By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
A second Notice of Appeal has been filed to the Director of the West Virginia Air Quality on behalf of three citizen groups regarding the Air Quality Permit issued to Fundamental Data, LLC for its proposed Ridgeline Power Plant Project between Davis and Thomas.
Tucker United, The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Friends of the Blackwater filed a Notice of Appeal on October 6th through their attorney Brent Easton in documents submitted to the West Virginia Air Quality Board.
The appeal sets to challenge a September 4th ruling by the Air Quality Board. The Notice of Appeal argues that the Board did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. Other arguments include the DEP’s decision to allow omitted and redacted information that prevents the public from “meaningfully commenting on the draft permit.”
“We have a right to know about the air pollutants that will be dumped into our community,” said Nikki Forrester, spokesperson for Tucker United. “We have a right to make meaningful, informed comments before a permit decision is made. We cannot do that when the agency keeps critical information secret.”
This comes as earlier in the year by the Tucker United, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club that sought to appeal the WVDEP’s May 12th decision to accept the extensive redactions in the project’s Air Quality Permit. The appeal was later dismissed by the Air Quality Board, prompting an escalation to the Intermediate Court.
The filing follows on the heels of a separate legal action September 15th when Tucker United, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club filed their own Notice of Appeal to the West Virginia Air Quality Board. In this filing, the groups contend the approval “citing excessive secrecy and the agency’s misclassification of the plant as a ‘synthetic minor source’.”
“West Virginians deserve transparency when it comes to industrial projects that could affect their air, health, and quality of life,” said Marilyn Shoenfeld, president of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. “We’re appealing because decisions about projects of this scale must be made in the open.”
Specific arguments about the synthetic minor source classification by the group include such details as: stack height omission, details that are omitted from the public copies of the permit application due to redactions.
“By concealing basic information, like smokestack height, the redactions make it extremely difficult for the public to understand how harmful pollutants will disperse and concentrate in sensitive areas, like our nearby school and nursing home,” said Forrester. “This secrecy undermines the public’s trust in the WVDEP and denies West Virginians the information they need to protect their own health and safety.”
The redactions, however, do not mean that no one at any level of the process has not seen the information. In the copies of the permit applications that the DEP Air Quality Department have reviewed internally, the information has been unredacted and free for the agency to review. It is only in the publicly available copies of the documents that the redactions occur.
“The WVDEP has had a good track record of allowing for citizens to comment on projects but not in this case,” said Judy Rodd, executive director of Friends of Blackwater. “We are disappointed.”
The DEP has scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Wednesday, November 5th at 8:30 a.m. at their offices located at 601 57th in Charleston. The hearing will not, however be public. The Board will not be entertaining any public questions or comment and the public will not be allowed in the room. Witnesses will be called to testify and representatives from Fundamental Data are anticipated to attend. The hearing is anticipated to encompass the entirety of the day.
Tucker United has planned a rally for the exterior of the building for the day of the hearing from 8 a.m. until noon.
