News Release

 

For Immediate Release:                                                         For more information please contact:

 

August 12, 2005                                                         Paula Hunt     (304) 692-7588

 

Morgantown, WV                                                      Duane Nichols  (304) 599-8040

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 LONGVIEW TAX BREAKS APPEALED TO SUPREME COURT

 

A group of individuals and organizations based in Monongalia County, West Virginia has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court regarding tax breaks given to the proposed 600 MW coal-fired Longview power plant.  Citizens for Alternatives to Longview Power (CALP) was one of the non-profit groups along with other concerned citizens that filed a lawsuit in Monongalia County Circuit Court on October 9, 2003 over the “payment in lieu of taxes” or PILOT agreement signed by Longview Power and Monongalia County officials.  That case was dismissed in the Monongalia County Circuit Court on April 12, 2005, and is now being appealed. 

 

“The embattled Longview power plant is facing yet another court challenge, this time an appeal of the legality of the lucrative tax breaks offered by the Monongalia County Commission,” said Paula Hunt, a spokesperson for CALP.   The appeal states that the PILOT agreement would violate multiple sections of the State constitution including the requirement for equal taxation.  Longview has claimed that they cannot build the plant without the tax agreement, and has had repeated delays in their projected start of construction.

 

“We believe the Circuit Court made an error when it dismissed the case before both sides conducted legal discovery,” said Ms. Hunt. “Our legal team of Robert Bastress and Phil Gaujot will impress upon the Supreme Court that this case can only be judged fairly after important facts come to light during the discovery process.”

 

Duane Nichols, the president of the Cheat Lake Environment and Recreation Association, said that “it is just plain unfair for the county to provide a very large tax break to one specific private company, particularly when the electricity is to be sold out-of-state, when the coal may come primarily from Pennsylvania, and when all the environmental impacts will be felt primarily by those already affected by our largest power plant and largest polluter, the Ft. Martin power plant.”

 

“We have found that the PILOT agreement itself is based on a flawed and unconstitutional application of state statutes," said James Kotcon.  "It is simply wrong for one out-of-state, for-profit company to get tax breaks that are not open to every other taxpaying business in the County.  It’s an issue of tax fairness," asserts Kotcon.  “The statute under which the PILOT was offered was intended to apply to publicly-owned projects financed through public bonds for public benefit; not to a private out-of-state company whose primary goal is to maximize its own profits."

 

“It appears that the Longview plant has many problems and this is yet another problem for Longview,” said Jarrett Jamison, a resident of the Fort Martin Community, where the proposed plant would be located. “Construction has been put off due to one delay after another; and Longview has repeatedly failed to finalize the required permits”.

 

 The Air Quality Permit is still under appeal in the Kanawha County Circuit Court.  The ‘siting certificate’ was approved by the Public Service Commission with a number of conditions on it that have not yet been met; and the ‘transmission certificate’ has yet to be applied for.  The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve the smoke stack for this plant, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has required Longview to negotiate rights of way for transmission lines with Allegheny Energy.  That is expected to cost Longview over 5 million dollars alone. 

 

In addition to CALP, the plaintiffs include the Citizens for Responsible Development, the Cheat Lake Environment and Recreation Association, and more than 50 local residents.  Defendants in the action are Longview Power, LLC, the Monongalia County Development Authority, the Monongalia County Commission, the Monongalia County Board of Education, and the Monongalia County Assessor.

 

 

 

More information on the project is available at the web sites for Longview Power: http://www.genpower.net/longview, and for CALP: http://www.nolongview.org/.