Mar 14 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Christian Giggenbach The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.

More problems may be on the horizon for the financially strapped Western Greenbrier Co-Generation plant as officials met with citizens for the second time in as many weeks Thursday to announce what they termed a pending agreement with an environmental group that has opposed the coal waste-powered electrical plant.

However, an environmental lawyer with Cleanbrier, the leading voice against the plant, said late Thursday he felt an agreement was not "imminent."

Co-Gen manager Wayne Brown reiterated a plea from last week to a crowd of about 50 concerning the plant's need for an additional $25 million for construction costs.

Brown has asked citizens to sign petitions and send them to Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., asking for the funds.

Brown said Byrd's office, Gov. Joe Manchin and Rep. Nick Rahall had not yet responded to his initial request.

"We haven't heard from them yet," Brown said. "We believe Sen. Byrd is still in the hospital recovering from a recent illness, and we believe his support is extremely strong."

Brown said tentative agreements have been made with Cleanbrier officials that would cut the emissions of sulfur dioxide in half and ensure that heat produced by the plant would be used for greenhouses and by homes and businesses in Rainelle.

"We have a committee that will meet next week and they have given us a letter stating they (Cleanbrier) will sign the agreement," Brown said. "Or the group may appeal all of our actions and delay the project for a year and then the town will have to lease the project out. That, in my opinion, would be a tragedy. We have done everything possible to work with them."

Brown said the plant's owners, the towns of Rainelle, Quinwood and Rupert, stand to share a profit of $375 million over a 25-year period if the project's current status stays on track.

"We have made a firm decision to pre-process the coal waste at each gob site prior to using it as fuel, and that will cut the emissions of sulfur dioxide in half," Brown said.

The new pre-processing plant, which would be mobile and have the ability to move from gob pile to gob pile, would cost about $8 million to $9 million, Brown said.

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Environmental lawyer Derek Teaney, an Equal Justice Works Fellow for the Appalachian Center for the Environment in Lewisburg, said the two parties have not yet reached an agreement.

"As far as the appeal, the Record of Decision has not been published and so that decision has not been made yet," Teaney said. "As far as the two issues Mr. Brown spoke about, we have talked about cutting the sulfur dioxide levels in half and that would be tremendous, but the problem is getting an enforceable commitment from Western Greenbrier Co-Gen rather then just their best wishes and intentions. They have simply not committed firmly to those things. We have not seen anything in writing that would make the signing of an agreement imminent."

-- E-mail: cgiggenbach@register-herald.com