By: Lydia Crawley The Parsons Advocate
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Office of Legal Services has issued a letter to Fundamental Data LLC regarding their response to the DEP’s request for additional justification for redaction in the public version of the Air Quality Permit for the proposed power plant slated for construction between Davis and Thomas.
In a letter to Fundamental Data LLC dated May 12th, Chief, Office of Legal Services for the DEP, C. Scott Driver issued the DEP’s determination on the matter. In short, the redaction will stand.
“It is therefore the WVDEP’s determination that the information claimed by Fundamental Data, LLC as CBI in Permit Application R13-3713 satisfies the necessary requirements to be deemed confidential and will be maintained as such,” the document states.
The letter further goes on the reiterate the number of public comments and concerns the DEP continues to receive concerning the project and the redacted information.
“…the WVDEP has received a significant number of comments from concerned citizens. Accordingly, the WVDEP encourages sensitivity to those concerns and the exercise of transparency to the greatest extent possible regarding information not claimed as confidential,” the letter states.
The request for additional information was triggered by an influx of public comment on the project and concern by the public over the heavily redacted document. The DEP Office of Legal Services issued a letter to Fundamental Data’s Casey Chapman dated April 25th on the issue. Chapman issued his response in a five page letter dated May the 7th.
