Power Plant Opponents Urge Big Turnout Monday for Hearing
Tucker County Commission hears debate but takes no position on the controversy
By Mat Cloak, contributing writer
Opponents of a proposed power plant and data center complex are pushing for a big show of opposition Monday night at a key public hearing after state regulators gave a preliminary stamp of approval to the project.
A secretive Virginia company called Fundamental Data is trying to get the power plant approved by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
DEP staff recently released an engineering report on Fundamental Data’s air quality permit application that includes a “preliminary determination” that the power plant would comply with state and federal air quality regulations, which opponents of the facility dispute.
“Basically, it gives Fundamental Data everything they wanted,” James Kotcon, chair of West Virginia’s Sierra Club chapter, said of the engineering report.
The engineering report is sure to be hotly contested Monday night, when the DEP will hold a public question-and-answer session from 6 to 9 p.m. at Canaan Valley Resort State Park.
The DEP’s engineering report says:
Fundamental Data plans to tap into local groundwater, noting that the facility includes “storage tanks for well water.” The water likely would be used to cool the facility. That plan that has worried some local officials, who say the facility could drain aquifers that many area residents rely upon.
State officials toured the proposed site of the facility and concluded “it is not anticipated that any noise and/or viewshed issues would be encountered,” a claim that opponents of the facility dispute. It’s unclear why the DEP’s report made that assertion, since the department acknowledges that those issues are not within the scope of their air quality review.
Fundamental Data intends to operate the power plant exclusively on natural gas, using diesel fuel as a backup fuel source when necessary. However, the engineering report also estimates that the facility would need about 15 million gallons of diesel fuel annually supplied by 2,308 tanker trucks. It does not explain why so much backup fuel would be needed.
Nonprofits respond
Local nonprofits Friends of Blackwater, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and Tucker United, a group formed specifically to fight the power plant and data center complex, are urging opponents of the facility to attend Monday’s DEP hearing.
“We need you and your neighbors to show up to fill the conference room, which has space for 600 people,” Tucker United wrote in an action alert.
The DEP will also hold a virtual meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. July 17 to accept comments on the proposed facility. Click here to register for the events.
West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is seeking donations to pay for legal challenges to the facility and public outreach. Its website says it has raised more than $10,000 so far.
Minor vs. major pollution source
Fundamental Data is seeking approval for the power plant as a “minor” source of emissions. Facilities classified as a “major stationary source” of pollution must meet a higher regulatory threshold.
Opponents of the facility believe Fundamental Data is trying to mislead regulators on its proposed classification as a minor pollution source.
“One of the issues we are continuing to critique is the classification as a synthetic minor source,” Kotcon said. “This facility is right up against this limit. We think they have omitted certain emissions that put it over.”
The DEP will accept comment on the facility until July 18, and then decide whether to issue a permit, Kotcon said.
“Playground for the rich”
The Tucker County Commission on Wednesday heard from county residents about the proposed power plant but declined to take a stance on it.
“I’ll address the issues as they come with as much information as I have,” Commission President Mike Rosenau said.
Rosenau said he was frustrated with accusations and pressure commission members have received from people opposed to the project. However, he joined opponents of the project in condemning a “microgrid” law enacted by the state legislature earlier this year which stripped local governments of any ability to block or regulate data centers. The new law also redirects most of the local property tax revenue generated by such facilities to state coffers.
“They kept us in the stone ages with these tourism type jobs.”
Rosenau said opponents of power plant should make their case to the state lawmakers who passed the microgrid bill.
About 20 attendees at the County Commission meeting spoke against the power plant, and six spoke in favor of it.
County resident Jake Phillips railed against Tucker United. “They kept us in the stone ages with these tourism type jobs that you can’t provide a living on,” Phillips said. He called Tucker County a “playground for the rich,” with longtime county residents who “are starving to death.”
Governor continues to sidestep Tucker County
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has been traveling the state, holding press conferences and other events to tout his accomplishments during the recently completed state legislative session, but he continues to avoid Tucker County.
Since May 9, Morrisey has scheduled appearances in Summersville, Clendenin, Hedgesville, Martinsburg, Charles Town, Inwood, and Welch. He’s appeared at least twice in Parkersburg, Wheeling, and Beckley.
But there have been no public events scheduled for the governor in Tucker County, where he would likely face tough questioning and protests over the new “microgrid” law he championed, which stripped local governments of the ability to block or regulate data centers in their jurisdictions.
A spokesperson for the governor promised to inform Country Roads News when Morrisey will be in the area.
Dan Parks contributed to this report.
Canaan Valley and its protected lands are indeed a playground, but not for the rich -- for everyone, plus the protected species, headwaters and aquifers. There are many suitable locations for a power plant and data center campus. On the doorstep of the Valley is not one.
I drove on Route 48 this weekend. There are miles and miles of vacant land. Why choose something so close to town and the State Park? Is it true this site sits where the Go North extension of 48 would go? What makes this spot so desirable to this shadow company that moving it 5 miles down 48 can’t accomplish? This whole deal smells fishy. Doesn’t WV leadership complain about the federal government taking away local control while they do the same?