Old Dominion Electric Cooperative will hold a second round of public hearings on a rezoning and conditional use permit to build the state’s largest coal-fueled power plant in Dendron next year.
On Monday, the company’s executive board decided that Old Dominion will repeat the hearings rather than challenge Surry Circuit Court Judge Sam Campbell’s Nov. 18 ruling that residents were not properly notified of the Dendron Town Council’s intent to vote after the first hearing on Feb. 1, 2010, said company spokesman David Hudgins. The company wants to build Cypress Creek Power Station, a 1,500-megawatt coal-burning power plant, on 1,200 acres in town.
The date of the new public hearing – and a subsequent town council vote – for the proposed power station will not be set until 2012. Company and town attorneys will make sure the town’s intent to vote is clear in any advertisements, Hudgins said.
Glad they can’t pull one over on the public this time…
Sadly, when they can see those dollar signs, I can easily see the Town of Dendron and Surry County going for this all over again…yep. They won’t stop till they get what they want whether it’s good for the health of property owners and residents or not.
Yep, do something stupid and expect God to mitigate the damage to people, the earth and wildlife…whatever happened to taking care of what God gave us?! Coal mining and burning coal … oh, yeah, that’s gotta be a good thing for people (especially children, the elderly and those at risk healthwise like my Jim who is on an oxygen concentrator), the earth and wildlife…oh, yeah…that makes sense. NOT.
In a new report, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimates that air pollution from the ODEC plant would cost $200 million each year in new health care costs. The report predicts 442 additional asthma attacks annually, 3,340 work days lost to sickness, 40 heart attacks and 26 premature deaths in the region.
Dispute, if you like, the precision of those estimates. But to pretend the actual number is 0 – or anywhere near it – is folly.
So true that…
And those of us who live in Hampton Roads will suffer the consequences … particularly those here in Dendron, VA with health issues already.
Course the needs of the many seem to outweigh the lives of the few, or the one…
Except to the loved ones of those this 1500MW coal plant will put in jeopardy…or worse.
The July 15 article “New Electric Provider Promises Better Service and Lower Rates” brings up a very good point. Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) members are part owners of their utility. As part owners, they have the right to know what REC is doing, to have a voice in the decision making process, and to hold the board of directors accountable for its decisions.
So why was Rob Marmet, a candidate for the board of directors, the only one to mention the $6 billion coal plant being proposed by REC’s parent cooperative? It is the most expensive plant ever proposed in the U.S., yet it was barely touched upon by the board. Instead, they promised lower rates. Where is this $6 billion going to come from, if not the electricity bills of the members?
If 15,000 new members did not receive their membership packets, as stated by REC, how many of them did not receive their Cooperative Living magazine that contains their proxy ballot? This is the only way in which members are able to vote for the board of directors and express their views about REC’s already apparent lack of transparency and accountability. REC is clearly not providing its members with vital information about decisions within the co-op, nor are they making the decision-making process easily accessible to new members. I urge REC members to make their voices heard on these matters before it’s $6 billion too late.
And there is more information on REC’s Board of Directors Candidate Rob Marmet here: Rob4Rec.com where he asks some pointed questions regarding the costs involved for the new proposed ODEC plant in Dendron, Surry County, Virginia. The REC is a member of the Cooperative for which ODEC provides power. (From the Get The Facts tab) where Rob Marmet says:
The Proposed Surry Coal Plant
In December 2008, REC’s parent cooperative, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), announced plans to construct a 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant just 32 miles from the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton Roads. It would be the largest coal plant in Virginia and the most expensive plant ever constructed in the U.S.
This coal-fired plant’s daily environmental impact would be the equivalent of putting three million more cars on our roads. Requiring at least 26 million gallons of water daily from the James River, the plant would spew more than 110,000 pounds of toxic emissions daily into our air and water. Pollutants including lead, mercury, and nitrogen could devastate sensitive oyster and crab spawning grounds and undermine renewed efforts to restore the Bay.
The plant would be in danger of stifling other economic development in the area as a result of poor air quality and non-attainment designations. More than 100 coal plants have been canceled, delayed, or rejected in the United States since 2001 due to similar concerns.
If built, the project will cost upwards of $4-6 billion. Cooperative members will be locked into a 40 to 50 year obligation, ultimately paying $8,989-$13,483 per household for the cost of the plant. REC board members have been making these decisions behind closed doors and providing little information about the project and its potential effects on members’ rates.
Money Spent to Date
Disclosed Costs
Land purchased for coal plant: $14.3 million
Land purchased for water intake facility: $1.1 million
Clean Air Act application: $1.1 million
Rezoning fee: $10,000
Money promised to the town of Dendron, proposed site for the plant:
Playground: $100,000
Water repairs: $600,000
New sidewalks: $65,000
Undisclosed Costs
Designing plant, attorney fees, modeling and analysis for permitting applications
Total Spent: About $16 million dollars
Projected additional costs: More than $5 billion
How much does REC owe? Rob Marmet wants answers!
Yeah, the proposed plant is very close to the James River which feeds the Chesapeake Bay and all of Hampton Roads which is bad, but it’s also within 1 mile (stack shadow) of our little rural town of Dendron, Surry County where, if built, there will be 2 huge stacks spewing all this crap that Rob Marmet talks about right outside our little town’s home’s windows….and so much more….
It is sad to see that ODEC appears to have won in Dendron and Surry County where all they can see are the dollar signs in a very down economy … instead of the long term health red flag signs that everyone will have to live with for a very long time ….
Check out other articles I have posted here on my blog about this proposed coal fired power plant since this all started here in Dendron, Surry County, Virginia here.
Here is a Cree Prophesy that I thought would be appropriate for contemplation with the upcoming public meeting about ODEC’s proposed coal fired 24/7 baseload power plant (Cypress Creek Power Station) in the Town of Dendron, Surry County, Virginia, which will affect all of Hampton Roads:
When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
And here is an article that speaks volumes on this topic:
The announcement mentions other contracts to buy power from a landfill gas-to-energy project, a hydroelectric project and another wind power project yet to be built.
Bravo.
It’s heartening to see a commitment to clean power, and any efforts — however small-scale — to purchase and transmit electricity generated by renewable sources.
That only leaves one big, dirty elephant in the room: ODEC’s proposed coal plant in Dendron. This is the $4 billion coal-fired facility planned for a 1,600-acre site in this tiny town in Surry County. If built, it could generate up to 1,500 megawatts, enough to supply power to 375,000 customers.
By comparison, the 101 megawatts from the Pennsylvania wind farm is a puff of air.
How true! The Cypress Creek Power Station would be (if approved) Virginia’s largest coal fired power plant. And although ODEC likes to tout it as being like the Clover, VA plant which is 3 miles from the tiny town of Clover, the Cypress Creek coal plant (if approved) will be twice the size of the Clover Plant and well within a mile of our homes in Dendron, VA.
So it bears repeating:
When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
Virginia has the second-dirtiest waterways among the 50 states.
That’s according to a recent study by the Environment America advocacy group tallying the amount of pollutants discharged into bodies of water across the nation.
Based on numbers reported to federal authorities, only Indiana had more toxic chemicals released into its waterways by industry than Virginia’s 18 million-plus pounds in 2007.
Sad. Really sad.
So yeah, I see where they are going … the state’s waterways are already a disaster area, so let’s let ODEC add insult to injury by building the state’s largest coal fired power plant – running 24/7 at 1500 MW in Dendron, (Surry, VA.) Hmmm….
Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, according to a new study.
The study appears in the November 15 issue of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“There has been very little study of the consequences of early life exposure to air pollution,” said Catherine Karr, M.D. PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and the paper’s lead author. “This study is unique in that we were able to look at multiple sources including wood smoke in a region with relatively low concentrations of ambient air pollution overall.”
Registration is required to read the full article however, the abstract is available here which includes the conclusions below:
Conclusions: Air pollutants from several sources may increase infant bronchiolitis requiring clinical care. Traffic, local point source emissions, and wood smoke may contribute to this disease.
Under measurements and readings above the conclusions states:
An interquartile increase in lifetime exposure to NO2, NO, SO2, CO, wood-smoke exposure days, and point source emissions score was associated with increased risk of bronchiolitis…
Almost every day, a train pulls into a rail yard in rural Alabama, hauling 8,500 tons of a disaster that occurred 350 miles away to a final resting place, the Arrowhead Landfill here in Perry County, which is very poor and almost 70 percent black.
This ‘windfall’ of dumping all this dangerous coal ash in their landfill will “add more than $3 million to their County’s budget of about $4.5 million” the article goes on to say. This little Alabama county has an unemployment rate of 17 percent and only a chosen few really were able to get any work from this so called ‘windfall’ for the County.
Some of us here in Dendron, Virginia, in Surry County, where ODEC proposes to build a 1,500 MW coal fired power plant with a coal ash/fly ash landfill in our little town’s back yard have been wondering the same thing some of Perry County residents have been wondering:
But some residents worry that their leaders are taking a short-term view, and that their community has been too easily persuaded to take on a wealthier, whiter community’s problem. “Money ain’t worth everything,” said Mary Gibson Holley, 74, a black retired teacher in Uniontown. “In the long run, they ain’t looking about what this could do to the community if something goes wrong.”
And in just one of many parallels between the thinking in Perry County Alabama, and here in Surry County:
County leaders, who are mostly black, bristle at accusations of environmental injustice, saying that the ash is perfectly safe and that criticism has been fostered by outsiders, or even competitors who wanted the ash disposal contract for themselves.
And this:
But in Perry County, a lack of trust has permeated the debate. Residents said they feared equipment failure, flooding, tornadoes or lack of oversight at the landfill, where the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, whose notably lax regulation of coal ash permits most landfills to use it as a cover material for other waste, will be responsible for enforcement.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Cownan River Map that includes the Blackwater River system in Virginia that flows to the Arlbemerle Sound, NC.
One of the major differences is the distance to the water table in Perry County and here in Dendron in Surry County. Here in Dendron, that water table is only about 4 feet (and many are still on their own wells in the surrounding area of the County), and wetlands are on at least two sides of the proposed site within contamination distance to the Blackwater River system that flows to the Albemerle Sound, NC:
The Blackwater River was a transportation route in the 17th and 18th centuries, connecting the Chesapeake Bay settlements with the Albemarle Settlements. It was one of the few rivers of colonial Virginia that did not empty into Chesapeake Bay yet lay close to the colony’s oldest settlements on the James River. Settlements in the Blackwater’s drainage basin were founded very early in Virginia’s history. As a result, the Blackwater River became one of the early migration routes southward from the James River into the region then called Southside Virginia, and beyond into the Albemarle District of Carolina (later North Carolina). Today’s usual definition of Southside differs somewhat from that of colonial times.
Of course, ODEC wants to build a 15 mile pipeline directly to the James River for ingress and egress of water for cooling.
One of the other major differences between Perry County and here in Dendron is the railroad cars. The railroad cars here in Dendron will bring in the coal to ‘make’ the coal ash to be stored in the landfill and when that gets full, to find some place to take the coal ash off their hands, like Perry County, or golf greens in other Counties, or maybe put it in concrete to build things all over the place.
WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today it is soliciting public comments on two proposals related to the use of Nationwide Permit (NWP) 21 in the nation’s Appalachian region. NWP 21 authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities.
The proposals would affect only the Appalachian region of the following states: Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The use of NWP 21 for surface coal mining activities in other regions of the country would not be affected.
The first proposal is to modify NWP 21 to prohibit its use in the Appalachian region. In the absence of NWP 21, an applicant would be required to obtain an individual permit for surface coal mining projects. An individual permit includes increased public and agency involvement in the permit review process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects.
The second proposal is to suspend NWP 21 while the Corps evaluates the comments received during the 30-day comment period, and while the Corps completes the process to modify NWP 21. If NWP 21 is suspended during this interim period, an applicant would be required to obtain an individual permit for surface coal mining projects.
The Corps’ decision to issue these proposals is a result of the interagency action plan agreed to on June 11, 2009, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Corps, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agencies agreed to work together to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian region. A copy of the MOU is available at: http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Pages/moumoas.aspx.
A public notice on the proposals was published in the July 15, 2009 Federal Register, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-16803.pdf . Written comments should be submitted at the federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov under docket number COE-2009-0032; or mailed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO (Attn: Ms. Desiree Hann), 441 G. Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20314. Comments must be submitted on or before August 14, 2009. Email or faxed comments will not be accepted.
SOURCE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
It would appear to me that the USACE does try to do what they can to protect the communities and nature when they have the support of the government, and the public. But, I would think it would be difficult to do so if their hands are tied by either weak laws, greed, or when those in places of power bend like reeds in the wind.
I am sorry to say that this is too little, too late. The existing laws it seems have not been fully enforced as they should be for a very long time — for 500 mountains are already blown up! And hundreds more are in the pike.
What ever happened to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — is that too much to ask? Those who think these practices are good, or at least a necessary evil, could they, or more importantly would they, walk in the moccasins, drink the water, live in the homes of those who have suffered due to these destructive or at best polluting practices? Would they want this done to their home? The same holds true for coal plants.
Honestly, it seems to me that even the current laws would be difficult to adhere to when confronted with such a destructive process as Mountain Top Removal. The process itself is the problem.
IMHO, either those who are mining coal should figure out how to get the coal out without impacting the surrounding natural area (the forests, streams, animals, etc.) and the human communities that have put their entire lives and fortunes into their mountain homes, or find a new safer business model that doesn’t hurt people, places or things.
Certainly, renewable energy sources would be much safer for everyone and everything and not be the one shot that Mountain Top Removal is (once you blow up the mountain and take the coal, it’s gone). Not to mention the joke of supposedly trying to put the mountains back to rights after they’ve already been destroyed.
The effects of MTR (Mountain Top Removal) on communities and nature, and the other end of the spectrum, the effects of Coal Fired Power Plants on communities and nature, can be seen through many places including my postings, iLoveMountains.org, Environmental Justice or through searches in search engines. It truly is appalling.
Even if other methods are, or seem like they are more expensive right now, they won’t be for long as they become more ubiquitous. Just as in other areas, once the R&D has been paid for, the prices do come down.
NO ONE SHOULD SUFFER TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY TO ANYONE.
EVER.
Hmmm, ODEC has proposed a 1,500 MW baseload coal fired power plant — running 24/7, with two fly ash/coal ash landfills, two turbines, two 600 foot stacks polluting the air, land, water, livestock, humans, and additionally causing sight, noise and light pollution … yeah, I think this scenario certainly fits with the topic of Environmental Justice discussed in this video.
Thank you so much Peebles for a wonderful article about the meeting last night! I am still so excited about the outcome! And so thankful to all the people (and thoughts and prayers) that made this possible!
Below find just a few (5-7 is still a few right? LOL!) paragraphs of the great article written by Peebles on ChesapeakeClimate.org (The whole article is a must read!):
The last time that Dendron came to vote on the ordinance to retain its zoning rights, the atmosphere was quite different from last night’s. ODEC employees filled the June 2 meeting, creating an unbalance that went far from unnoticed. Taking up a large portion of Recreational Center’s front-row seats, ODEC’s presence was pronounced – and unwelcome.
This time, the Coalition to Keep Surry Clean, Wise Energy for Virginia, and students from the nearby College of William and Mary turned out, in force, to ensure that Dendron’s residents were given priority in the meeting hall by “saving spots” outside while locals arrived. Due to the efforts of Surry and Dendron’s concerned and active citizenry, last night’s demographic within the meeting was strikingly different from the month before. With upwards of 25 Dendron residents, supported by more than 50 folks from surrounding Surry County, gone were the suits and ties of ODEC’s Glen Allen headquarters, near Richmond. Gone also, was the attitude that a new coal plant would bring the economic boon of the 1920’s back to the struggling town. As the meeting progressed, the council made two key moves to ensure its independence as a town in determining its future.
In a somewhat surprise move, Councilwoman Misti Furr began by introducing a resolution to establish a planning commission within Dendron, to be charged with evaluating zoning permits for land within the town proper. The vote was a necessity, as the council would be expected to vote on the zoning ordinance later that evening, which would greatly diminish the town’s control over its permitting process by delegating a large portion of it to Surry County. Furr’s resolution passed, giving Dendron its own planning commission, who will have to handle ODEC’s zoning permit, provided that control over permitting stay with the town. That decision remained uncertain, further down the evening’s agenda.
Before the decision over that ordinance came to vote, residents and concerned individuals were permitted to speak before the council and audience, and as the queue began to move along, a fascinating trend began to emerge.
Unlike last month’s meeting, where ODEC garnered support from its own employees and purposefully misled low-income and struggling families, Monday’s atmosphere was one much more aware of the terrible implications for environmental, economic, and human health that a dirty coal plant would bring to their small community. At least, it seemed, some of the untruths, dispelled by ODEC over the past few months, had finally been discredited, much to the benefit of those citizens in opposition to the plant.
This attitude was reflected in the council’s final vote, as the body decided to reject any imposition by the county on the capacity of Dendron to decide its own future. With a wire-thin 3-2 margin, a great sigh of relief gripped the meeting hall as ODEC and its cadre of supporters left the hall, flustered and frustrated. Now, ODEC will be required to submit its zoning permit to the town, where it will decide whether or not the plant will move forward, free from interference by the coal-friendly county, and totally in its own hands.
What will happen now is, for the moment, uncertain. The coal industry has deep pockets, while most folks in Dendron do not. The struggle against this plant is a long way from over, and the rejection of county control over the zoning process marks but a small step in a very, very, large fight.
Thanks again to the many Dendron residents (as well as property owners that hope to be residents in time), Surry residents, Isle of Wight residents, and other surrounding communities (too many to name but you know who you are!!), as well as the Coalition To Keep Surry Clean, Wise County VA Coalition and AppVoices (including the fantastic Kayti and Mike!), Sierra Club (Glen, Tyla, Jim, and so many others!), Chesapeake Bay Foundation, CCAN, and so many others that helped us get where we were last night at the Dendron Town Council meeting, plus the William and Mary students, and residents from Williamsburg and Hampton that came to the meeting in support of Dendron residents during the meeting.
As Betsy from the Coalition To Keep Surry Clean said in an email:
Thanks to the Council members who took a big stand.
Thanks to everyone who came out and made their presence felt.
Thanks to the brave attendees who stood up to speak.
Thanks to those who brought info, fans, petitions, signs to pass along physically and verbally to our neighbors and others.
Thanks to the W&Ms for coming and helping us hold the line and chairs.
Thanks to the Wise Energy Coalition folks for supporting us and picking up the tab for so many of our endeavors and materials.
Thanks to Mike and Kayti for being such total and complete rockstars–personally and professionally.
And of course thanks to those who stayed home or at the Bible Study I missed to attend the meeting, and prayed during the meeting as well!
I really think it took all of us to make this happen!
Our little town of Dendron — at least has a fighting chance to do what we Dendron residents (all of us together) can do to forge our own future! Maybe this is what Dendron needed to pull us all together to make this happen.
Things are looking up!
And while we are at it, lets not forget our connection to Mountain Top Removal through use in existing coal plants in Virginia, as well as if we were to allow this coal fired baseload 24/7 plant to be built. We aren’t the only ones we hurt with coal plants…we all share the same planet, the same air, and the same fate.
EDIT: To add two videos pertinent to the Dendron Town Council Meeting:
