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Morning! We’ve got great turnout today at the VA DEQ board meeting in support of the people of Charles City, who are opposing the construction of a fracked gas power plant. 
Today’s meeting is held at a private country club next to a gated community on the north side of Richmond. Not ideal for public engagement and not great for the people of Charles City who traveled to be here today.
Shoutout to all the #NoACP and #NoMVP organizers who are here today. I see members of @NO_ACP, @vahealers, @GreenNewDealVA, Mothers Out Front, Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice, certainly more.
The presentation appealing for a permit to begin construction is first up.
The board is mandated to take final action on the draft permit today. A board member has asked what penalties exist if the board does not take action. Paul Kugelman is angry, is implying the board will face legal repercussions, refusing to answer further questions.
Kugelman is getting pushback from the board, I can’t see the speakers name but she seems on point. It’s clear there is state pressure to get this passed. The audience is visibly distressed by the push. My understanding is many in the community are just learning about this.
A board member has suggested reopening the public comment period to maintain legal compliance with the statute. This is kind of amazing actually. Board members are organized. GREAT WORK YALL.
The DEQ attorney seems to be representing the applicant, not the DEQ. Board members are disagreeing with counsel that they don’t have the right to reopen public comment. The applicant recognizes that if public comment reopens, the project will be dead.
Again: THE APPLICANT AGREES THAT THE PROJECT WONT WITHSTAND ANOTHER PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.
Some members of the board are arguing public comment has no point because all info has been heard. Seemingly without irony their public comment policy limits speakers to those who have already spoken and prohibits new information.
Side note I believe the earlier speaker inquiring about extending the permit evaluation time was Ignacia Moreno.
Pollutants emitted by the Chickahominy Power Station.
The EPA requested no additional reviews of this station, despite its status as a major pollutant producer. The EPA offered not comments on the modeling done to predict pollutant impact.
It’s almost as though—under Trump—the EPA has significantly reduced capacity and inclination to challenge major corporate projects like this one.
A board member asked if another model for predicting pollutant levels might produce different results. The speaker did not answer, simply states that this model is the best one.
During some operational periods the plant will exceed safety limits for pollutant production: startup, shut down, tuning, and water washes. During these times production exceeds technical control capacity. For some reason this appears to be legal.
Board has asked for clarification on allegations that public informational session meet legal requirements. Someone had literally grabbed the mic from the speaker, preventing him from answering. It’s unbelievable.
DEQ is back on the mic admitting that informational session had only one public attendee and that attendee may not have received a full briefing.
We are now hearing an unbelievably detailed story about all the conversations that ONE individual had with DEQ staff to ensure that individual was fully briefed. The DEQ has made it clear that one person is the litmus test for whether or not the public was fully informed.
This is an incredible illustration of our public oversight gets circumvented. One person attends an informational session. Under corporate pressure, that individual counts as the full burden of public engagement.
Here’s what happened when the full public found out about this. Over 100 comments, over 80% demanding a full board review of the permit. Concerns included local health impact, greenhouse gas production, lack of engagement with Chickahominy tribal members, and more.
Interestingly the DEQ agreed with some of the comments and revised pollutant production limits in response. To be clear: this means the DEQ agrees original assessment was flawed but is still not submitting the full permit for further comment or additional review.
One concern about the proposed pollutant production at this station is that it will interact with pollutant production from industrial sources in Hopewell. I can’t say this enough: if you’re not paying attention to Petersburg and Hopewell then you’re missing a lot. A. Lot.
If approved, this plant could produce up to 6.5 million tons of CO2 annually. It would be the largest producer in the state.
Apologies for the break in the thread. Deleted an error in data.
It’s amazing to watch public officials who are just openly advocating on behalf of private polluters, against their colleagues and against public process.
If anyone is Facebook live-ing this, highly recommend.
Anyway, the current conversation that is marking men in suits apoplectic is the best argument against carbon offset allowances I have ever seen. Men with money buy the rights to poison our air. Those rights generate them profit, allowing them mire rights to pollute.
These dudes are livid this isn’t satisfying Ignacia Moreno, who is very patiently talking through this DEQ reps desperate attempts to cut her off.
And here we go. DEQ is responding to public health concerns simply by noting that emissions will be within legal limits. Board recognizes the surrounding area does already show adverse effects. “The DEQ is only charged with measuring compliance with max emissions.”
Mike Dowd is addressing environmental justice. This is the apoplectic man who interrupts board members and grabs the mic from his colleagues to defend fracked gas power stations, so im not hopeful.
Oh man not even one of the worst plants in the nation! Why are we even worried then?!
Board is noting that public comment was limited to technical comments only, thereby limiting public input. At every stage, public engagement on public and environmental concerns was silenced here.
This is amazing actually. DEQ was reading the full statute to prove they are technical legal compliance with regard to public wellness, doing so proves they aren’t in compliance with public engagement. Public comment on all public issues in the statute was explicitly excluded.
Mike Dowd of DEQ is now reading, with dramatic tone, all the ways the plant is regulated for public interest. He seems genuinely sad for the plant and tired of the public. Inconveniences include noise and landscaping regulation.
While we all no doubt grieve for the corporate entity appealing for permission to become the largest CO2 producer in the state for having to conform to public regulation of its lawns, I suspect it’s investors will survive, in part because they live outside the pollutant zone.
Chickahominy tribe sent a letter. No one can find it. Tribal chief just stood up to note that the tribe now has federal recognition and must be treated as a state. The tribal council and member ship approved the letter. No word on what the letter says at this time.
The tribe supports the application for the permit. The board is asking to know if that is an official tribal endorsement. Speaker says yes.
Question raised about employment. Plant will provide about 40 permanent jobs to local residents. Board is asking if job training or placement is currently in place, they are not.
Question raised if the property values will be lowered with two gas-fired plants in the area. Speaker says, and I quote, “I don’t believe the values can get much lower than they are.”
Board is moving to take a lunch break before public comment. Presumably, there is no lunch for the many people who have been waiting an hour and 20 minutes to express their concerns about the threats the plant poses to their health and well being.
Mike Dowd is wrapping his presentation up. He is using lack of community engagement in this project as proof there were no public concerns about public health and environmental impact. Reminder: the room is full of people who wish to speak today and have been told they can’t.
Some of the people being told they can’t speak are being told this because they haven’t spoke before. Before they were told they could only speak about technical specifications of the plant.
Dowd: “...on to site suitability.”
Board: “Mr. Dowd, has the DEQ ever found a site to not be suitable?”
Dowd: “No.”
Audience: [applause]
Board: “Mr. Dowd, has the DEQ ever found a site to not be suitable?”
Dowd: “No.”
Audience: [applause]
Dowd: it is not the job of the DEQ to second guess the SCC on the question of our need for electricity.
Dowd begins to read Northam’s executive order on environmental justice. Someone near me: “was the governor in black face when he wrote this?”
Board questions if the DEQ reached out to African American leaders or communities in the area to consult on local impact. Dowd responds “in a way but not directly.” Goes on to say it was determined this was “not necessary.”
Dowd continues that if you “google local churches” there is “no way to know which ones are black.” As he explains why no outreach was then made to black communities in the area, attorneys for the permit applicants squad up to talk this through.
Dowd says residents knew about the project. Residents in the room speak out in protest. Dowd implies people who didn’t know don’t live there.
Yet another reason funding census outreach matters y’all. We are not currently funding census outreach, which would give us a more accurate read if populations disproportionately affected by racist environmental policy.
Side note! I wondered who this guy is who works for DEQ but represents corporate interests. He’s an attorney who used to represent utility companies. Yup.
We’re breaking for lunch.
This thread picks up here:
