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2009 Year In Review: Southwestern Illinois DevelopmentsClick here for a printable version of this article. Prairie State Energy Campus, Washington County More than 5.8 million hours of construction labor have been expended at the site by more than 2,600 workers at the mine and the plant. Construction wages paid are close to $1 billion at this point. Once in operation, the plant will create 500 permanent jobs and is estimated to stimulate the creation of another 860 jobs in Illinois. Estimated economic impact of this mega-project, according to the University of Illinois, is $785 million annually, with a $64 million in estimated earnings income across the region. Sheri Bilderback, manager of public relations for Prairie State Generating Co., says the Prairie State Energy Campus - a $4 billion effort - is the second-largest capital project in Illinois over the past 10 years. Spanning 700 acres, the development will include a coal mine that produces 6.3 million tons annually along with a 1,600-megawatt power plant. Unit one of the plant is projected to be completed by August 2011, with unit two reaching completion in May 2012. Approximately 11,600 tons of rebar have been installed to date, with some 4,000 tons remaining. Over 165,000 cubic yards of concrete have been poured - enough to fill more than 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools - with another 25,000 cubic yards to go. In terms of structural steel, 32,000 tons have been used so far; the project will require another 26,000 tons before work is done. Total structural and miscellaneous steel used in this project will equal about half of the steel used to build the Sears Tower. Bilderback says that once in operation, Prairie State Energy Campus’ emissions will be less than one-half of the average of regulated emissions rates of all U.S. coal-fired plants.
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Prairie State Energy Campus
