Dendron coal-fired energy plant zoning approved

After a long, contentious meeting, the Town Council late Monday approved changes to zoning ordinances that would pave the way for the state's biggest coal-fired power plant in the tiny town in the center of Surry County.

Now, the issue goes to the Surry County Board of Supervisors. That board will consider similar ordinances Thursday. Two small components of the proposed energy plant are in Surry County, just outside of town.

Years ago, the town boasted a lumber mill that employed about 2,000 people on the same 1,600-acre tract. And that's what attracted Old Dominion Electric Cooperative to the out-of-the-way spot.

The town is close enough to the James River to bring cooling water to the plant, and it's not that far from U.S. 460, with an adjacent rail line providing a connection to western Virginia coal.

The changes agreed on were to the comprehensive plan, the zoning ordinance, the zoning map and a conditional-use permit.

The electric cooperative expects the plant, which it would call the Cypress Creek Power Plant, to produce 1,500 megawatts of energy. It has sweetened its offer to the town to include $600,000 for repairing the town's water system, $65,000 for sidewalks, and $100,000 for a playground and recreation center.

That has done little to mollify the plan's opponents.

Councilwoman Misti Furr led a move Monday night to postpone the vote until next month. She said Mayor Yvonne Pierce may have misled citizens at a previous council meeting when she announced there would not be a vote in February.

At one point, Furr, frustrated, threw a notebook in the aisle in front of the council table.

She later apologized to the unresponsive mayor.

About 40 speakers at the public hearing were divided between proponents, who hope the new $7 billion plant will bring employment and new tax revenue to Surry, and opponents, who fear the environmental threat of heavy metals in the soil and water, and believe potentially dangerous emissions from the plant will threaten the community.

Stephen Blaine, an attorney representing Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, said the energy plant would bring an addition $1.59 million in tax revenue into the area and employ about 3,000 people while it's being built and more than 200 once it opens.

But, in a news release issued before the meeting, the Southern Environmental Law Center, just one of the environmental groups against the energy plant, said those numbers are inflated and that there may be only about three construction jobs at Cypress Creek for Dendron residents.

Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com