Sponsored by Sterling Elmore and Leah Passman on Recommendation on the Environment Sustainability Committee
WHEREAS, carbon dioxide, caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, is the leading cause of global climate change which will have a significant impact on Virginia and demands increased measures and action to counter its effects.
WHEREAS, sulfur dioxide is the leading cause of acid rain, which has lasting detrimental effects to the ecology of our forests and rivers
WHEREAS, the microscopic particles emitted from the smokestacks of power plants and other industries are a major cause of asthma, cancer, and heart attacks.
WHEREAS, mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can cause brain development defects in fetuses and impede intellectual development in children.
WHEREAS, nitrogen emissions cause smog, which leads to respiratory health effects and can have major environmental impacts on the Chesapeake Bay, national parks, and other wilderness areas.
WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Quality permit for the Wise County coal power plant does not sufficiently cap the carbon, sulfur dioxide, mercury, or nitrogen emissions nor comply with the Best Available Control Technology provision of the Clean Air Act.
WHEREAS, the Wise County power plant is a health and environmental threat to Wise County, the Commonwealth of Virginia.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT, The University of Virginia Student Council opposes the current plan for Dominion Power's Wise County power plant.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the Council calls on the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Timothy M. Kaine, to seek immediate action on alternatives to the Wise County power plant as part of a mission of bringing energy security to the Commonwealth.
Findings of Fact related to above resolution:
1. CO2 emissions in Virginia rose 34% between 1990 and 2004, a rate nearly twice the national average. The DEQ permit for the plant has no cap on CO2, even though the estimated pollution from the plant will be at least 5.6 million tons per year.1 According to the Supreme Court, (Mass v. EPA), the EPA and by delegation, DEQ, has the authority to regulate CO2 emissions. Governor Kaine has created a target of 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025.
2. In Virginia, significant issues related to the authorization of this plant are mountaintop removal in southwest Virginia, sea level rise in eastern Virginia as a consequence of global warming, endangered human health in urban Virginia, threats to fish and wildlife in rural Virginia, and statewide droughts and heat waves.
3. The Department of Environmental Quality permit would allow 34.09 tons of sulfur dioxide per year.
4. The US Forest Service expressed strong concern about high sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant. The amount emitted would be roughly twice what the Forest Service identified as minimum acceptable to avoid an adverse impact on protected wilderness areas on our public lands. Research at The University of Virginia has shown the effects of acidification.7
5. The DEQ permit would allow 1,020 tons of particulate matter per year, contributing to asthma and other respiratory disorders. 8.7% of all children in the US under 17 suffer from asthma. Childhood asthma has more than doubled since 1980.4 In 2004, 152,000 children in Virginia reported having asthma. 5
6. The DEQ permit would allow 71 pounds of mercury per year. Studies estimate that one-out-of-six American women of childbearing age may have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood.
7. Several hundred miles of Virginia waterways currently have advisories against eating fish because of high mercury content, including most of the James River, Rapahannock River, and Knox Creek. According to EPA's Electric Utility Mercury Software Tool, Virginia generating units that employ maximum technology have achieved 92 to 99% mercury control, yet this technology is not required by the DEQ permit.3
8. Coal-fired electrical generating units (EGUs) are the largest manmade source of mercury emissions, accounting for 40% nationally.
9. Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen causes major environmental impacts on the Chesapeake Bay, national parks, and other wilderness areas. The DEQ permit allows 1,968 tons of nitrogen oxides per year. Atmospheric deposition may account for up to 40% of all nitrogen pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.6
Works Cited
1 Richmond Times Dispatch - "Clean Coal Label Doubted", Oct 20, 2007
2 All DEQ permit figures taken from draft air permit, available upon request. Total emissions levels include all sources, including boilers, auxiliary boilers, emergency boilers, and other sources of emissions.
3 Dirty Air, Dirty Power - Clean Air Task Force, 2004
4 The State of Childhood Asthma, United States, 1980-2005, Center for Disease Control, 2006
5 "Asthma in Virginia." Virginia Department of Health.
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/new...
6 Robert Howarth, Cornell University, "Impacts on Nitrogen Delivery to Chesapeake Bay." 2006
7 Galloway, J. N. 2001. Acidification of the world: Natural and anthropogenic. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 130:17-24.