Sep 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - David Templeton Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Township supervisors in Robinson, Washington County, last night unanimously approved construction of a coal-fired power plant, but not before leveling criticism at officials of the company and state environmental regulators.

The Beech Hollow Energy Project, which has generated debate as fiery as the coal furnaces it will employ, will be fueled by a black mountain of coal waste in the northeast corner of the county near the Allegheny County line.

Votes from Supervisors George M. Lucchino, Gerald Runtas and Mark W. Kramer came during a special meeting yesterday at Fort Cherry High School -- and in the nick of time for Robinson Power Co. of Burgettstown, which faced a deadline to begin construction or watch as its state and federal air-quality permits expire.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will pay the township about $500,000 in fees while the plant is under construction, and another $2.5 million during its first 10 years of operation. The plant will continue to pay annual fees to the township while it's in operation.

If supervisors had rejected its application for conditional-use and development permits, Robinson Power would have been forced to reapply for air-quality permits under new but yet undefined federal air-quality guidelines, said Helen Humphreys, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Before voting to give Robinson Power permits to built the $425 million power plant, Mr. Lucchino roundly criticized the state Department of Environmental Protection for failing to properly oversee environmental issues in the township and for failing to respond adequately to requests for information.

Mr. Lucchino also criticized Robinson Power President Ray Bologna Sr. for failing to provide information about the project in a timely fashion and failing to live up to promises regarding a previous project at the site. He said supervisors were left to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community by including a 30-page list of conditions the company must now follow.

Mr. Lucchino said he voted to issue permits with conditions because he feared Robinson Power would file an appeal if the application were rejected.

"I haven't slept for two months," he said. "But I realize that if it goes to Washington County Court, we will lose all control. It was a crap shoot. By voting with conditions, we will work with them to make sure they maintain those conditions."

Mr. Kramer described his vote as the toughest decision in his life.

"We have good conditions, and that's the best we could have hoped for above and beyond what the state [DEP] would do."

The $425 million power plant will be built on the 777-acre Champion Processing Inc. site bounded by routes 22 and 980 and Candor and Beech Hollow roads.

The square-mile dump is believed to be the largest coal-refuse pile east of the Mississippi River. The 40 million tons of coal waste have posed environmental problems for decades for the area.

The Beech Hollow project will burn the refuse on site, along with refuse hauled in from piles throughout the region, as one means of resolving environmental horrors of 20th century mining practices.

But the project has drawn considerable opposition from a vocal band of residents who started Residents Against the Power Plant. They said the cure will be worse than the disease.

RAPP members said the project will stir up coal dust, generate air pollution when it begins generating power, and threaten to contaminate groundwater once 60 million to 80 million tons of fly ash is converted into concrete and deposited on site.

Fly ash, the by-product of the coal-burning process, can contain heavy metals and some hazardous materials. Company officials said they will use fly ash to make concrete for safe on-site disposal. But opponents provided expert opinions questioning that conclusion.

Lisa Graves Marcucci, a Jefferson Hills environmentalist who worked with RAPP, said the supervisors' decision leaves "the fox watching the hen house."

"This does not hold the operator accountable," she said. "The federal government has failed the community. The state government has failed the community. And now the local government has failed in its responsibility of being a backstop to hold them accountable."

After a quick look through the conditions supervisors set, Ms. Graves Marcucci said she "did not see many with teeth."

"I'm sadly disappointed," she said.

Conditions will require Robinson Power to pay the township $135,000 within 30 days, $125,000 per year during construction and $250,000 once the plant begins operation. The company also must pay the township $250,000 on the first anniversary of the date operations commence and each year afterward for 10 years.

"It's all about money," Ms. Marcucci-Graves said.

On July 18, the township planning commission voted unanimously to recommend that supervisors reject Robinson Power's permit applications. The commission said plans were incomplete and did not provide adequate controls of dust or water contaminants.

After yesterday's vote, Planning Commission Chairman Neal Matchett resigned on grounds that supervisors ignored the commission's recommendations.

With township approval, Robinson Power, owned by the Ray Bologna Sr. family, can proceed with construction of the electrical power generator and facilities for power transmission, along with mining and fly-ash disposal at the site. It plans to have an energy company operate the plant.

After the project is completed, Mr. Bologna said previously, a business park will be built atop the fly-ash-based concrete to help bring development to the area.

Representatives of Robinson Power left immediately after the vote and could not be reached for comment.