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Coal Plant Company Responds to Negative ReportWednesday, May 25, 2011 Old Dominion Electric Cooperative took exception to a report released this week indicating its proposed coal-fired power plant in Dendron could cost $200 million in annual health-related costs for nearby citizens. The report, released by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Monday, is titled “A Coal Plant’s Drain on Health and Wealth.” The report suggests ODEC’s 1,500 megawatt power plant planned for the town of Dendron would lead to significant health problems for people living in Virginia and the rest of the mid-Atlantic region (read the story on the report here). As of November 2010, ODEC had spent $20 million on the proposed plant.“The report is inaccurate and misleading, and grossly misrepresents the potential environmental and public health impact of the Cypress Creek Power Station facility ODEC is proposing to build in Surry County, Virginia,” said David Hudgins, director of member and external relations for ODEC in a statement issued Tuesday. “Simply put, if the impacts of Cypress Creek are as severe as the CBF report concludes, the DEQ and EPA would not issue an air permit for the facility. This simple fact demonstrates how unreliable and unrealistic the CBF report is,” he said. ODEC’s statement points out that the Department of Environmental Quality and the US Environmental Protection Agency both have strict standards to protect human health and the environment. When asked specifically what was “unreliable” or “unrealistic” about the CBF report, Vice President of Communications for the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives Bill Sherrod told WYDaily that the projected numbers used in the report “come from a model they ran, and we don’t know about that model – how it was created or where it comes from.” The report projects that the annual health impact of the plant would include about 16 cases of chronic bronchitis, 23 asthma-related emergency room visits, 26 premature deaths, 40 heart attacks, 442 asthma attacks, 3,340 lost work days, and 19,903 days in which people will have to reduce their activities because they are sick. ODEC, Sherrod reiterated, “relies on federal standards” to ensure safety. “The government is protecting sensitive classes such as asthmatics,” he said, responding to the report’s health risk projections. The CBF report also suggests the plant would pose potential threats to safe drinking water in south Hampton Roads due to the fly ash landfill that would be built close to the Blackwater River. Fly ash storage areas are also strictly regulated by the government, Sherrod pointed out. The CBF mentions in the report that the plant would create a new source of pollution for the already-troubled Chesapeake Bay. When asked about ODEC’s response to this point, Sherrod said, “ODEC can’t do anything outside what’s allowed by the EPA and DEQ.” The plant “will bring jobs to the area, and will increase the tax base,” he said. “Many folks in the town [of Dendron] really support it, and we have local approvals.” “The need for electricity continues to grow,” according to Sherrod, and ODEC uses alternative sources for electricity when possible. Recently the co-op signed four agreements to use landfill gas to generate electricity for its users, and it also gets power from wind farms in Pennsylvania and Maryland. “ODEC is working on diversifying [power sources] but right now, coal is a reliable generator of baseload electricity,” he said. Baseload electricity is the minimum amount of power a utility company needs to make available for its customers, based on demand. ODEC withdrew its air permit application for the Dendron plant in September and they will likely reapply next year, according to Sherrod. Dendron and the county of Surry have approved ODEC’s applications, so the final hurdle for the organization will be getting the necessary environmental approvals. The extended timeline will allow more time for the federal government to address uncertainty in energy and environmental policies, according to the September press release. The Co-op originally planned to have the plant operational by 2016. ODEC is a cooperative that provides wholesale power to 11 electric distribution cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. ODEC and its members provide electricity to nearly a million people in the region. |
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Comments
The science shows that the regulations are deficient. The regulators are in the process of changing the regulations based on this science. They point to widespread illness and death as a direct result of these sorts of emissions. The power companies are fighting these changes tooth and nail--it will be "too expensive" they say. No mentions of the general welfare.
The American Heart Association recently did a study on particulate matter--somethi ng this plant will produce nearly 12,000 pounds of per DAY. The lead physician in that study said that there "is no safe level of exposure" to this particulate matter. It is so fine that it can not be filtered by one's lungs. It gets into the blood stream and clogs the heart. Stroke and heart attack are now causally linked to this type of pollution. Causal links are very strong evidence in peer-reviewed scientific research. I would encourage anyone to look for themselves and not take my word for it.
What part of this sounds like a win/win to build a plant here and risk these consequences to send electricity to another community? A huge majority of Surry County residents testified at our public hearings that we didn't want this plant....our elected officials ignored us. We already have a nuclear plant in our community along with 2 million pounds of spent radioactive waste that was never supposed to be stored here. I think it's safe to say we've done our share for electricity generation.
Its no secret that big polluting businesses often locate near the poor and uneducated because they can get away with slowly poisoning the local populace. In this case, the prevailing winds will blow lots of the pollution right over James City County, Williamsburg, York County and Newport News. Therefore, everyone will get a good dose, sometimes for many consecutive days on end.
I hope the authorities measure the amount of methylmercury currently in the fish and waters of the surrounding area in order to establish a baseline of what the toxin levels are right now. I guarantee that methylmercury levels in the birds, people and fish of this area will rise significantly. In a very short time most of the fish that fishermen like to catch will have methylmercury fish consumption advisories not to eat them.
If ODEC thinks its proposed daily dose of pollution is safe for everyone around here, let them take written responsibility to pay for all impacts to human health, animal health and environmental degradation in general.
In my opinion, I think ODEC's actions and strategies resemble a criminal enterprise more than an electric cooperative. I think the Dendron and Surry locals have been sold a bill of goods under false pretenses. I also think they are corrupt, but that is just my opinion since i have no documented proof, yet.
There is zero federal management of coal ash. Want to talk about misrepresenting ? This company testified at a public hearing in Surry Co. that coal ash (stacked 7 stories tall over hundreds of acres) would have "zero emissions." Yet on their application to DEQ they cite "fugitive emissions" and "wind erosion." Which do you figure is true? As far as I can tell, it can't be both. They also said the landfills would "never leak." But when asked if they would put a lifetime guarantee on them, ODEC laughed and said, "Nothing lasts forever." LOL. I got lots more if you're interested in "misrepresentat ion." Want to hear how they said 100 foot trees would block the view of 650 foot smokestacks? Yeah...these guys are straight shooters for sure.
P.S. The reporter here isn't saying the plant will cost $200 mil. to construct (that number is $6 bil.), but that CBF says there will be $200 mil. in health costs associated with the plant.
We need more energy production, but not at the expense of our health, children and the world we will leave them after the shine of the plant “will bring jobs to the area, and will increase the tax base,” has been long since tarnished.