The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has approved Fundamental Data’s application for an Air Quality Permit for the proposed Ridgeline Power Plant Project between Davis and Thomas. The DEP issued emails to several individuals in the area announcing the approval and notifying the public of an upcoming Public Meeting as part of the second public comment period for the Permit.
The email stated, “A preliminary evaluation has deemed that all State and Federal air quality requirements will be met by the proposed facility.
The DEP also issued a legal notice in the Parsons Advocate June 18th on the issue. The Air Quality Permit Notice outlined the location of the proposed facility, as well as the potential discharge amounts.
“The potential discharge to the following Regulated Air Pollutants will be Volatile Organic Compounds, 44.21 tons per year (TPY); Nitrogen Oxides, 99.35 TPY; Carbon Monoxide, 56.36 TPY; Sulfur Dioxide, 55.89 TPY; Total Particulate Matter, 97.46 TPY; Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter, 71.54 TPY; and Total Hazardous Air Pollutants, 9.70 TPY,” the Notice reads.
A draft Construction Permit for the facility has also been released by the DEP. In the draft, the facility has a Design Capacity of Diesel Truck Unloading of 15,000,000 gallons a year. An Engineering Evaluation Fact Sheet released by the DEP states that the facility is estimated to receive 2,308 diesel trucks a year with 50 employee vehicles a day estimated.
The draft permit also outlines the responsibilities of the company during operation such as monitoring requirements, permitting, testing, record keeping and reporting.
The Fact Sheet outlines the history of the permit, as well as background information and statistics. The Sheet states that the Permit Application did not include information on Data Centers and there is not definitive information on what Fundamental Data’s end game is.
“Due to potential misinformation that has been circulated, it should be stated that Permit Application R13-3713 did not include a data center and was not definitive on the ultimate end user of the power that will be generated from the proposed site,” the Sheet reads.
The Sheet goes on the state that due to the lack of expressed data centers, HB 2014 does not impact the permitting process of the application.
A site inspection was stated to have been conducted in the Sheet. At the inspection, the Sheet says, were representatives from the Department of Air Quality, Fundamental Data and Western Pocahontas Land Company. It does not provide a date for the visit.
The visit information also provides information on the site itself. According to the Sheet, the site will be .75 miles north of the Tucker County Landfill on reclaimed coal mine land, as well as 1.7 air miles from the Davis and Thomas Post Offices. The Sheet claims the closest residence will be 1.1 air miles from the facility.
“However, upon viewing the proposed remote location, it is not anticipated that any noise and/or viewshed issues would be encountered,” the Sheet reads.
The Sheet states that the facility is estimated to use 5.35 Mmscfh per hour when burning natural gas and 32.872 gallons an hour on diesel. The heat emitted from the facility is estimated to be a maximum design heat input of 5.649.6 MMBtu per hour on natural gas and 4,503.4 MMBtu per hour on diesel.
The facility is estimated to release such compounds as sulfur, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde and manganese, the Sheet states with amounts varying depending on the fuel burned.
The estimated annual emission numbers for pollutants is stated under the Sheet. The combustion turbines are estimated to emit 99.35 tons of Nitrogen Oxide a year, as well as 56.36 tons of Carbon Monoxide, 43.84 tons of volatile organic compounds, 58.89 tons of Sulfur Dioxide and 71.44 tons of particulate matter a year.
The Sheet describes that the facility will be powered by combustion turbines equipped with heat recovery steam generators. The turbines are described to be designed to run primarily on natural gas.
“However, the turbines will also be permitted to use diesel as a backup fuel source when necessary,” the Sheet states.
The Sheet also outlines that the facility is designated to operate as a synthetic minor facility. A synthetic minor source is defined by the EPA as, “‘Synthetic minor source” means a source that otherwise has the potential to emit regulated NSR pollutants in amounts that are at or above the thresholds for major sources in 40 CFR 49.167, 40 CFR 52.21 or 40 CFR 71.2, as applicable, but has taken a restriction so that its PTE is less than such amounts for major sources.” The restrictions outlined in the Sheet involve operating limits.
“Restrict the total hours of operation as needed to remain under all major source thresholds,” the Sheet states.
According to the DEP, the proposed facility is slated to begin operation in 2027 and operate 365 days a year.
Opponents to the project include the newly formed group Tucker United. The group have been staging protests and approaching law makers to sign a Resolution opposing the project. Of the local municipalities approached so far, only Davis has signed the Resolution. For more information on Tucker United, visit TuckerUnited.com.
The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy has also launched a fund raising campaign to fight the project. With a goal of $50,000, the group has raised just shy of $6,000. For more information on the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, visit wvhighlands.org.
