New permit for coal-fired power plant pleases both sides

Both sides in a dispute over a coal-fired power plant in far Southwest Virginia said they were happy after the state issued a new permit for the plant yesterday.

David K. Paylor, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, issued the permit shortly after a Richmond Circuit Court judge released an order setting aside the original permit.

The judge, Margaret P. Spencer, had ruled Aug. 10 that the old permit did not sufficiently limit mercury pollution. But she didn't issue her order until yesterday, sending the issue back to the state.

The new permit includes a 4.45-pound-per-year mercury limit that was in the previous permit. But the new permit removes a provision that allowed that limit to be loosened if the plant had trouble meeting it.

"We wanted a firm mercury limit" and got one, said Cale Jaffe, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, a Charlottesville-based organization that challenged the permit on behalf of several environmental groups.

The new permit, Jaffe said, includes "the most stringent mercury limit for a coal-fired power plant in the nation, bar none."

The 585-megawatt plant in Wise County, owned by Dominion Virginia Power, is under construction and scheduled to begin operating in mid-2012.

David A. Christian, chief executive officer of Dominion Generation, the subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc. that runs its power plants, said Paylor's quick action keeps construction on schedule

Christian said in a statement that the plant is "vital to meeting the future energy needs of Virginia and to helping the economic well-being of . . . Southwest Virginia."

The environmentalists also challenged a second permit for the plant, saying it should have regulated emissions of carbon dioxide, which is linked to global warming. Spencer earlier ruled against the environmentalists on that point.

The state Air Pollution Control Board issued the two permits in 2008.

Technically, the judge sent the mercury permit back to the board yesterday. But the DEQ director also has the power to issue air-pollution permits.

"DEQ's interpretation, based on advice from the attorney general's office, is that DEQ should take this action in order to comply with the judge's order," said DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden.

The air board is expected to discuss the permit at a meeting today in Richmond.

Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or .