Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 26, 1990 TAG: 9006260259
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: By KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENDANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The board voted instead to find out more about how the proposed coal-fired plant would affect recreational uses of the Maury River, said David Bailey of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Bailey, who has been critical of the Hadson Power 14 plant, said the primary concern is for canoeing on the river - difficult at low water levels.
The action stalled the permit procedure on the controversial plant for at least a month. Hadson officials said it could lead them to make costly provisions for storing up more water for use during dry months, when the river is low.
Water board staffers said Monday's action was largely a call for more information on the water withdrawal permit request.
"It's not rejected," said Joe Hassell, program manager for water intake permits such as the plant developers are seeking. "It's tabled. They [the board] voted to get more information. They may turn around and accept it."
The water board's staff had recommended the permit be approved.
"This is not a show stopper," said Andrew Shea of Hadson Development Corp., co-developers of the proposed 60-megawatt plant. "It's a burden."
Those who have criticized the cogeneration plant - mostly for environmental reasons - said Monday's action was a step in the right direction.
Bailey said it was proof that the water board's co-chairman, Bidgood Wall, who headed a June 18 public hearing on the issue at Southern Seminary College in Buena Vista, was listening. Some 300 people attended the hearing.
Bailey and others had spoken out at the hearing, arguing among other things that the minimum stream flow figures in the proposed water intake permit were too low. The minimum stream flow is the level below which the plant cannot withdraw water from the Maury River, and must turn to other sources.
Bailey said Wall spoke up when the water board began considering the permit Monday, saying he had concerns about the minimum stream flow levels written into the draft of the permit.
Based on Wall's concerns, Bailey believes, the water board balked.
"Mr. Wall has supported us," said Fahim Qubain, a Buena Vista motel owner and outspoken critic of the cogeneration plant. "We applaud him. For the first time, we feel the Virginia boards are beginning to listen to the voice of the people."
The permit draft stipulated the plant could not draw water from the Maury when its flow is less than 160 cubic feet per second. Bailey and others have recommended that level be raised to at least 200.
Even when the Maury is at the 160 level, Hadson officials argue, the proposed power plant's water demands would lower the river level only one-10th of one inch.
The water board is expected to reconsider the permit after an additional 30-day public comment period on the recreation issue.
The water permit is not the plant's only hurdle. The plant's smokestack emissions still must win approval from the state Department of Air Pollution Control, which will hold a public hearing sometime this summer, said Don Shepherd, regional director.
The plant faces stringent air quality standards, due in part to the presence of the James River Face Wilderness 10 miles from Buena Vista - a craggy 8,800 acres in the Jefferson National Forest. The area is a Class 1 wilderness, which carries the highest restrictions on pollutants.
by CNB