Eternal vigilance needed to protect our water supply, streams & rivers (Angie Rosser of WV Rivers Coalition)

Submitted by Julie Archer, League of Women Voters of West Virginia, July, 17, 2021

We’re sharing this important Action Alert from our friends at the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.

A recent a policy decision by the WVDEP related to water quality standards creates a loophole to allow industries to dump more toxins in our source water.

This proposal is part of a second round of human health criteria revisions – the portion of our water quality standards that protects our health from dangerous pollutants like cancer causing toxins, chemicals known to cause birth-defects, and poisons like cyanide.

Submit comments on the proposal today! [1]

This policy is dangerous for West Virginia. Not only will it allow more toxins in our drinking water sources, it creates a shortcut for polluters to allow EVEN MORE toxins in our water with less public
involvement.

Ways this policy puts our health and our water at risk:

* The proposal creates a loophole for industry to further weaken the
human health criteria on a case-by-case basis if industry funds a study
that sways the WVDEP to decide that water and fish can handle more
toxins.
* This is handout to big corporations, who can afford the studies.
Hint: chemical manufacturers asked for this loophole, so we are pretty
sure they can afford these studies and are confident they believe they
can demonstrate results in their favor.
* There is already a process in place to revise water quality
standards. The revision sidesteps that procedure by creating a shortcut
that reduces scrutiny and public input in decision-making.
* The loophole exacerbates environmental justice issues by allowing
more toxins in waters near industrialized areas, which are often poorer
communities that are already struggling with problems related to social,
economic, and environmental justice.
* On top of all these factors, it’s just plain old bad policy. It’s_
_vague and sets a precedent for further weakening of water quality
standards statewide.

This is an all hand on deck call to action!

You can submit comments on the proposal through July 19 here [1]. It’s important for the WVDEP to hear personalized responses from commenters. Think about how the policy change would affect you and your loved ones
personally.

In addition to submitting written comments, please plan to join the virtual public hearing on the proposal on July 19 at 6:00PM [2].

See the Links:
——
[1] https://wvrivers.salsalabs.org/hhc2021/index.html

[2] https://dep.wv.gov/events/Pages/event.aspx?eventid=363

Guernsey Power Station construction site on 10/15/20. Young’s home and racetrack on left across railroad tracks.

From an Article by Julie Grant, Allegheny Front, December 11, 2020

Kevin and Marlene Young built their house in the country, so they had space for horses. “I was raised around horses, and that’s my love,” Marlene said. With names like Buckeye Blast and Creekside Pete, their horses aren’t just pets. They built a half mile track to train them as racehorses. “If you see my track, the polls out there are placed 1/8 mile apart, and that’s how you clock a horse to tell how fast you’re going,” Kevin said. Their horses have won tens of thousands of dollars in prize money.

Surrounded mostly by farmland here in Guernsey County, Ohio, 65 miles west of the Pennsylvania border, they have space to grow grass for hay. The Youngs also built their home into something of a tourist business. When a scenic railroad started running on the train tracks along their property, it would stop here. They opened an antique shop, and even hosted weddings in the outdoor setting.

Big trucks drive past the house throughout the day. The farm field next door has become an industrial construction site. The air is often filled with dust — there’s a thick layer of it on their new truck. Some nights, bright construction lights shine through their windows. “I mean, come on man, that’s unbelievable,” Marlene said.

In the summer of 2019, Caithness Energy started building one of the largest natural gas power plants of its kind in the nation. Thanks to fracking, cheap natural gas is replacing coal to generate electricity. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, this site is one of 30 natural gas-fired generators planned in Ohio and Pennsylvania. EIA expects 231 new utility-scale natural gas generators to be built in the U.S. by 2024.

There’s already a pipeline that will run natural gas from the region to this site. Once constructed, the Guernsey Power Station will generate 1,875 megawatts, enough power the company says for 1.5 million homes.

But the Youngs don’t want to live next door to it. Like others who live nearby, they say the construction has caused cracks in their walls. “My dishes shake. My bedroom is on the second floor, and it’s like you put a quarter in one of them beds,” Marlene said. “That’s how it vibrates.”

The land was known to flood, so the company is moving dirt in some spots to raise it 20 feet. But Kevin said when it rains, water now runs off, flooding his property. “This way, I’m taking all the water,” he said. “It’s like a lake.”

In November, Ohio EPA issued two notices of violation to Gemma Power Systems, the company building the plant for Caithness, for problems with erosion and sediment running off the property. But much damage has already been done.

One of their horses got startled by the construction equipment just over the fence, and injured itself. “And she was laid up for a month, and we had to dress this leg every day,” Kevin explained. The Youngs have stopped training their horses, sometimes even putting them on respirators. Marlene falls apart when she talks about her best horse, Creekside Pete.

“I had to sell him to get him out of here,” she sobbed. “I put big boards up so he wouldn’t come out of his stall because of the stuff going on. I sold him so he wouldn’t hurt himself.” Creekside Pete has gone on to win $68,000.

Caithness has bought out three families in this neighborhood for the plant. At this point, the Youngs want a buy out too, but so far they say the company hasn’t approached them.

Even a Buyout Can Be Difficult

One of the homeowners who received a buyout is April Ball. Until recently, she lived down the street from the Youngs. Ball grew up there, and inherited the house on an acre of land after her parents died. She thinks about the green fields and trees around it, and of walking barefoot to fish in the creek.

“It’s just sad. I think about it every day. It never goes away,” Ball said, sitting on the back porch of her new house in the town of Cambridge. “I think about it when I wake up, when I’m at work, after work, in the evening.”

When the gas plant was under consideration, Ball, a housekeeper at a nursing home, wasn’t able to get to a community meeting. She had no idea how much it would impact her life.

The construction company fenced around her house, and put up big trailers along the property line. Once the construction began, her ceiling cracked and water in her toilet started coming up black. “You can’t live like that,” she said.

An attorney for Caithness offered her fair market value for her house. She didn’t have money for her own lawyer, so even though it wasn’t enough to buy another home in the country, she took the deal. “Part of me wanted to leave, but then a part of me just wanted to stay. This is my home,” Ball said. “And how dare these people come here and do this?”

A Billboard for the Region’s Economic Development

But many people in the area see the new natural gas plant as a hope for the region’s future. When Caithness came here in 2016, Norm Blanchard, economic development director for the region, was thrilled by the idea of a $1.6 billion plant. “For us, it was almost like a carnival coming to town,” he said.

The company is spending $25 million to prepare the site, according to Blanchard, and has promised $42 million dollars to the local school system over 32 years.

It promised local workers would help fill a thousand construction jobs. But labor unions claim local people have not been hired, something Caithness denied in an email statement to The Allegheny Front.

Once it’s completed in 2022, the plant is expected to employ 30 high tech workers. Blanchard wishes it was more, but he’s not complaining. As he stood along the I-77 highway, looking at the huge construction site, he said the eight cranes are like a billboard for economic development here.

“Something like this, to be able to locate it here, puts you on the map,” Blanchard said. “We’re hoping that others will ride the coattail. They’ll say, ‘that kind of development is coming to Guernsey County, there’s other things that we can do.’ ”

Few Protections Exist for People in the Path of Development

Like many areas near power plants, the poverty rate here is high. In Byesville, where this plant is being built, the poverty is more than twice the national average.

According to environmental attorney Dave Altman, many communities jump at the money and jobs offered by deep-pocketed energy companies. “Local governments, somewhat understandably, at times will blindly accept promises and really operate in denial of the collateral damage to the people who are left behind,” Altman said.

Kevin and Marlene Young said they haven’t gotten help from local officials. They shouldn’t expect the state government in Ohio to protect them either, according to Altman.

“There are definitely laws, that’s for sure, and the law should be protecting people,” he said. “But I’m not kidding you, the agencies that you think are protecting you in Ohio often see their primary client or customer as the regulated entity.”

US EPA Removing Pollution Protections for Ohioans

On December 20, the Trump administration will eliminate a 1974 rule approved as part of Ohio’s federal air quality plan, officially called the State Implementation Plan or SIP. The rule allows people to take polluters to court to stop environmental nuisances like dust and odors that endanger health and property.

“They would have been able for 40 years to take that evidence [of a nuisance] into court, and now they won’t be able to do that directly anymore,” Altman lamented. “I think that it’s one of the great travesties that people don’t even know happened to them.”

Without the nuisance provision in the SIP, Altman said that people will only be able to sue polluters for damages, something he said is difficult. “They need to recover large damages to give lawyers an incentive to take the case. People want to live their lives, not wait until they have large damage cases.”

In an email statement, Ohio EPA spokesperson Heidi Griesmer said Ohio did not request removal of this rule, but does not oppose it being withdrawn by US EPA. “Many other states across the nation, including all Great Lakes states, had their nuisance rules withdrawn from their SIPs, or never had them in their SIPs in the first place,” she said. “Ohio EPA retains full authority to ensure compliance with the rule and can initiate enforcement action when necessary.”

But that hasn’t proven helpful to people experiencing pollution problems, according to Altman. “Every citizen I know who has used the provision to reduce or stop the pollution tried to get the O[hio] EPA to enforce the rule for years and got nowhere,” he responded.

No Adverse Health Effects Expected

The Guernsey Power Station received air permits from Ohio EPA, and has limits for pollutants like volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. “[C]omputer modeling was completed before permit issuance, and no adverse health or welfare effects are expected,” Griesmer said.

But the Youngs don’t want to wait to find out. Marlene recently started having serious health issues. Kevin wants to protect them both. “I’d just assume get us a little trailer or something, and clear out of this whole state, and not have to deal with any of this,” he said. They’ve recently retained a lawyer.

Norfolk Navy Shipyard considers power options for future

Demand a public hearing for the newest proposed power plant in Virginia: …. Click here to learn how!

Fighting fossil fuel infrastructure in Virginia is like playing a sick game of whack-a-mole. Instead of harmless animatronics, the targets are dangerous projects that pop up across the state bringing carbon emissions and danger to our communities.

But we’re winning: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was defeated. The Header (Injustice) Project is on hold.

Now, we need your help delaying a new gas-fueled heat & power plant proposed by the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY).

This project is currently under review by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), but their oversight has been woefully inadequate. Their own documentation shows that community outreach included only five contacts; a token effort for a community that already lies in the shadow of dirty fuel infrastructure and catastrophic sea level rise. The NNSY Plant project must be elevated to the Air Board to allow for additional environmental study, consideration of alternatives, and community outreach.

You can submit a comment to the VA DEQ by October 7 calling for the Air Board to review the NNSY Plant project?

View comment guidelines and talking points here

and email your comment to:

mariama.ouedraogo@deq.virginia.gov

by 11:59 PM on October 7 to ensure your voice is heard. Once scheduled, only commenters that met the October 7 deadline will be able to actively participate in an Air Board hearing.

The VA DEQ needs to hear that Virginians demand proper oversight before yet another piece of dirty infrastructure threatens the path we’re on towards a renewable energy future.

Keep fighting the fight,

Lauren Landis, Hampton Roads Organizer
Chesapeake Climate Action Network

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See also: Rising seas threaten Norfolk Naval Shipyard, raising fears of ‘catastrophic damage’, NBC News, November 18, 2018

Function of NNSY subject to many factors

Two proposed gas-fired power plants are the Chickahominy (1600 MW) & C4GT (1060 MW)

From the Staff Reports, Virginia Mercury, June 26, 2020

The Virginia State Corporation Commission regulates Virginia electric utilities. In an order Friday, this State Corporation Commission imposed conditions that must be met before a contentious natural gas expansion project can proceed.

The Virginia Natural Gas company has been seeking approval to expand its pipeline and compressor station infrastructure in Northern and Central Virginia, primarily to supply a natural gas-fired power plant proposed by C4GT, though that project remains stalled amid “market uncertainties,” the developers say, in the regional PJM power grid’s capacity market.

“Put simply, if C4GT is built, we find that the project is needed. If C4GT is not built, the project is not needed,” the commissioners wrote in the order.

The SCC, which regulates utilities, says it won’t issue an approval for the Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) project until the power plant it will serve provides proof that it has a “firm financing commitment” for construction. The commission will also require Virginia Natural Gas to recover costs for the expansion over “the same time period for which it has contracts with C4GT and other large customers to receive the payments necessary to pay for the project.” And C4GT must “reconfirm all contractual obligations to VNG necessary to pay its share of the header project.”

C4GT is planned to be a “merchant generator,” which means it will sell electricity on the mid-Atlantic states (PJM) market.

“As a merchant plant, C4GT may operate for some years but, if it becomes unprofitable, may shut down, as many other merchant generators nationally have shut down when they became unprofitable. So it is imperative that VNG’s other customers not be left ‘holding the bag’ for the costs of the project should C4GT cease operating before those costs have been fully recovered,” the commission said.

The commission also required Virginia Natural Gas to agree to a “strict cap” on any costs it plans to shift to residential or business customers, comply with all environmental requirements imposed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and file additional information on environmental justice concerns with the project.

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See also: With new energy regime only months away, regulators grapple with gas expansion proposal – Sarah Vogelsong, Virginia Mercury, May 19, 2020

Three years after private backers secured state regulators’ approval to build a major new natural gas plant in Charles City County, the fate of the facility has become a key factor in a controversial proposal by Virginia Natural Gas to expand its pipeline infrastructure throughout Northern and Central Virginia.

“The big issue here is risk, and how are we going to allocate the risk and who’s going to be holding the bag if this plant doesn’t get built,” said Judge Mark Christie during a Wednesday hearing conducted via Skype.

The facility, known as C4GT, has been in the works since 2016, when private developers first applied to the State Corporation Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. A combined-cycle natural gas plant, the facility is expected to produce some 1,060 megawatts of power — about two-thirds the size of Dominion Energy’s most recent natural gas plant, the Greensville Power Station, which is capable of powering some 400,000 homes.

Yet despite securing regulators’ thumbs-up in 2017, the project stalled. Last March, the backers asked for a two-year extension of their certificate, citing declining interest from investors in light of changes in the regional PJM power grid’s capacity market.

Since then, Virginia’s energy landscape has also changed significantly.

The passage this spring of the Virginia Clean Economy Act and a law that will join the state to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a carbon cap-and-trade market, have committed Virginia to transitioning off fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources. Mandatory renewable portfolio standards for electric utilities and ambitious targets for solar and wind development are all designed to phase out the use of coal and natural gas by 2045.

“This legislation casts serious doubt on the financial viability of the C4GT plant and the likelihood it will ever be built,” said Greg Buppert, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center representing environmental and consumer protection groups Appalachian Voices and Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, at the beginning of Wednesday’s hearing.

But Virginia Natural Gas, in arguing that regulators should approve its pipeline expansion proposal, dismissed those concerns, seeking instead to focus the proceedings on what it described as a “simple need solution” to its obligation as a utility to serve any customer in its territory that requests service.

“This application is not the place to debate public policy and legislation,” said VNG attorney Lisa Crabtree. “We’re not here to speculate on what will happen in 2045 and beyond.”

The Header Improvement Project regulators have been charged with considering what was first outlined by Virginia Natural Gas this December, when it filed an application with the State Corporation Commission for approval to construct.

The proposal would add about 24 new miles of pipeline to VNG’s system: the 6.2 mile Transco Interconnect Pipeline running between VNG infrastructure in Quantico and the Transco pipeline in Catlett in Fauquier County, the 3.3 mile Quantico Parallel Pipe in Fauquier running alongside an existing company pipeline, and the 14.6 mile Mechanicsville Parallel Pipe running alongside another existing VNG line in Hanover, New Kent and Charles City counties.

Two new compressor stations would also be built: the Transco Interconnect station in Prince William and the Gidley station in Chesapeake, while a third station at Ladysmith in Caroline County would be expanded.

And while three parts of the project are directly tied to C4GT’s operation, three others — the Transco Interconnect Pipeline, Transco Interconnect Compressor Station and Quantico Parallel Pipe — would be required for any expansion of Virginia Natural Gas’ capacity, testified the company’s director of gas supply, Kenneth Yagelski.

Currently, VNG’s system is supplied from the north by an interconnection with the Dominion Energy Transmission pipeline at Quantico that is responsible for providing capacity to about half of VNG’s customers.

An expansion plan submitted by Virginia Natural Gas to the State Corporation Commission to meet the needs of the planned C4GT natural gas plant and increase system capacity. But the Dominion pipeline has no more capacity, said Yagelski, and VNG has concerns about its continued reliability.

“It’s never resulted in an outage to our customers, but we’ve come very close in the past,” he told the State Corporation Commission, and an extended outage “we believe is a possibility.”

That means that for any expansion of VNG’s service, the utility must look for other sources of supply, said Yagelski.

“We’ve often looked at a new connection to Transco at this location for reliability purposes, but it would be very expensive for VNG to justify on its own the 6.2 miles of pipe and the compressor station,” he told regulators. “This is an opportunity for VNG to essentially take advantage of the larger HIP project to get that reliability increase when some of those costs are shared with the other HIP participants.”

Public Service Commission in Morgantown on Monday 1/6/20

Prepared by the West Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club, PO Box 4142, Morgantown, WV 26504

What is Longview proposing?

Longview Power proposes to construct a 1200-MW gas-fired power plant in Monongalia County on 54 acres adjacent to their existing coal-fired plant near Fort Martin. They also propose adding a 20-MW solar farm to cover 127 acres on lands to the north of that site. Gas would be supplied by a 20-inch diameter pipeline from the TransCanada line in Pennsylvania(1). New roads, water lines and transmission lines would also be needed.

What else does Longview want?

Longview is also requesting a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) Agreement with Monongalia County(2). The proposed 30-year PILOT has not yet been approved, but would reduce Longview’s property taxes by over $200 million(3).

Doesn’t Longview already have a PILOT Agreement?

Longview has a PILOT Agreement for the existing coal-fired plant (Longvew I). This 30-year PILOT provided $108 million to Monongalia County. The coal-fired Longview I plant is rated at 695 MW, so the proposed 1200-MW plant (Longview II) is almost twice as large. Longview proposes to pay only $58,222, 513 under the proposed new PILOT for Longview II.

What are the environmental impacts?

While the air pollution emissions include 282 tons nitrogen oxides, 552 tons VOCs, and 175 tons fine particulates, and others pollutants each year, the emissions of over 3 million tons of greenhouse gases will be an important impact that is currently unregulated1. Gas-fired power plants often claim that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, however this ignores all the upstream emissions of methane associated with well drilling, pipelines, compressors, etc.

The Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change recommends that, to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 C, there must be a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Numerous scenarios are possible, but all involve rapid reductions in emissions of fossil fuel carbon, at least 50 % reduction by 2030, and almost all fossil fuel emissions must end by 2050.

How can this be achieved?

Technologies called Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) can capture the carbon dioxide from the exhaust stream, concentrate it, and pump it deep into the Earth, where it will remain indefinitely. Such technologies are already being used in some areas to enhance oil production. But the cost of retrofitting a plant is high, and the energy demand reduces the efficiency of power plants.

Use of biomass fuels is one alternative that recycles carbon dioxide in the air through photosynthesis, so no net emissions of carbon dioxide occurs. But if biomass fuels are used in power plants with CCS, the net effect is to remove carbon dioxide from the air. Currently, this is costly, but would become competitive if a carbon tax or cap and trade program were implemented.

Will the Longview II plant be economically competitive?

That depends on whether the electricity is needed. Under current market conditions, electricity from gas-fired power plants is cheaper than from coal. However, demand for electricity is not growing, so new generation facilities will compete directly with existing power plants. Longview’s economic analyses assume that electricity markets will remain stable, and ignores the need to address climate change. If greenhouse gas emissions are restricted, power plants may need CCS to remain compliant. Alternatively, as renewables become cheaper, even gas-fired plants may not be competitive.

References:

1. PSC. Joint Application of Longview Power…. (Siting Certificate). Case # 19-0890-E-CS-CN. Available at: http://www.psc.state.wv.us)
2. Longview. 2019. Non-Binding Term Sheet – Longview Expansion Project. Sept. 11, 2019. Submitted to Monongalia County Commission.
3. Boettner, T. 2019. PILOT Agreements Cost State Millions in Tax Revenue: An In-Depth Look at Longview Power Plant. WV Center on Budget and Policy. Available at: https://wvpolicy.org/pilot-agreements-cost-state-millions-in-tax-revenue-an-in-depth-look-at-longview-power-plant/

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What you can do:

File a Letter of Protest with the WV Public Service Commission. Ask that the Certificate of Site Approval be denied unless Longview installs carbon capture to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Be sure to include the reference to Case # 19-0890.

Mail letters to: Connie Graley, Executive Secretary, West Virginia Public Service Commission, 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, WV 25301.

Or file comments on-line Protesting Case Number 19-0890 at: http://www.psc.state.wv.us/scripts/onlinecomments/default.cfm

Attend the Public Hearing. The PSC will hold a public hearing on Monday, Jan. 6, 2020 at 5:30 PM at the Monongalia County Courthouse, 243 High Street, Morgantown. You can present your comments in person at that time.

Should the resident citizens have input to a PILOT agreement?

By Jim Kotcon, Opinion—Editorial (Letter to Editor), Submitted to Morgantown Dominion Post, November 3, 2019

The Mon County Commission (MCC) is considering a gigantic tax break to attract yet another fossil fuel power plant to the area. The proposed Longview II would be a 1200-MW gas-fired facility located next to the existing coal-fired plant, and just a short distance from Fort Martin.

Longview claims that the new facility will be “environmentally friendly”, as do many of our political leaders, but everyone ignores the elephant in the room. The greenhouse gas emissions would exceed three million tons per year. And before proponents try to claim that natural gas produces fewer greenhouse gases than coal, the very fact that some make this claim is an acknowledgement that the issue is real, and an honest look at the math says that such a small incremental reduction is not enough.

America needs to reduce greenhouse gas emission by half within 10 years, and be entirely off fossil fuels within 30. Any investment in new fossil fuel facilities is unlikely to remain in operation long enough to pay off its cost, and those funds need to be invested in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

We cannot stop a private company from wasting money on bad investments, but the MCC should not give tax breaks to encourage them.

MCC should insist on carbon dioxide capture and sequestration for the proposed Longview II gas-fired power plant.

In the absence of carbon capture, the MCC should insist on separate PILOT Agreements for the Longview II gas plant and the proposed Longview solar facilities. The economic outlook for a solar farm is much more favorable over the long term than for fossil fuel facilities.

The MCC should also consider the potential for the Longview II facility to adversely affect competitiveness of the Fort Martin power plant, which does pay its fair share of property taxes. Competition from Longview will almost certainly constrain the ability of Fort Martin to compete. Even if Fort Martin does not close immediately, captive ratepayers for Mon Power may see increased electric rates to cover the increased costs of operating Fort Martin, and mine workers may see reduced hours of operation. While these changes are inevitable in a carbon-constrained economy, offering tax breaks that exacerbate these economic strains in order to provide incentives to another fossil fuel plant is short-sighted.

The MCC should require economic analyses of the proposed Longview II plant that consider the long-term costs of greenhouse gas emissions. Realistic estimates of the economic impacts of greenhouse gas emissions are in the range of $50-75 per ton. Analyses that do not consider this cost of carbon implicitly assume the cost is zero, a number everyone knows is wrong.

The MCC should consider the potential for methane from biofuels to be used at the proposed Longview II facility. If coupled with carbon capture and sequestration, this could result in net negative greenhouse gas emissions. Such technologies will be essential to keep global temperature increases below 2 C, and would assure a lifetime of operation for the Longview II facility.

Finally, the MCC should pro-rate any PILOT Agreement to the actual construction cost of the facility. When the MCC negotiated the last PILOT with Longview, Longview low-balled their cost estimates. In 2004, they claimed that plant would cost around $940 million, and the first PILOT was based on that estimate. The actual cost was over $2.2 billion, more than double the value used to negotiate the first PILOT.

The County Commission needs to be very skeptical of any cost estimates proposed by Longview, make sure that payments are proportional to the actual cost of the facility, and be fair to every other taxpayer in Mon County.

To learn more about these issues, and discuss fair solutions for all, please attend a public meeting on Thursday, November 7th at 6 PM in the MAC building, 107 High Street, Morgantown.

Jim Kotcon, WV Sierra Club, Morgantown, WV

Wanted — More Places to Pollute the Atmosphere

To the Editor, Morgantown Dominion Post, October 2, 2019

The plan to expand the Longview Power Plant with a gas-fired plant (Dominion Post — September 13) is disturbing. The company wants the Monongalia County Commission to approve a huge tax break, a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) instead of assessed property taxes.

Another fossil fuel plant means even more air and water pollution, resulting in higher health expenses. While natural gas claims to burn cleanly, fracking is not a clean process. Fracking pads leak methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and generate millions of gallons of toxic waste water. There is no such thing as clean fossil fuels.

Longview is an electric wholesale plant, so all the energy generated there goes into the national grid and is not necessarily consumed here. Nor will it make our rates any cheaper. That Longview filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2013, two years after it went online, does not instill confidence for future performance.

According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, “continued investments in gas-fired power plants will present stranded cost risk for customers, shareholders, and society, while locking in 100 million tons of CO2 emissions each year. RMI research shows that ‘clean energy portfolios’ comprised of wind, solar, and energy storage technologies are now cost-competitive with new natural gas power plants, while providing the same grid reliability services.

Children around the world are begging us to protect their future. Why should we invest in fossil energy sources that are guaranteed to rob them of it? We should not give tax breaks and incentives to fossil fuel industries. The Mon County Commission has an opportunity to say YES to the children by saying YES to solar energy but NO to another fossil fuel plant.

Betsy Lawson, Morgantown

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See also: Wanted: More Places to Burn Natural Gas – A FracTracker Guest Article, Alison Grass, Food & Water Watch, April 21, 2017

https://www.fractracker.org/2017/04/gas-fired-power-plant/

John Black, VP of Energy Solutions in Clarksburg, July 2018

From an Article of Marcellus Drilling News, WWW Internet, August 2, 2018

For years Energy Solutions Consortium (ESC) has been trying to build several natural gas-fired electric plants in West Virginia, but have been prevented from doing so by Big Coal lawsuits. It’s understandable that coal doesn’t want to give up its virtual monopoly on electric generation in the Mountain State. Some 95% of all electricity produced in the state comes from coal-fired plants.

Last year then-WV Sec. of Commerce Woody Thrasher observed that Ohio has built 19 new gas-fired power plants, and Pennsylvania has built 22 new gas-fired power plants, while WV has built NONE. Why not?

Because of Robert Murray, CEO and founder of Murray Energy, one of the largest independent coal mine operators in the U.S. Bob Murray is using a front organization called Ohio Valley Jobs Alliance (OVJA) to file a blizzard of frivolous lawsuits that have kept all new gas-fired plant projects from being built in WV.

The best chance ESC has in building its first gas-fired plant is in Harrison County. Only one roadblock remains–an OVJA challenge to the project’s air permit previously granted by the West Virginia Air Quality Board. Kind of ironic that Big Coal is challenging an air permit for far-cleaner-burning natural gas. Coal pollutes the air way more than natural gas.

The WV Supreme Court hears challenges to these kinds of permits. The paperwork has been filed with the high court. Once the court accepts and hears the case, which ESC thinks will be early fall, and the air permit is upheld, the first shovel of dirt will fly to build the $880 million Harrison County Power Station.

An ESC rep recently updated Harrison County officials and labor union members about the status of the project.

See also: Developers: Harrison gas-fired power plant project faces final hurdle before construction can begin | WV News

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BJ Services moving from central WV back to Penna., employs some 200 people

By BOB ROLLEY, The Express News Service, Lock Haven, PA, August 6, 2018

MILL HALL – A vacant facility location near Lock Haven PA is in line for reuse. The former local Baker Hughes regional natural gas services center will see new life in the coming months.

Texas-based BJ Services said it will relocate its Clarksburg, W. Va., operations into the former Baker Hughes facility just off Route 220 in the Lamar Township Business Park south of Mill Hall.

The company said it anticipates moving more than 200 employees here. That number reflects the firm’s entire natural gas fracturing operation in Clarksburg, BJ Spokesperson Michelle Pyner told PennLive.com.

The transfer will take place over the next three months. That’s the opposite of what occurred in spring 2016, when Baker Hughes closed the plant and moved operations to Clarksburg. The facility entails over 95,000 square feet under roof in six different buildings, with the main building combining an office area with a garage facility.

Baker Hughes opened the natural gas pressure pumping facility in late December 2012. At one point after it opened, Baker Hughes employed 200 people. However, as gas exploration and production slowed, Baker Hughes put the facility up for sale in September 2016 – four years after it invested upward of $37 million to build the center on 38 acres in the business park.

Clinton County Economic Partnership CEO Mike Flanagan said he’s elated BJ Services is moving an important part of its energy production business to Clinton County. “This is wonderful news,” Flanagan told The Express. “We believe it shows that the natural gas industry to coming back in this area.” He said it’s possible BJ Services will hire locally, though BJ Services said Clarksburg employees are being given the choice to stay with the firm and come to Clinton County.

Fracturing fleets and crews will report out of Mill Hall that will serve as the district office for support operations in the Marcellus and Utica natural gas basins, the firm said.

Clinton County and much of Pennsylvania sit atop the Marcellus Shale formation, from which natural gas is produced through well-drilling using vertical and horizontal hydraulic fracturing technology.

Much of the state-owned forestland in northern and western Clinton County was leased by the state for gas drilling. Some gas exploration activities are continuing north of Lock Haven.

BJ Services bought the hydraulic fracturing side of Baker Hughes a couple of years ago. Baker Hughes still owns about 45 percent of the business. This will be the only BJ Services facility in Pennsylvania.

The firm is considered to be among the largest oilfield-energy services provider in North America, focusing on land cementing and hydraulic fracturing services. It is an independent company created when CSL Capital Management and West Street Energy Partners in December 2016 acquired it from Baker Hughes which retained a 46.4 percent ownership stake.

BJ Services traces its roots to 1872, when Byron Jackson, a leader of the American Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 20th Century, formed the Byron Jackson Co. in Woodland, Calif. It was there where he designed and built the first centrifugal deep-well turbine pump, allowing large volumes of water to be pumped from deep underground reservoirs.

The move to Clinton County will better support “our growing business in the Marcellus and Utica natural gas basins,” Pyner said.

Invenergy natural gas power plant in Jessup PA spewing yellow plumes of NOx

From an Article by Scott Blanchard, NPR StateImpact PA, March 2, 2018

The PA Department of Environmental Protection has OK’d several permits for a proposed natural gas power plant in Berks County.

The PA DEP said in a news release that it approved permits for construction of the main plant, as well as for a power line and water and natural gas pipelines to the plant. The permits include Safe Drinking Water Permits, required because the Reading Area Water Authority will need to make upgrades to a pumping station and build the water pipeline.

The Birdsboro Power plant is expected to produce up to 485 megawatts of electricity, according to information from EmberClear Corp., which is developing the project. Lehigh Valley Business reported that the project capitalizes “on the abundance of gas extracted from fracking Marcellus shale in the region.” The company says the work has created 300 construction jobs and 25 permanent jobs.

The project has drawn criticism, including from the environmental group Delaware Riverkeeper Network. The plant is being built in the Schuylkill River floodplain, and the filling-in of the floodplain will make flooding worse in Birdsboro and downstream, the group says.

The company says the plant is expected to be up and running in May 2019.

PHOTO IN ARTICLE: A natural gas power plant under construction in Bradford County, Pa.

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Jessup frustrated with PA-DEP response to yellow smoke, health complaints at gas power plant

Article by Marie Cusick, NPR StateImpact PA, March 19, 2018

The Invenergy natural gas power plant in Jessup PA began spewing plumes of smoke in early March, prompting health complaints from nearby residents. The company says the emissions are temporary and part of a planned commissioning process.

Residents of Jessup say they are not satisfied with the response from the state Department of Environmental Protection, after a new natural gas power plant spewed yellow-colored smoke and prompted health complaints earlier this month.

The Invenergy plant being built in Lackawanna County started emitting noxious smoke on March 3. According to Jessup Borough Council President Jerry Crinella, DEP sent two people to investigate on March 6, but after they walked around, they said they couldn’t see or smell anything.

“I’m disappointed concerned citizens are not getting the information they’re asking for. We want to know what the readings were from the air monitors,” Crinella said. “The DEP is supposed to be there to protect the public, not the company.”

DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly declined to discuss the incident, and instead sent emailed statements. “Department believes plume is excess NOX [nitrogen oxides] as Invenergy is beginning to start up its turbines. No issues were reported to us,” Connolly wrote. “Department has asked Invenergy to provide a report on this. We are still waiting for the report.”

Connolly added there have been no complaints from residents since the original incident, and said she could not discuss specifics until the department receives the report from Invenergy.

The Chicago-based company emailed a statement earlier this month, spokesman Dan Ewan said the plant was undergoing a short-lived commissioning phase, which resulted in temporary noise and a visible vapor plume. He said there were no chemicals used during the process.

Jessup resident Rella Scassellati lives a half-mile from the plant and was among those who complained to the DEP about a burning in her nose, throat, sinuses, and chest. “I think every person who made a complaint deserved a response,” Scassellati said. “Nobody followed up with me.”

At 1,480 megawatts, the plant will be one of the largest gas-fired power plants in the United States. As StateImpact Pennsylvania and the Center for Public Integrity reported last year, the project has stirred controversy and upended local politics in the small town. It’s expected to be fully operational next year.

Borough council member Peter Larioni was voted into office last fall as a plant opponent. He said people are still reaching out to him asking about what was being emitted.

“The [DEP] guy said, ‘I didn’t smell anything.’” Larioni said. “How can he say that? Does he have a monitor up his nose?” According to Larioni, the borough is considering paying for its own air monitors near the plant.

Marcellus natural gas pipeline and shut-off valve

From an Article by Reid Frazier, NPR State Impact Pennsylvania, November 2, 2017

A New York company is planning to build a natural gas plant in Pennsylvania’s biggest coal county. Hilltop Energy Center LLC, a Huntington Bay, N.Y.-based company, is proposing to build a 600-megawatt natural gas power plant in Cumberland Township, Greene County.

Construction on the plant could start in November 2018, says William Campbell, III, an environmental consultant for the project. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a public hearing Thursday in Carmichaels, Pa. for the facility’s proposed air quality permit.

The project is among dozens vying to take advantage of Pennsylvania’s booming gas industry. Energy firms have proposed over 40 gas-fired projects in Pennsylvania since 2011, according to federal data. Fourteen are under construction or operating.

In southwestern Pennsylvania, five gas plants have been proposed, and one –Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station – is under construction, said Alan Binder of the DEP’s Southwest Bureau.

Campbell says the state’s surge in natural gas production is the main reason why the company is building the plant in Greene County, the largest coal-producing county in the state. “There is a surplus of gas, which means gas prices are very low, and predictions are they’re going to stay very low, which makes it very economical and makes this a great region for this kind of plant,” Campbell says. “Greene County has the site, it has a receptive population here that is good for this (type of project). It’s the right location.”

Binder said that since Pennsylvania does not meet federal standards for ozone, a pollutant that can exacerbate asthma and cause lung disease, the plant will be required to install equipment to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds–two classes of chemicals that create ozone.

In addition, the plant will be required to purchase Emissions Reduction Credits, or ERCs, to displace the pollution it will create by buying credits for pollution reductions from plants that are cleaning up or shutting down.

The plant will employ 20 to 30 full-time employees once completed.

The PA-DEP will take public comment on the plant’s proposed air quality permit until November 12, 2017.

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Pittsburgh, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)

The proposed natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant has a 620 MW generating capacity. Hill Top applied for air quality plan approval in March 2017.

Individuals may submit written public comments to the attention of Alexander Sandy, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, asandy@pa.gov, or fax to 412-442-4194. Written testimony must include the commenter’s name, address, and phone number and reference the proposed Hill Top Energy Center Plan Approval (PA-30-00233B). Public comments will be accepted until November 12, 2017 at 11:59 PM.

A copy of Hill Top Energy Center’s application, DEP’s technical review memo, and other relevant information is available for review at DEP’s Southwest Regional Office at 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Appointments to review the application materials can be made by calling 412-442-4000.

Documents are also available on DEP’s Southwest regional webpage, http://www.dep.pa.gov/About/Regional/SouthwestRegion/Community%20Information/Pages/default.aspx, or by visiting Flenniken Memorial Library, 102 E. George Street, Carmichaels, PA.