Del. Bud Phillips Admonishes Air Board For Delaying Coal Plant Permit

ST. PAUL, Va. – Delegate Bud Phillips smacked a state regulatory board Thursday night for delaying action on a permit application to build a controversial $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in Wise County, Va.

The Sandy Ridge Democrat – unlike other state lawmakers in the region – has said little publicly on the controversy surrounding Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed plant. His comments had the 75 or so people at Thursday’s public hearing – nearly all in favor of the plant because those opposed were boycotting the meeting – listening carefully as he blasted the citizen-based Virginia Air Pollution Control Board.

The air board, which voted 3-2 last month to retain control over whether the permit is granted instead of allowing the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to have the final say, must stop playing "environmental politics" with the permit, Phillips said at a DEQ public hearing on the plant’s pollution permit.

Virginia operates by the rule of law and establishes guidelines and regulations that allow all citizens and businesses to know in advance what hurdles must be cleared to get pollution permits, Phillips said, implying that Dominion had meet requirements for the permit application process and would meet all current environmental regulations.

The air board must play by the established rules and grant Dominion’s permit, he said.

"What I’m calling on the air board to do is exactly that," Phillips said. "The law is the law. The air board can’t take the law in their own hands."

To do otherwise, he said, would mean the air board is attempting to make policy, and policy-making is the duty of the Virginia General Assembly.

"I’m not saying the air board or the DEQ has done anything improper or will do anything improper," Phillips said. "They believe they are in a position to go beyond what the regulations and the laws are."

The air board is sworn to uphold the regulations and the law, he added.

"If Dominion has met federal and state law and regulations, there is no reason whatsoever that the permit should not be issued," the delegate said.

The air board is asking for more information on how Dominion plans to control the air pollution caused by the burning coal. Phillips said he knows of nothing more the air board needs to make its decision.

He said some on the air board appear to have negative opinions about coal and have delayed a power plant permit in Northern Virginia for two years already.

The board must be fair and put those opinions aside and let science and established regulations have roles in their decision, he implored.

The public has a right to voice opinions for and against the pollution permit, and it is time for the next step, he said.

"Once we’ve had our say as citizens and individuals, a decision has to be made," Phillips said.

Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Lebanon, told the DEQ representatives Dominion’s plant will use clean-coal technology that will move Virginia forward. The plant and lawmakers who support it have been heavily criticized and been portrayed by many people as if they have sold their souls or worse, Puckett said.

It’s time all involved took a step back and realize that using coal for energy is necessary to meet the nation’s growing needs, he said.

Several speakers – including Walt Crickmer, who is in the wood products business – said Dominion’s plant will use the most modern technology available to burn coal as clean as possible and will upgrade the plant when new technology is developed to capture greenhouse gases before it reaches the atmosphere.

Dr. Richard Wolfe, a scientist who has researched and worked in clean-coal technology for years, told the DEQ that the proposed plant is designed to burn Virginia coal cleanly and will also use waste coal that is now a source of environmental pollution.

Mercury is present in all fossil fuels, Wolfe said, but simply using activated carbon can capture 98 percent of mercury emissions. Eastman Chemical has used the process for years in Kingsport, Tenn., he said.

Several spoke about the economic boost the plant would give Wise County since it would create 800 jobs during its construction phase and provide nearly 300 new coal-mining jobs and nearly 80 power-plant jobs.

A handful of Wise County residents opposed to the plant attended the public hearing but chose not to comment since they agreed to boycott. They said earlier this week they would fight the plant in other ways and called the DEQ hearing a sham.

Some said they would submit written comments to DEQ prior to the April 18 deadline.

The Air Pollution Control Board has not indicated when it will make a decision on the Dominion application.

A change in state law gives Gov. Tim Kaine two new appointments to make on the air board as it goes from a five-member panel to seven on July 1. Kaine’s appointees could play large roles in whether the permit is granted or refused.

| (276) 679-1338