WVEC Action Alert - January 15, 2007

The Air Pollution Permit for the Western Greenbrier Co-Generation power plant issued by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in April allows the facility to emit:

632 tons per year of sulfur dioxide (contributes to acid rain),
527 tons per year of nitrogen oxides (creates ozone “smog”),
135 tons per year of fine particulates (PM10) (respiratory and heart diseases), and
16 pounds per year of mercury (birth and developmental effects in babies).

Health Effects

The WGC plant with the prevailing winds to the east will dump Mercury, SO2(acid rain) & Fly Ash into the lives of our children and our gardens in Greenbrier and Pocahontas County.

The Greenbrier County area is already near federal health standards for air pollutants.

Fish advisories say to eat only 2 meals of Brown Trout per month because of Mercury contamination in our streams. Mercury is one of the primary pollutants released by the processing of waste coal, and is believed by many experts to be a leading contributor to the development of autism in children. The CDC recognizes this, and the EPA released the Clean Air Mercury Rule on March 15, 2005, directed at reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Fly Ash, a by-product of burning waste coal, is a fine particulate with high concentrations of radiation and arsenic, both cancer-causing agents. This particulate can easily enter the environment as airborne particles or by leaching into local water supplies.

Additional dangers and problems of burning waste coal

The gob is only reduced 15% by weight when burned because limestone must be added to the process, thereby producing almost as much waste as the original gob. The resulting waste will also be toxic to the groundwater. Where will it go? It will be trucked back to the same site it came from.

After the gob pile is burned – in about 5 years – the plant will become just another coal fired power plant, except that it can burn almost anything: tires(!), medical waste(!), etc.

Similar plants of a similar size have not been financially successful, so this plant may pollute us at taxpayer expense (government grants and loans) before going bellyup (no more jobs or local tax revenues).

For more info on waste coal see http://www.energyjustice.net/coal/wastecoal/

Other impacts:

There will be many more trucks on the road. In Rainelle, there would be a truck every 6 or 7 minutes during the day. In Hillsboro, for bringing limestone from Mill Point and returning, there would be 14 truck trips per day, or about a truck every half hour.

The WGC plant needs 1200 gallons of water per minute, which will end up as vapor in the air. 350 to 800 gallons per minute would come from the Rainelle Sewage Treatment Plant. The safety of this depends on how good a plant it is and how well run. The remainder will come from the Meadow River, and when that flow is too low (like in the summer when it almost dries up), it will come from wells. Currently Rainelle public water supply from 2 wells provides 140 gallons per minute. WCG will need up to 850 gallons per minute, or 6 times the town of Rainelle. The warm water discharge will be into the Meadow River.

Individual property values will suffer living in the shadows of a waste coal power plant. What was once an extremely appealing area to live may soon be looked upon as a toxic region to be avoided.

Because this plant is a demonstration, it is likely to be followed by more plants (5 more plants are proposed in surrounding counties).

The air permit for this plant has been appealed.

A water discharge permit will also be required.

For more information contact Beth Little, blittle@citynet.net or 653-4277, or see our website: www.cleanbrier.org

Return to Index

The new 110th Congress will decide if they want to lead America toward a cleaner new energy future by investing in renewable energy OR continue to give billions of dollars in handouts to oil companies. The week of January 15, Congress will vote on a bill to create a multi-billion dollar clean energy fund by cutting taxpayer handouts to the oil industry.

You call your representative toll-free today at 1-866-699-9243. Just tell the operator where you're from, and they will connect you.

Here's a sample message you can leave:
"Hello, my name is _______ and I live in _______. I'm calling to urge Representative _______ to vote to stop the taxpayer handouts to the oil industry and invest in clean, renewable energy."

Oil company profits continue to skyrocket. Big oil companies are swimming in a sea of record-breaking profits while American consumers and taxpayers pay the price. In 2005, the world's biggest oil companies reported a combined $111 billion in profits. In the first three quarters of 2006 they reported more than $94 billion.

Despite earning record profits, oil and gas companies continue to benefit from billions in handouts courtesy of American taxpayers. Between tax incentives, below-market fees for drilling on public lands, research and development subsidies and accounting gimmicks, these companies will receive more than $31.6 billion from the federal government over the next five years.

Another giveaway allows oil companies to write off the costs of oil drilling and refining. Together, these giveaways total more than $4 billion over the next 5 years.