Forest Service finds Dominion’s proposed coal plant would violate Clean Air Act

Wise County, VA – Just in time for tonight’s public informational meeting in Wise County on Dominion Virginia Power’s controversial proposal for a coal-fired power plant, the U.S. Forest Service has warned that air pollution from the plant would violate federal environmental laws.

In a letter to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Dominion, the federal agency said that the 3,300 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions expected every year from the proposed plant would violate the Clean Air Act. The pollution would threaten visibility and plant life in the Linville Gorge Wilderness – a federally designated area in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest that has been called the “grand canyon” of the Eastern U.S., and which is downwind of the proposed plant.

“The Forest Service’s finding should be a wake-up call to Dominion that the old-style, polluting power plant it wants to build is a bad fit for the Southern Appalachian mountains and communities,” said Cale Jaffe, staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The Forest Service’s main point is that there are more modern pollution control technologies that Dominion must consider.”

The Forest Service made its preliminary determination after reviewing the DEQ’s draft permit for the plant. The finding comes in time for DEQ’s public information meeting on the proposed plant, being held tonight (Monday December 10) in St. Paul, in Wise County.

“Protecting and enjoying our beautiful mountain scenery has always been a point of pride for those of us in Southwest Virginia. We’re glad the Forest Service recognizes the harm that power plant pollution will do to our natural treasures.” said Kathy Selvage, Vice President of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and a lifelong resident of Wise County. “This is another check mark in the ‘no’ column for this plant, along with the impacts from air and water pollution on our community,” she added.

In 1977, Congress gave federal land managers responsibility under the Clean Air Act “to preserve, protect, and enhance the air quality” in the most prized natural areas, including designated wilderness areas, national parks, and other special places of national significance, known as “Class I” areas.

In a letter dated December 4, Marisue Hillard, Forest Supervisor for the Nantahala/Pisgah National Forests wrote:
“One opportunity to reduce emissions from this project would be to install better control technology and/or limit the emission rate of sulfur dioxide. We encourage the applicant and your agency to consider the Best Available Control Technology comments provided to you by the National Park Service.”

Linville Gorge Wilderness is a 12,000-acre wilderness area in Western North Carolina, south and east of the site for the proposed Dominion coal plant. From the gorge’s rim, dramatic views can be enjoyed of the scenic Linville River, 2000 feet below, and to surrounding peaks in the Pisgah National Forest.

“The Linville Gorge is one of the most treasured places in the Southern Appalachians, a crown jewel of our public lands, and it is already under tremendous stress from air pollution, said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of the Boone, NC-based Appalachian Voices. “For those of us in the North Carolina High Country, this finding by the Forest Service that the power plant would further harm our region is troubling not only for the health of our mountains, but also for the health of our communities.”

“In light of these findings by the Forest Service, we would hope that DEQ addresses tonight these concerns as well of those in the immediate communities who would suffer equal if not greater impacts from the emissions from this dirty plant,” said Dave Muhly, with the Appalachian Region of the Sierra Club.