I submitted a request for a public hearing and pursuit of using the wastewater in a closed loop cooling system of a data center co-located to the Campbell, after treatment. Many others, including the Ottawa County Board, requested a public hearing.
There is good reason to believe what I have proposed would be both more environmentally responsible and more cost effective than Consumers Energy’s plan to inject the wastewater deep underground.
Here is information on the public hearing scheduled for July 23, 2026:
- Date: Thursday, July 23, 2026
- Open House/Availability Session: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM EDT (EPA staff available to answer questions)
- Public Hearing: 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM EDT (Time to make formal public comments)
- Location: Midtown Center, 96 W. 15th St., Holland, MI 49423 [1, 2, 3]
How to Submit Comments
If you cannot attend or wish to submit written input prior to the July 26, 2026 deadline, you can submit your comments online. [1, 2]
- Where to submit: Visit the Regulations.gov Docket.
- Docket ID: Reference EPA-R05-OW-2025-2730. [1, 2]
Context on the Facility
The deep well proposal comes as Consumers Energy has continued to operate the J.H. Campbell coal-fired plant. Originally scheduled to retire in May 2025, the plant was kept online following a series of emergency orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to maintain regional grid reliability.