Moran Statement on Alexandria Settlement with Mirant Power PlantWashington, D.C., July 2nd - Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, issued the following statement in reaction to the settlement agreement reached between the City of Alexandria and Mirant regarding operation of the coal-fired Potomac River Generating Station.
"This is a reasonable compromise reflecting the need for stringent pollution controls to protect the health of Alexandria residents and reduce the environmental harm caused by this coal-fired plant," said Moran. "I applaud the Mayor, City Council and citizen activists for standing up to Mirant, forcing a tough agreement that will lock in lower emissions limits and establish a $34 million fund to finance implementation of the latest pollution control technology at the plant.
"While this settlement is a short-term victory for cleaner air, benefiting everyone living in the Washington Metropolitan Area, larger issues continue unresolved. Mirant's Potomac Plant is an out-dated, coal-fired facility that will continue to spew harmful pollutants, albeit at a mandated lower level. It's a health hazard, environmental danger and major global warming contributor, and I remain committed to seeing it closed. With City officials and local environmental leaders, we will continue working to hold the facility accountable to the new regulations dictated by the settlement."
The new regulations agreed to in the settlement include:
* Requires the investment of $34 million by Mirant for new pollution control technology for PM2.5 and PM10 emissions, including baghouses, enhanced pollution-control equipment, or a combination of modern technologies.
* Gives the City control over selection and implementation of these new technology controls
* Imposes a PM2.5 emission limit that complies with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
* Requires Mirant to drop its legal challenge to the sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions limit of 3,813 tons per year, thereby locking in this limit.
* Requires installation of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) continuous emissions monitors, on a defined schedule, allowing enforcement of applicable limits.
* Gives the City access to the plant during the design and installation of the new controls, and to critical monitoring data including PM hourly stack and ambient short-term SO2 5-emissions data.
* Requires immediate installation of additional fugitive dust controls.
* Requires installation and operation of an additional PM2.5 monitor.
The City approved the settlement last night following a unanimous recommendation from the City's Mirant Community Monitoring Group, which met on June 30th to review the potential settlement.
Mirant's Potomac River Power Plant, operating at full capacity, is the largest stationary source of air pollution inside the Beltway. Power from the Potomac Plant is not generated for use by residents of Alexandria or the Northern Virginia region where it is located. Rep. Moran, the City of Alexandria and local residents have been working to either dramatically reduce the plant's pollution output or have it shut down.
That's the unintended consequence, like it or not. Power plants in the east of PJM territory (i-95 from DC to NYC), are being replaced with increased generation in the west of PJM territory (West Va, Va, OH and westrn PA), linked by extra high-voltage transmission. FIVE such proposals are now in the works to transmit electricity from new power plants and expanded existing power plants in the rural and mountainous parts of western PJM territory.
Not that I disagree that Mirant plant is near its retirement, but Moran could have given the clarion call to city residents, politicans and businesses - the need to focus on alternative resources begins today, and not to expect the next sequence of events to replace Mirant, is Dominion power. To rely on Dominion, fosters the strategy for Alexandria to meets its power needs by importing electricity from coal by way of Dominion.
This is what is happening with the retirement of DC's only two remaining power plants: Buzzard Point and Benning Road. The drain in local generation capacity is in part forcing Dominion to meet reliability standards with added capacity thru a new transmission line. The 500kv Loudoun line is slated to deliver coal-fired electricity from its infamous Mt. Storm plant in eastern W.Va. Mt. Storm is currrently an intermittent coal plant, but when the line is complete and DC shutdowns down its remaining power sources, Mt. Storm will spin 24/7 generating ~1500MW of coal-fired electricity.
Moran should suggest to the mayor of Alex, the city needs to install smart a/c switches on every outdoor a/c unit in the city. And like San Francisco, the city should implement a pv solar roofing plan which will provide city business and residents a $2-3000 tax credit if they install a pv roof. Moran should call for incentives for its local utility provider (whoever it is), to advance their installation plan for a smart grid. The City of Alexandria could be the east-coast's example of Boulder, CO, the first smart grid city in the nation.
The impact of such a plan right under the nose of Congress and w/i this very affluent DC metro region, may have a cascading affect beyond just the city limits.
*Nuclear by thorium with uranium generates 1/3 the waste.
*Nuclear by thorium with plutonium reduces plutonium waste by 80%, while eliminating old nuclear weapon stockpiles.
*Thorium waste lifecycle is significantly reduced compare to uranium or plutonium.
*Nuclearized thorium cannot be weaponized.
PS - Big Schloss and Seneca Rocks are other nice hikes for you.
We need power that doesn't produce CO2. Desert conservationists are already fighting the permitting of solar arrays in the Southwest. Not to mention in order to get solar to here would require high-voltage direct current transmission wires stretching from at least Texas. As far as I know, there is not enough acreage of sufficient wind capacity to meet our demand. And there certainly isn't enough arable land to produce to bio-fuels to meet our demand.
Is there some equation that goes: PV Cells + Concentrated Solar + Wind + geothermal = Total Current Demand with the capacity to grow to meet future demand? If not, we need something in addition. No coal, no natural gas, no oil, no nuclear is a big void to fill. And then if you want to add electric powered vehicles to the demand load, you are talking about a huge hole.
Yes, you have to deal with nuclear waste, but we have current, feasible ways of disposing of it. And Nevada is an arid desert, why not stick it there? Then you can lay a solar array on top it.