McDaniel was referring to an high-stakes drama that recently played out in Virginia. At stake was the most significant power plant proposed for the commonwealth in decades: a $1.8 billion, 585-megawatt coal-fired facility Dominion Virginia Power wanted to build in Wise County. The Richmond-based energy company promoted the plant as a way to boost growth in the economically depressed Southwest Virginia region while meeting the state’s growing energy needs.
Before the state’s Air Pollution Control Board voted unanimously late last month to grant air permits, everyone had piled on for the fight: elected officials, coal company representatives, business groups, residents and environmental organizations. Dominion officials say the “clean-coal” facility will use the latest technology for blending freshly mined coal, waste coal and up to 20 percent of biomass, a renewable fuel. “Traditional facilities cannot burn these fuels in this kind of combination,” James K. Martin, Dominion’s senior vice president of business development and generation construction, told Virginia Business. “So we believe it’s a very good environmental success story.”
Environmental groups and some Wise County residents disagreed. Thirteen environmental organizations, 28 individuals and one business took advantage of a chance to post their comments on a special Web site provided by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. The majority of Wise County-area residents who responded urged the state to deny the plant.
Their biggest fear? The discharging of noxious pollutants and as much as 5.37 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air a year. The residents wrote impassioned letters about the possible impact the emissions would have on the air, wildlife and water of the Appalachian Mountains. “Citizens should not have their electricity rates raised to support building a plant that will cause our air quality and health to deteriorate,” said Wise County native Amanda Smith.
Other residents, including Jerry F. Couch of Castlewood, question the wisdom of putting a new coal-fired plant so close to an existing one. Nine miles away in Russell County is Appalachian Power Co.’s Clinch River Plant. Built in 1957, Couch says the old plant has been fined for excessive emissions. “… Nowhere else in Virginia are two coal-burning power plants located within such close proximity.”
Yet, business leaders and politicians painted a different picture. “It’s a godsend for this area,” Bob Adkins, chairman of the Wise County Board of Supervisors, said in an interview. “We have high unemployment, an aging population and six high schools in the county that are approaching 60 years old. We have a great need for the economic boom that this project would bring.”
According to Dominion, the plant will generate about 800 construction jobs, and 75 permanent jobs, with an annual payroll exceeding $4 million. Once it’s up and running, the company expects the plant to consume 2 million tons of local coal, creating 350 mining jobs and providing up to $6 million in local tax revenues.
A Virginia Tech economic impact study commissioned by Wise County estimates an annual boost of $258.5 million to the county’s economy during the plant’s operational years.
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