Old Dominion suspends permitting for Surry coal plant

Aug 10 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Allison T. Williams Daily Press, Newport News, Va.


Old Dominion Electric Cooperative has suspended efforts to obtain the environmental permits needed to build what would be the state's largest coal-fueled power plant in Surry County.

The Environmental Protection Agency's new, more stringent environmental regulations largely fueled the company's decision to stop work -- at least for now -- on the proposed $6 billion Cypress Creek Power Station, said company spokesman David Hudgins. He said Old Dominion may resume work in a couple of years, depending on the outcome of aU.S. Supreme Court appeal opposing the EPA's new carbon emissions reductions for new power plants.

"It will be at least two or three years before the Supreme Court rules ... and we don't want to spend $2 million getting permits to find out we can't do the project," said Hudgins. "But if it isn't changed, the EPA will essentially be outlawing every utility that uses coal."

Surry residents and environmental groups opposed to the 1,500-megawatt power plant are counting Old Dominion's action as a victory.

"I'm satisfied ... and I hope it's over, but I don't trust ODEC," said Dendron farmer Michael Drewry, one of five residents who won a lawsuit against Old Dominion and the town that challenged the legality of a February 2010 public hearing and vote. "We'll be here and ready to do battle again if they try to come back."

Both Drewry and Surry resident Betsy Shepard, who spearheaded the local opposition movement, are concerned that the Dendron Town Council's action to rezone the 1,600-acre site for industrial use leaves the town with little control over future uses of the property. The town has no negotiating room for proffers and could end up with something worse than a coal plant, Shepard said.

. "Dendron is at the mercy of ODEC. They can sell it to highest bidder ... and the town will have no say in what happens there," Shepard said.

For the immediate future, Old Dominion is hanging onto the Surry property and additional land purchased in neighboring Sussex County as a alternate site, Hudgins said. In coming months, Old Dominion is moving ahead with building roads and relocating utility lines on the Surry property, he said.

Coal plant supporters have argued that the county needs the jobs and estimated $2.2 million in annual tax revenue Cypress Creek would have generated.

"We can't miss what we never had ... and we will continue to do what we're doing when it comes to economic development," said Surry County Administrator Tyrone Franklin.

Old Dominion's proffers to Dendron, including water system repairs, a new playground and new sidewalks, depend on whether the facility is built, Hudgins said. With the exception of a $50,000 advance that Old Dominion paid the town two years ago, the rest of the proffers are in limbo, he added.

Old Dominion is evaluating alternative power supply sources, such as natural gas, Hudgins said, but Surry County does not have the infrastructure available for natural gas, he added.

 

(c) 2012, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services  To subscribe or visit go to:  www.mcclatchy.com/