Report: Coal plant would add 'harmful' amount of mercury to Chesapeake Bay

NORFOLK

A proposed coal-fired power plant in Surry County would add “significant and harmful” amounts of mercury and other pollutants to the Chesapeake Bay and several river systems in coastal Virginia already suffering from excessive mercury levels, a study released Wednesday concludes.

Commissioned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group, the study says the proposed plant in the town of Dendron, an hour west of Norfolk, would damage the James River, the Pamunkey River, the Great Dismal Swamp, the Blackwater River, the Nottoway River and the Roanoke River. Parts of these waterways are under health advisories due to high samples of mercury in some fish species that people eat.

Speaking at a press conference in Norfolk, William C. Baker, the president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said state and federal regulators should deny environmental permits for the power plant, which Old Dominion Electric Cooperative wants to build at a cost of between $4 billion and $6 billion. The proposed Cypress Creek Power Station would be one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the state. Baker said regulators have no choice but to deny the permits; to allow more mercury pollution in water systems already impaired by mercury, he added, would violate the Clean Water Act.

The ODEC plans “not only are illogical but illegal, and we are prepared to fight,” Baker said.

Jeb Hockman, a spokesman for the Richmond-based cooperative, said the proposed plant is the subject of ongoing government reviews and that plans call for strict anti-pollution technology. Hockman also questioned the validity of the study and said the plant is needed to keep pace with growing demands for electricity in Virginia households and businesses.

Ann Jennings, Virginia director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said the study was conducted with ODEC-supplied data by a California consultant, H. Andrew Gray. His company, Gray Sky Solutions, used computer models approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to estimate pollution fallout on local waterways, including the Bay.

Hockman said the foundation fed an inaccurate estimate of projected mercury emissions from the Surry County plant -- 210 pounds per year -- into computer models. But Jennings said this was incorrect, that the modeling was based on a more conservative estimate of 118 pounds of mercury per year.

The proposed power plant has become a political issue in state elections this fall. Candidates for the state House of Delegates in Surry County differ on whether the project is a good one, while the two gubernatorial candidates offer slightly different views on the subject. Republican Bob McDonnell favors the plant as a way to meet future energy needs and create jobs, while Democrat Creigh Deeds says he believes the state should keep a balanced portfolio of energy supplies, including coal-fired power plants, but would also press ODEC to be “innovative and creative” in their environmental designs.