Two weeks ago, the US Forest Service wrote the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality concerned that the proposed Wise County Power Plant would pollute a national park in North Carolina. Citizens spoke out against the proposed plant at a hearing last week. Charlottesville, Blacksburg, and Arlington have all passed resolutions against the proposed plant.But NONE of those come close to today’s development. The Bristol Herald (which last week endorsed Senator William Wampler) just editorialized AGAINST the Wise County Power Plant. Check it out!
All along, Dominion Power Co. has touted its planned coal-burning plant in Wise County as a boon to the region.The plant, we were told, will create as many as 800 construction and coal mining jobs, along with jobs running the plant, and inject wealth into an economically depressed area. It will supply much-needed energy to fellow Virginians. It will exclusively burn Virginia coal.Sounded good until we read the fine print. Many of the jobs are temporary and the number has decreased over time. The plant, while cleaner than older coal-fired facilities, isn’t clean enough. It is still a polluter. In fact, if built as designed, the state’s Air Pollution Control Board has determined it will be one of the biggest polluters in Virginia. Let us repeat that for emphasis. The Virginia City plant is on course to become one of the biggest polluters in the state
