Company holds public hearing on proposed power plant near Nemacolin
CARMICHAELS – Residents had the chance at a public hearing Thursday to comment on the air-quality permit application for a 620-megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant a company has proposed building near Nemacolin in Cumberland Township.
The public hearing on Hill Top Energy Center’s plant, held by the state Department of Environmental Protection, drew about 20 people to the Carmichaels Area High School auditorium.
It was a quiet night, as only two people in the audience had a question or comment for DEP officials or the company. During a formal comment period, no one offered testimony.
Hill Top Energy, a company based in Huntington Bay, N.Y., plans to construct the plant on a 41-acre site off Thomas Road, property adjacent to the proposed AGRiMED Industries’ medical marijuana growing operation.
Bill Campbell, environmental consultant for Hill Top Energy, said the plant should cause little disruption: natural gas will be transported to the plant by pipeline and electricity will leave it by power line.
“This is a plant that is going to sit back and do its thing and hopefully not have any impact on anyone,” he said.
In regard to emission, Campbell said the plant “will be one of the cleanest gas plants in the country.” The plant is considered a “minor source” in regard to hazardous air pollutants, he said.
However, because this area is designated a “nonattainment area” for ozone, the company must purchase credits for nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compound emissions under a system used to regulate those ozone-causing pollutants.
The credits must be purchased from emission sources that have closed and no longer produce the pollutants, Campbell said. One example might be the closed Hatfield’s Ferry Power Plant.
Two people spoke during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting.
Bryan Snyder of Kirby said he would like to see natural gas burned at the plant be produced in Greene County to benefit the local economy.
“This area is so depressed,” he said. “We need any jobs we can get.”
Campbell said he couldn’t guarantee the gas would be produced locally and its origin would depend on the supplier.
George Rattay of Uniontown, retired business manager for Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Union, Local 354, said he welcomed the plant and the opportunity it presents to provide jobs close to home to many of his union’s members.
“It’s all about jobs and economic development,” Rattay said.
The plant is expected to create nearly 250 construction jobs, about 450 at peak construction, Campbell said. Once in operation, the plant will employ 20 to 30 people.
The company has already received other state permits that are required to begin work and is awaiting final approval of the air-quality permit, Campbell said. Plans for the power plant also still must be reviewed and approved by Cumberland Township Planning Commission.
Raymond Kwok, co-owner of Hill Top Energy, said the company hopes to start work on the plant in the third quarter of 2018 and have the plant in operation in 2021.
DEP will continue to accept comments on the air-quality permit until Nov. 12, DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said. So far, she said, the department has received no comments in regard to the permit application.
Hill Top Energy’s plant is one of two natural gas power plants now planned for Greene County.
APV Renaissance Partners Opco LLC has proposed constructing a 1,000-megawatt plant at the site of the closed Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station in Monongahela Township. Plans for that plant received conditional final approval last month from Greene County Planning Commission