The Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition joined others today to announce that the campaign to halt construction of the Wise County plant has only just begun. Opponents discussed their intention to file two legal challenges within 24 days to ensure that the polluting and illegal coal plant never comes online.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 7, 2008

Chesapeake Climate Action Network Steve Calos (804) 714-8300
Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter Glen Besa (804) 225-9113
Appalachian Voices Mike McCoy (434) 293-6373
Southern Environmental Law Center Cale Jaffe (434) 760-0816
Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards Kathy Selvage (276) 219-2721

Dominion’s Irresponsible Construction of Massive Wise County Coal Plant Puts Shareholders, Ratepayers At Risk
Opponents Vow to Continue Fight, Announce Intent to Litigate

RICHMOND, July 7-The Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition joined others today to announce that the campaign to halt construction of the Wise County plant has only just begun. Opponents discussed their intention to file two legal challenges within 24 days to ensure that the polluting and illegal coal plant never comes online.

“Dominion cannot lawfully construct this plant without first controlling emissions of the most dangerous heat-trapping gases. It’s as simple as that,” explained SELC senior attorney Cale Jaffe. “And yet Dominion has no plan to capture the 5.4 million tons of global warming pollution the plant would emit every year – equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide output of all of the cars and trucks on the road in the greater Richmond metropolitan area.”

Dominion began construction on its 585-megawatt conventional coal-fired plant on June 30, the same day a judge halted construction of a coal-burning power plant in Georgia because there were no provisions for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The Clean Air Act requires power companies to install the best available control technologies for every regulated pollutant. In April 2007, the United States Supreme Court, in Massachusetts v. EPA, ruled that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The Georgia case is the first time a state court, citing Massachusetts v. EPA, has rejected a coal plant because of its failure to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide.

Dominion Virginia Power raised electricity rates 18 percent starting July 1st to pay for rising fuel costs, the largest one-time rate increase in three decades. Ratepayers can expect another rate increase as early as 2009 to cover the cost of the Wise County plant, last estimated to cost $1.8 billion.

“The cost of the Dominion coal-fired electric generation facility in Wise County is too high for consumers, especially since it fails to account for future costs of meeting virtually guaranteed environmental requirements,” said Virginia Citizens Consumer Council President Irene Leech.

Dominion’s permits were filed with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on July 1st, six days after the State Air Pollution Control Board voted to finalize two air pollution permits for the coal-fired power plant. The Air Board, made up of five citizens volunteering their time to oversee permitting proposed by DEQ, made a number of significant changes to the permits as drafted by DEQ and Dominion – cutting some proposed pollution levels by as much as 95%. Yet one of the permits, as finalized, still fails to meet the federally required maximum controls for the neurotoxin mercury and 60 other hazardous air pollutants.

“Despite the improvements in these permits, they are still illegal, and still allow unacceptable levels of pollution,” said Glen Besa, Chapter Director of the VA Sierra Club. “We will be challenging them further in court.”

The permits also fail to address the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining, a cheaper way of getting at coal. Mountaintop removal involves blasting away entire mountain ridges, scraping up the exposed coal veins, and then dumping the debris into a nearby valley. The process eliminates mining jobs, completely devastates the mountains and streams, and contaminates well water.

“This plant will ensure more mountaintop removal coal mining, adding insult to injury in a county where a quarter of the land has already been completely destroyed,” said Mike McCoy of Appalachian Voices.” To put that in perspective over 60,000 acres — an area twice the size the city of Roanoke — has already been leveled in Wise County alone. While Dominion promises money to Wise County in taxes at the front door, they are stealing their mountains, streams, and livelihood out the back.”

Virginia ranks near the bottom of all states in terms of energy efficiency, with New Yorkers and Californians using half as much electricity per capita as Virginians. Indeed, Gov. Kaine’s own 2007 energy plan calls for achievable statewide efficiency improvements that would make the Wise County plant totally unnecessary.

“Kansans had their leader; now Georgia has one too. More than ever, Virginia now needs one of those visionary leaders she is historically capable of producing to lead us away from the burning of fossil fuels for the sake of our children and our planet,” said Kathy Selvage, vice-president of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, based in Wise County.

Because of the failure to address global warming, among other Clean Air Act violations, SELC will file its notice of appeal challenging the permit decisions before the end of July.

SELC will also file a Petition for Appeal this month with the Supreme Court of Virginia, challenging the State Corporation Commission’s ruling granting Dominion a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to build the plant. SELC argues that the statute upon which the SCC relied violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, the SCC ruling is void and must be overturned.

“The fight against this illegal coal plant has only just begun,” said Steve Calos, VA Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “In addition to our legal challenges, we are calling on our elected officials to embrace a national and state policy that rescues us from the economic and environmental devastation caused by our reliance on coal. As concern over global warming mounts, we are working with citizens across Virginia to embrace a rational energy policy of renewable energy and efficiency.”

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