WISE, Va. – The wife of a coal company executive commended the Wise County Board of Supervisors on Thursday night for supporting a proposed $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant and for enduring "loud-mouthed" opponents who constantly level allegations against the board.
Melissa Wharton, whose husband owns and operates A&G Coal, didn’t attend the supervisors meeting to discuss the controversial power plant Dominion Virginia Power has proposed for St. Paul. She asked the board earlier in the meeting to provide county money for the Appalachia Children’s Theater, an arts group offering drama and other activities for the county’s youth.
Wharton took the podium again after Exeter resident Larry Bush, an opponent of the power plant, asked supervisors to resign for what he termed as putting tax dollars ahead of the health of residents and the mountains Wise Countians call home.
"Look past the dollar sign," Bush urged board members, adding that the people of Wise County deserve better than a polluting power plant.
Wharton told the board she has been married to a coal executive for 15 years, then reminded the supervisors she has been the daughter of a coal miner all her life.
"The coal industry was very good to my father," Wharton said as she recalled watching him wash coal dust from his hands and hearing him called a "scab" for crossing union picket lines.
"I commend every one of this board for the find job they’ve done," Wharton said.
Board members have backbone for "putting up" with many allegations, she said. Support for the power plant is stronger than the board realizes, she added.
"You’ve heard from a very loud-mouthed minority," she said.
Wise resident Diana Withen, a power plant opponent, didn’t seem to care much about the loud-mouthed reference.
"I would never call anybody a loud mouth, from the other side," she said.
Whiten said she heard plenty about how coal is king in the region when she moved here.
"It seems to me that King Coal dubbed some princes and princesses and some dukes and earls ... and some got rich."
King Coal is not a benevolent ruler, she said. The region’s miners sacrificed much to meet the country’s fuel needs, she said, adding that some coal miners are opposed to the power plant.
"I think it’s important in this country to hear both sides," she said.
Others opposed to the power plant, which the supervisors endorse because it will double the county’s tax revenue and create hundreds of coal mining jobs as well as 75 full-time power plant jobs if the facility is constructed, urged residents to attend a Department of Environmental Quality hearing Monday night at St. Paul High School.
The hearing is part of the process required before Dominion is given permission to build the plant.
Supervisor Robbie Robbins urged those for or against the power plant to attend the hearing.
"Their comments, either way, mean a lot to me," Robbins said. "It seems I can’t go anywhere that someone is not mentioning the power plant to me. I like to hear from the people."
The supervisors approved a resolution of support for the power plant last month in a special-called emergency meeting. County Administrator Skip Skinner said he will present the support resolution to DEQ officials at the public hearing.
He also urged the board and others to visit Dominion’s Web site at www.dom.com to learn more about the power plant project.
kstill@bristolnews.com | (276) 679-1338
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