Meadow River Under Seige

Dear Senator Byrd,

I am writing in reference to the proposed Western Greenbrier Co-Gen (WGC) Power Plant. The WGC would be built in Rainelle, WV close to the Meadow River and off of Route 60, The Scenic Midland Trail. It is to burn only gob pile waste coal. West Virginias Division for Air Quality issued a permit for this plant on April 26, 2006. It seems that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) is planning to provide $107 million for construction of the power plant, using clean coal money.

I am against the building of this power plant for several reasons. I am concerned about the air and water pollution that would occur. I am afraid that the beautiful Meadow River will dry up to a trickle most of the year and also what water that is put back into it will be too warm and not conducive to aquatic life. The local water table may also be depleted from the planned wells. The increased large truck traffic will make the roads more dangerous and the air more polluted.

I am skeptical of the promised jobs. How many jobs will be filled by local residents and how long will they last? It can take up to twice as much waste coal to produce the same amount of electricity as normal coal. It is not economical to haul the waste coal long distances and therefore once the local gob piles are gone the power plant will follow.

Legally I do not think the permit for this power plant should have been issued in the first place by the West Virginia Division of Air Quality. Over 6 times as much mercury, 4 times as much chromium, and 3 times as much lead must be fed into a waste coal burner to produce the same amount of energy as a traditional coal power plant. Some things that may have initially made the plant look attractive such as production of ash based products, production of cement and sale of hot water and steam have no current funding and/or market. It is claimed that the project will clean up the gob piles. Ash is more dangerous than gob, in that water leeches out the pollutants more easily from ash. If the ash is not used to make these products, how is anything being cleaned up? Also, it is the responsibility of the coal industry, current and previous landowners to clean up and to pay into the Special Reclamation Fund.

I see absolutely no reason for the federal government to provide funding for this project. It certainly does not seem like clean coal technology. The Clean Air and Water Act will certainly be violated. Also the Meadow River is a Navigable Water Way that will no longer be navigable in order for a power company to make money. Surely there is a more appropriate way to spend federal money, maybe to develop technology to reduce electricity use instead of encouraging more use and pollution. Please vote against the funding of this project.

Sincerely yours,