement, reflecting the severity of the situation. 

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Join other Wisconsinites in sending a message to Superior City Coucilors that uplifts our opposition to a new gas plant. Together, we can make this a turning point for Wisconsin. We can ask the Councilors and Mayor to deny permits for this project.