Virginia power company

reaches compromise

with U.S. Forest Service
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

Only a couple of weeks after a public hearing and a harsh assessment by the U.S. Forest Service, a power company and regulatory agencies have compromised on a plan that would cut emissions from a proposed Wise County, Va., plant in half.

Tuesday, Dominion announced that it reached agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to reduce annual sulfur dioxide emissions from the originally proposed 3,300 tons a year to 1,684 tons a year.

Officials believe the agreement protects all Class 1 areas surrounding the proposed coal-fired power plant, including the 12,000-acre Linville Gorge Wilderness that is fewer than 100 air miles from the plant site.

Linville Gorge was one of five Class 1 federal lands that could be affected, according to the U.S. Forest Service, and such areas are granted special air quality protections under the U.S. Clean Air Act.

“We believe with the additional efforts agreed to by Dominion that it will be possible to prevent further degradation to the AQRV at Linville Gorge while meeting the rising demand for energy,” Marisue Hilliard, forest service supervisor for North Carolina, said.

However, the forest service wants to review the full plan before recommending approval.

The Virginia Department of Air Quality is the regulatory agency authorized to issue air permits.

“We appreciate the willingness of the U.S. Forest Service and the Virginia DEQ to work with us to find a solution that both protects the environment and allows us to meet the growing demand for electricity,” said James K. Martin, Dominion’s senior vice president said in a statement.

“It will take a mix of energy conservation and new generation to meet a projected 4,000-megawatt increase in demand for electricity in the next decade. Virginia remains a fast-growing state, and we will honor our obligation to meet that demand with reliable generation that protects the environment.”

Dominion proposes to lower its emissions from the new station as much as possible, and also seeks to reduce emissions in its other regional plants. The company could also use the practice of trading “pollution credits” among its plants to meet the target.

The forest service said it would only accept the latter option if the first two methods weren’t enough to meet the lower standards in any given year.

The proposed Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center is a 585-megawatt electric generating plant that primarily will burn coal. The proposed site is near Abingdon, Va.

A Dominion company spokesperson said last week the air permit is expected to be approved by the state in April.

Terry Seyden, public affairs officer with the forest service, said, “We’d expressed initial concerns about the proposed project, and our air quality specialist did meet with officials with the Virginia Department of Air Quality and Dominion.

Based on those proposed changes, our air quality specialist has drawn a preliminary conclusion that the plant will not have an adverse impact on our Class 1 protected lands. When the permit gets modified, we will make a more formal determination.”