Comments on LongviewPower, Past, Present, and Future; MVCAC, March 12, 2019 The Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition was an outgrowth of theissues raised by Longview Power and its impacts on the regional environmentincluding the public health, air quality, roads, etc. We participated in the Public Hearing on the PILOT Agreementheld in ca. 2003 here in the Court House. We asked representatives of Longview if they would put into writingtheir promise to use WV coal, their promise to refrain from consuming waterfrom the Mon River for cooling water, and their promise to be a “Zero Discharge”facility. We learned early on that all three of these promises were broken. Longview elected to use coal from Pennsylvania, althoughthey did use a conveyor belt to avoid extreme truck traffic on the local roadsuntil recently. Trucking of coal there is a severe problem. Longview decided to use Mon River water in their cooling andother operations, and installed Reverse Osmosis units to purify the riverwater. Longview, from the beginning has not been a “Zero Discharge”facility. Their stacks emit largevolumes of flue gases containing thousands of tons of carbon dioxide and manyother chemicals in lesser quantities. The fly ash and bottom ash are waste discharges from the plant and gointo the local environment. Their liquidwaste pipeline flows north into Pennsylvania and down into abandoned mineoperations, contaminating the water underground. At the present time, the 300 (plus) heavy diesel trucks perday transport Pennsylvania coal from a Mon River dock up and over a steepunstable county road, thru the Ft. Martin community, up to the Longview Powerplant. This road is the subject of severedamages due to the high level of truck traffic and the dangerous condition forauto drivers. Alternatively, the shorter and relatively flat road from theCumberland Mine would bring this coal directly south from Pennsylvania to thepower plant. The vapor plume from the Longview power plant continues toobscure the western sky for the University High School and all those residentsalong Bakers Ridge Road, Pt. Marion Road, Stewartstown and the northern CheatLake area. Longview is now proposing to construct a natural-gas-fired powerplant in Ft. Martin, and add a solar panel farm nearby. The existing PILOT Agreement now in force representsa public agreement arrived at thru a process of limited public participation. Any modification to this agreement oradoption of any new agreements needs to be developed with the maximum ofopenness and public participation. A potential tax statement exclusive of aPILOT is a prerequisite. Greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change can nolonger be ignored. The burning of methane, ethane and/or other hydrocarbonsmust be offset with carbon taxes or other schemes. And, every effort should bemade to locate the solar panels in West Virginia, not Pennsylvania. Duane G. Nichols, Coordinator, Mon Valley Clean AirCoalition, Morgantown, WV 26508
Hi Duane - These are all good points and I just want to add one more detail - namely that Longview Power pumps out the same polluted minepool (abandoned Shannopin Mine) that they dump the sewage and stack blowdown from Longview into and after minimal treatment for PH, dump it into Dunkard Creek, creating well-documented excessive levels of TDS.
With regard to the plan to generate power from natural gas and solar at Longview, is it clear whether this will happen simultaneously with an end to their use of coal to fire Longview boilers? If so, I have to admit that it would be a significant step in the right direction.
-Sandy Liebhold
On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 9:00 PM Duane Nichols via MVCAC mvcac@osenergy.org wrote:
*Comments on Longview Power, Past, Present, and Future; MVCAC, March 12, 2019*
The Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition was an outgrowth of the issues raised by Longview Power and its impacts on the regional environment including the public health, air quality, roads, etc.
We participated in the Public Hearing on the PILOT Agreement held in ca. 2003 here in the Court House. We asked representatives of Longview if they would put into writing their promise to use WV coal, their promise to refrain from consuming water from the Mon River for cooling water, and their promise to be a “Zero Discharge” facility. We learned early on that all three of these promises were broken.
Longview elected to use coal from Pennsylvania, although they did use a conveyor belt to avoid extreme truck traffic on the local roads until recently. Trucking of coal there is a severe problem.
Longview decided to use Mon River water in their cooling and other operations, and installed Reverse Osmosis units to purify the river water.
Longview, from the beginning has not been a “Zero Discharge” facility. Their stacks emit large volumes of flue gases containing thousands of tons of carbon dioxide and many other chemicals in lesser quantities. The fly ash and bottom ash are waste discharges from the plant and go into the local environment. Their liquid waste pipeline flows north into Pennsylvania and down into abandoned mine operations, contaminating the water underground.
At the present time, the 300 (plus) heavy diesel trucks per day transport Pennsylvania coal from a Mon River dock up and over a steep unstable county road, thru the Ft. Martin community, up to the Longview Power plant. This road is the subject of severe damages due to the high level of truck traffic and the dangerous condition for auto drivers. Alternatively, the shorter and relatively flat road from the Cumberland Mine would bring this coal directly south from Pennsylvania to the power plant.
The vapor plume from the Longview power plant continues to obscure the western sky for the University High School and all those residents along Bakers Ridge Road, Pt. Marion Road, Stewartstown and the northern Cheat Lake area.
Longview is now proposing to construct a natural-gas-fired power plant in Ft. Martin, and add a solar panel farm nearby. The existing PILOT Agreement now in force represents a public agreement arrived at thru a process of limited public participation. Any modification to this agreement or adoption of any new agreements needs to be developed with the maximum of openness and public participation. A potential tax statement exclusive of a PILOT is a prerequisite.
Greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change can no longer be ignored. The burning of methane, ethane and/or other hydrocarbons must be offset with carbon taxes or other schemes. And, every effort should be made to locate the solar panels in West Virginia, not Pennsylvania.
Duane G. Nichols, Coordinator, Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, Morgantown, WV 26508 _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@osenergy.org http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
Another thing I was wondering about Duane - could you clarify that it would be a shorter distance to truck coal from the Cumberland mine to Longview that it would to truck it up the hill from the river? It seems to me that the Cumberland mine is a long distance from Longview.
Obviously, we need to hear a lot more information about these plans, but I'm thinking that it would be a huge success if the Longview plant converts from burning coal to gas and solar, both of which have smaller environmental footprints than coal.
-Sandy
On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 9:29 PM Andrew Liebhold aliebhold@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Duane - These are all good points and I just want to add one more detail - namely that Longview Power pumps out the same polluted minepool (abandoned Shannopin Mine) that they dump the sewage and stack blowdown from Longview into and after minimal treatment for PH, dump it into Dunkard Creek, creating well-documented excessive levels of TDS.
With regard to the plan to generate power from natural gas and solar at Longview, is it clear whether this will happen simultaneously with an end to their use of coal to fire Longview boilers? If so, I have to admit that it would be a significant step in the right direction.
-Sandy Liebhold
On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 9:00 PM Duane Nichols via MVCAC < mvcac@osenergy.org> wrote:
*Comments on Longview Power, Past, Present, and Future; MVCAC, March 12, 2019*
The Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition was an outgrowth of the issues raised by Longview Power and its impacts on the regional environment including the public health, air quality, roads, etc.
We participated in the Public Hearing on the PILOT Agreement held in ca. 2003 here in the Court House. We asked representatives of Longview if they would put into writing their promise to use WV coal, their promise to refrain from consuming water from the Mon River for cooling water, and their promise to be a “Zero Discharge” facility. We learned early on that all three of these promises were broken.
Longview elected to use coal from Pennsylvania, although they did use a conveyor belt to avoid extreme truck traffic on the local roads until recently. Trucking of coal there is a severe problem.
Longview decided to use Mon River water in their cooling and other operations, and installed Reverse Osmosis units to purify the river water.
Longview, from the beginning has not been a “Zero Discharge” facility. Their stacks emit large volumes of flue gases containing thousands of tons of carbon dioxide and many other chemicals in lesser quantities. The fly ash and bottom ash are waste discharges from the plant and go into the local environment. Their liquid waste pipeline flows north into Pennsylvania and down into abandoned mine operations, contaminating the water underground.
At the present time, the 300 (plus) heavy diesel trucks per day transport Pennsylvania coal from a Mon River dock up and over a steep unstable county road, thru the Ft. Martin community, up to the Longview Power plant. This road is the subject of severe damages due to the high level of truck traffic and the dangerous condition for auto drivers. Alternatively, the shorter and relatively flat road from the Cumberland Mine would bring this coal directly south from Pennsylvania to the power plant.
The vapor plume from the Longview power plant continues to obscure the western sky for the University High School and all those residents along Bakers Ridge Road, Pt. Marion Road, Stewartstown and the northern Cheat Lake area.
Longview is now proposing to construct a natural-gas-fired power plant in Ft. Martin, and add a solar panel farm nearby. The existing PILOT Agreement now in force represents a public agreement arrived at thru a process of limited public participation. Any modification to this agreement or adoption of any new agreements needs to be developed with the maximum of openness and public participation. A potential tax statement exclusive of a PILOT is a prerequisite.
Greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change can no longer be ignored. The burning of methane, ethane and/or other hydrocarbons must be offset with carbon taxes or other schemes. And, every effort should be made to locate the solar panels in West Virginia, not Pennsylvania.
Duane G. Nichols, Coordinator, Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, Morgantown, WV 26508 _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@osenergy.org http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
Hi Duane - The Longview plant is 20 miles by road from the Cumberland Mine and this route would bring the trucks past many more residences than the 1/2 mile route from the river dock so obviously would be more dangerous and polluting. I don't follow your logic of why this would be preferable? -Sandy Liebhold
On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 9:00 PM Duane Nichols via MVCAC mvcac@osenergy.org wrote:
*Comments on Longview Power, Past, Present, and Future; MVCAC, March 12, 2019*
The Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition was an outgrowth of the issues raised by Longview Power and its impacts on the regional environment including the public health, air quality, roads, etc.
We participated in the Public Hearing on the PILOT Agreement held in ca. 2003 here in the Court House. We asked representatives of Longview if they would put into writing their promise to use WV coal, their promise to refrain from consuming water from the Mon River for cooling water, and their promise to be a “Zero Discharge” facility. We learned early on that all three of these promises were broken.
Longview elected to use coal from Pennsylvania, although they did use a conveyor belt to avoid extreme truck traffic on the local roads until recently. Trucking of coal there is a severe problem.
Longview decided to use Mon River water in their cooling and other operations, and installed Reverse Osmosis units to purify the river water.
Longview, from the beginning has not been a “Zero Discharge” facility. Their stacks emit large volumes of flue gases containing thousands of tons of carbon dioxide and many other chemicals in lesser quantities. The fly ash and bottom ash are waste discharges from the plant and go into the local environment. Their liquid waste pipeline flows north into Pennsylvania and down into abandoned mine operations, contaminating the water underground.
At the present time, the 300 (plus) heavy diesel trucks per day transport Pennsylvania coal from a Mon River dock up and over a steep unstable county road, thru the Ft. Martin community, up to the Longview Power plant. This road is the subject of severe damages due to the high level of truck traffic and the dangerous condition for auto drivers. Alternatively, the shorter and relatively flat road from the Cumberland Mine would bring this coal directly south from Pennsylvania to the power plant.
The vapor plume from the Longview power plant continues to obscure the western sky for the University High School and all those residents along Bakers Ridge Road, Pt. Marion Road, Stewartstown and the northern Cheat Lake area.
Longview is now proposing to construct a natural-gas-fired power plant in Ft. Martin, and add a solar panel farm nearby. The existing PILOT Agreement now in force represents a public agreement arrived at thru a process of limited public participation. Any modification to this agreement or adoption of any new agreements needs to be developed with the maximum of openness and public participation. A potential tax statement exclusive of a PILOT is a prerequisite.
Greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change can no longer be ignored. The burning of methane, ethane and/or other hydrocarbons must be offset with carbon taxes or other schemes. And, every effort should be made to locate the solar panels in West Virginia, not Pennsylvania.
Duane G. Nichols, Coordinator, Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, Morgantown, WV 26508 _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@osenergy.org http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
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Andrew Liebhold via MVCAC -
Duane Nichols via MVCAC