The Rathdrum Prairie already has one or two gas-fired power plants, and there had been plans for more. Rising awareness and opposition to these plants set the stage for the opposition to the Hauser refueling facility. And if you research back to the early 1970s, when BN was proposing to build a massive classification yard at what is now Hauser, there was opposition then as well, from some of the very same people who were vocal against the refueling facility 20+ years later. Opposition to the gas plants on the prairie was mainly over water consumption, emissions, and visual blight. Now, having said all that, and taken into account Dave's description of B.F. being "still fairly blue collar, and thus...more welcoming to industrial proposals" (which in large part he's right about), I feel there would be opposition there as well. A big reason, and I had this in mind when I cast out the question "why would B.F. be a logical site?," is that it sits in a deep, narrow valley (lower elevation than even Sandpoint or Coeur d'Alene) hemmed in by high bluffs and even higher mountains. I haven't studied long-term wind data or air quality readings for B.F., but I can tell you that on many a fall and winter morning, that area is socked in with thick fog along the Kootenai River. The gas-fired plant directly south of Rathdrum pumps a hefty steam plume into the air, but even during winter it's not enough to cloak the prairie in fog. Somewhat different story in Lewiston, where the geography, river, and steam from the Potlatch mill make quite a fog at times. What all this means for B.F. is that if the steam and fog are trapped in that small valley, so too are the toxic emissions. Hate to sound like a NIMBY; I'm just pointing out what I believe would be the public perception of a proposed gas-fired plant in B.F. On a personal note, I consider B.F. to be a much more attractive area than Sandpoint, and I'd sure hate to see a plume of steam messing up the view of the jagged, snow-capped Selkirks when I'm taking fall color shots of UP and BNSF east of B.F.!