Tag: Dominion
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Less Hysteria in the Coal Ash Debate, Please
by James A. Bacon Yeah, I have a problem — a big problem — when people like Marion Kanour, an Episcopal priest from Nelson County and a member of the Knitting Nannas of Virginia, are quoted uncritically in newspaper articles like today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch coverage of an environmental protest. Referring to treated coal-ash wastewater released…
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Report Outlines Gas Pipeline Risks to Rate Payers
by James A. Bacon The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), designed to bring low-price natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica shale fields to Virginia and North Carolina, pose significant risks to electric utility rate payers and landowners along their routes, argues a new study, “Risks Associated with Natural Gas Pipeline Expansion…
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Treated Coal Ash Water Flows Today
by James A. Bacon After months of controversy, Dominion Virginia Power will start draining today more than 200 million gallons of water from its coal ash ponds at the Bremo Power Station. “We’re treating to levels that will be fully protective of the river,” Jason Williams, the environmental manager in charge of the project, told a…
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Once in Four Lifetimes
The conservative assumptions behind Virginia water-discharge permits, says DEQ, reduce the odds of harming aquatic wildlife to fewer than three incidents in a thousand years. by James A. Bacon Earlier this year Dominion Virginia Power was granted permits to drain water from coal ash ponds at its Bremo and Possum Point power stations, treat the water to remove heavy metals,…
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Surry-Skiffes Transmission Line Inches Closer to Approval
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not yet granted Dominion Virginia Power a permit to build a transmission line across a historic stretch of the James River, but it has rejected the argument advanced by foes who argued that electricity demand in the Virginia Peninsula could be met by other means. “Additional analysis further demonstrates…
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Coal Ash Mishmash
Dominion has narrowed its differences with environmental groups over how to dispose of coal ash, but the conflict is not easily resolved, and uncertainty about the final outcome prevails. by James A. Bacon Dominion Virginia Power has settled disagreements with two foes over its plans to discharge coal ash wastewater from its Possum Point and Bremo power…
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Dominion OK with Clean Power Plan
Dominion Virginia Power filed an amicus brief Friday in the national lawsuit against the Clean Power Plan arguing that “compliance is feasible.” While the brief wasn’t a full-throated endorsement of the Obama administration plan, Dominion, parent company of Dominion Virginia Power, did not join opponents in trying to derail it. The lawsuit, which challenges the constitutionality…
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SCC Approves Greensville Gas Plant
by James A. Bacon The State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved yesterday Dominion Virginia Power’s filing to build a $1.3 billion natural gas-powered power station in Greensville County. The power station will generate 1,588 megawatts of electricity, upping Dominion’s reliance on natural gas to 39% of its energy mix by 2020. Construction, expected to begin later this…
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Riverkeepers, Dominion Spar Over Year-Old Release of Coal Ash Water
by James A. Bacon The Dumfries Town Council is still calling for a criminal investigation into Dominion Virginia Power’s release of untreated coal ash water into Quantico Creek last spring, reports InsideNova. After a presentation by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network March 1, the council voted unanimously to ask the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to look into…
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Dominion Still Facing Opposition on Possum Point Coal Ash Plan
As a follow up to my reporting yesterday… Dominion Virginia Power may have settled disagreements with some foes of its coal-ash disposal plans, but it still will have the state of Maryland to contend with. Prince William County withdrew its appeal of the wastewater discharge permit from Dominion’s Possum Point power station in exchange for…
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Dominion, James River Association Reach Understanding on Coal Ash
by James A. Bacon Dominion Virginia Power has reached a settlement with the James River Association regarding the discharge of treated coal-ash wastewater into the James River, and the river-keeper group, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, has agreed not to appeal Dominion’s wastewater permit approved last month. For the most part, the agreement…
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Drinkable Water for Humans — or Fish?
by James A. Bacon State regulators have taken heat recently for permits they issued Dominion Virginia Power to release treated wastewater from coal-ash ponds into the James River and Quantico Creek. The controversy has played out in the news as the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed an appeal to contest the permit and as protesters organized by No…
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More Questions than Answers on Coal-Ash Waste Water Discharges
by James A. Bacon A crowd estimated at 2oo strong by the Richmond Times-Dispatch (and 700 by the protesters themselves) gathered at the state Capitol grounds Saturday to denounce the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for granting Dominion Virginia Power permits to discharge treated coal-ash waste water into Quantico Creek and the James River. Chanting “Coal…
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How Clean Is Clean Enough?
Regulations for cleaning up Virginia’s coal ash ponds are much stricter — and more expensive –than the old rules. But do the new standards do enough to protect water quality? by James A. Bacon Two years ago, few Virginians had any idea that coal ash posed a threat to the environment. Then in February 2014…
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Clean Power Plan Stalled, Green Energy Still Viable
by James A. Bacon The U.S. Supreme Court has halted implementation of the Clean Power Plan until challenges to its constitutionality can be resolved, creating uncertainty at the state level, including here in Virginia, on how to proceed. The high court gave no explanation for its stay, but foes of the plan, which would compel electric power…