Staff writer
niedbala@observer-reporter.com
The state Department of Environmental Protection has approved a request by Wellington Development LLC to extend the time the company has to construct a waste-coal burning power plant in Nemacolin.
The company's air quality permit expired Tuesday, about three years after being issued by DEP. A provision of the permit, however, also had given Wellington Development five years to construct the plant.
The extension will give the company until December 2011, five years from the date when construction commenced, to complete the work, said Stanley Sears of Wellington Development.
The power plant project has faced numerous legal challenges from environmental groups, first in state courts and now in federal courts.
Sears said, however, the company remains committed to the project and excavation work at the site continues.
Wellington Development will continue to follow the construction schedule it established when work at the site began in December 2006, Sears said.
The latest legal challenge questioned whether work at the site began within the time required by the permit.
The suit alleged the company failed to begin construction by Dec. 21, 2006, 18 months after the air quality permit was issued.
A U.S. District Court judge, however, dismissed the suit in May, saying the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the claims.
The judge noted in his ruling that DEP had inspected the site before Dec. 21, 2006, and concluded construction had commenced under criteria established for plan approval.
The decision has been appealed to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Sears called the continuing appeals regarding the project "frivolous" and added the groups simply want to stop the development of every coal-fired power plant in the country.
If the lawsuit is successful, Sears said, the need for electricity soon will outstrip supply, leading to shortages and blackouts.
Wind power alone can't supply the country's growing needs, he said.
Wellington plans to build the $895 million plant at the former Nemacolin Mine. The 525-megawatt plant is expected to burn more than 3 million tons of waste coal annually from the Nemacolin and nearby coal refuse piles.
The company claims the project will remove millions of tons of coal waste that is now a major source of water pollution from runoff.
It also will create jobs, infuse money into the community and help support the local tax base, the company said.
The environmental groups have maintained the company is not using the best technology available to control emissions and the plant will only contribute to air pollution in the area.