This week I'm going to be in Wise County, where Dominion Power is planning to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant. Members of the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and CCAN are putting on events around the meeting of the Air Board on Tuesday.
Today was the final day of the Air Board Hearing concerning the Wise County coal plant. The room was full of hope after yesterday's comment period, and the board acknowledged the powerful citizen outcry over the plant's health and environmental impacts. But ultimately, they unanimously approved the plant. While they significantly strengthened the emissions regulations, they did nothing to address mountain top removal mining or CO2 emissions.
They went as far as they could, without doing more harm than good. Fearing litigation from Dominion, they made no strong statement about regulating CO2-without the regulatory framework from the EPA, the Board felt it wasn't able to take a strong stand. "My hope is," stated one Air Board member, "that strong, forceful legislation will come at a federal level and that Governor Kaine will take state-specific actions to address CO2."
It was because of the "loud public clamor" that the Air Board decided to take up this permit and make it as strong as it is now. Dominion will have to make a considerable effort to meet these demands, including cleaning up their mercury emissions. Dominion walked in the door expecting that their permit would get rubber-stamped approved with a 72 lb mercury emissions regulation. The Air Board demanded that they reduce that to 4.45 lbs per year. That's a 120% reduction, made possible only by the strong grassroots outcry about this plant.
It was clear to me and other members of our coalition that this was a courageous move by the Air Board. They are going to take hits from both sides of the debate, neither of which got what they wanted. As Kathy Selvage said, "They gave no consideration for the mountains that will be the fuel for this plant." MTR wasn't mentioned by the Air Board at all. Also, the "out clause," which allows Dominion to get a new permit if they cannot achieve the mercury standards, was also left in.
"There you go. We didn't do it.," said one Air Board member in his final comments. They didn't take a strong stand on MTR, on CO2, or on the plant. But they did create a strong regulatory hurdle for Dominion, and they made an attempt to protect our air based on the Clean Air Act.
Obviously, this is not enough. Southern Appalachian Law Center plans on taking the permit to court, further litigating the plant. It would also seem like as we impose delays and court battles, the plant is getting more and more expensive. It's easy to see that a bank funding the plant would back out because of rising costs.
But it's the people here who are going to continue to take up the fight. I want to thank every one that showed us such strong hospitality while we were here. Kathy Selvage, Larry Bush, and Jane Branham of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards welcomed us to their community and showed us the real side of coal in this state. Hannah Morgan was awesome enough to let us sleep at her house and organized a lot of our activities. To everyone who was involved-you guys rock!
On a final note, my sympathies run deep for the people who are trying to save their way of life. We also visited Stonega, a coal camp surrounded by strip mining sites. Mountains framed the valley on either side, where clear scars of strip mining were visible. Because they didn't actually blast the mountain top off, it's not MTR, but only a few scraggly trees had been left at the top. While we were standing there, 4 coal trucks went booming by in the space of a minute. A coal train also came and went while we were there and the screeching of their motors was jaw-clenching. That these people sleep through those noises not 20 feet from their doorsteps is incredible and also humbling. The people here sacrifice so much of the comfort of their lives to keep their jobs. It's not just that their mountains are being torn down, but in their daily lives, they are constantly reminded of the dominion of coal. I can only hope that democracy will help to change life for the better here.
NOVA will benefit from the electricity generated from coal burned in the coalfields and NOVA will also benefit from the trade-off whereby coal fired power plants there will switch to less polluting natural gas. Cynics could say that SW Va is getting the pollution and NOVA is getting the juice and I am hearing that a lot. But citizens from across the state have shown a brand new interest in the environment in the coalfields and that bodes well for future protection.
We are blessed with thousands of acres of open space here, no traffic congestion, friendly people and a bi-partisan approach to politics in Richmond. We welcome the new friends who care about SW Va. Dominion will run a cleaner operation because of you and who knows what partnerships might arise from Dominion's presence here. I know I will be knocking on their door to look at job-creating alternative energy projects in SW Va.
In the coalfields we have always had to take the bad with the good whether that means jobs versus the environment or not. Many energy companies are recognizing that it is good business to treat our residents and the land with more respect and the improvements made in that regard over the past decade have been remarkable. Alpha, for example, won a national award for strip mine reclamation for creating wetlands and hardwood forests on a previously abandoned mine in Russell County. Buchanan County is transforming
1500 acres of abandoned mined lands into a multi-use site for industrial, commercial, housing, educational and recreational development, including extensive hiking and biking trails.
Coal mining is no all bad as some might assert, done wisely and with appropriate post-mining planning in place, it can benefit society. It is true that once the native Appalachian ecosystem is scraped away we lose it for generations to come, but the same argument can be made for farms that are turned into sub-divisions in urban Va and the rest of the nation. Regardless of the debate, having people across the state that care about such issues here in a once forgotten region is gratifying.
In any case, this plant is far from being built. They are still in gross violation of the Clean Air Act because of the CO2 emissions that occur when ANY coal is used. Why can't we just leave the coal in the ground? In a global warming world, we need to invest in other options.
As I was driving north on 81, i saw huge trucks with wind turbines on them-where were they taking them? Obviously passing by Wise because Dominion can still afford to do things the old ways there. Lets put a wind turbines on the mountain tops, and stop blowing the mountains down.