Details revealed for proposed Surry County coal plant

DENDRON

A proposed $6 billion power plant near this town in Surry County would be the second largest in Virginia, creating jobs and revenue but also emitting more than 10,000 tons of carbon monoxide and 200 pounds of mercury a year.

Such details of the planned Cypress Creek Power Station were discussed Wednesday night at an open house sponsored by the energy project's developer, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative.

The meeting drew nearly 100 environmentalists, business leaders, public officials and would-be neighbors. It was required by state regulators, who have begun poring over an application for an air-quality permit for the coal-fired plant.

ODEC, a nonprofit utility based in Glen Allen, near Richmond, has promised to use the best technology available to control air pollutants. According to its application, those emissions would include 3,085 tons of nitrogen oxide a year, 3,685 tons of sulfur dioxide, nearly half a ton of lead, 283 tons of sulfuric acid mist and 2,155 tons of sootlike particulates.

Nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide are key building blocks of smog. Emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming, are not calculated because they are not currently regulated by governments, though environmentalists are pushing Congress to do so.

The plant would generate 1,500 megawatts of electricity, second only to Dominion Virginia Power's big station in Chesterfield, outside Richmond.

Cypress Creek would be twice as large as Dominion's latest power plant, now under construction in Wise County in southwest Virginia. Like Cypress Creek, the Wise project is being protested by environmentalists.

Fenton and Barbara Wyatt live less than three miles from the proposed entrance to the plant, off Va. 31, just outside Dendron. They came Wednesday night seeking more information and to question company officials.

"I'm still open-minded," Fenton W yatt said. "It would bring money into this area, which we really need. But I'm worried it would change the whole nature of our community."

His wife shook her head.

"I don't like it - I'm against it," she said, ticking off concerns about fly ash, water, coal-carrying rail cars, and sooty debris coating her home and car.

David Hudgins, an ODEC executive, said the plant is needed to meet increasing electricity demands across Virginia and would yield about 200 full-time employees and another 2,200 jobs to construct the station. He said the utility hopes to begin construction in 2012 and open for business in 2016.

State Del. William K. Barlow, D-Smithfield, who represents Surry County, said he favors the project and that most of his constituents do, too.

Environmental controls, Barlow said, would be stringent. He said other, greener energy sources of electricity, such as wind, "are iffy at best right now."

Surry County is wedged between Hampton Roads and Greater Richmond, two regions fighting to remain in compliance with federal smog rules.

If the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality determines that proposed emissions would cause violations of air quality standards for myriad pollutants, including smog, the state would tell ODEC to increase controls or downsize its project, said James Kyle, air permits manager at DEQ.

ODEC will need about 50 permits before it can move forward. DEQ also must issue approval for a proposed landfill to hold tons of dry fly ash, the byproduct of burned coal.

The state expects to take nearly a year to analyze plans before deciding on an air quality permit.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com