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Alert From Southern
Environmental Law Center's Gudrun Thompson:
Hi All,
The public notice of the Cliffside draft air quality permit ran August
14th's Charlotte Observer (it also appeared in the Rutherford County Daily Courier). It's
pasted below. The draft permit itself is available at http://daq.state.nc.us/permits/psd/cliffside.shtml . I've also attached a statement that SELC released today. Also attached is a letter we just received from Keith Overcash at DAQ (in response to the letter SELC sent on behalf of many of our groups last week) explaining that DAQ has denied our request for multiple public hearings but is giving us an October 31 deadline for written comments (as I've mentioned before, SELC will be working with other interested organizations to submit detailed written comments). DAQ has scheduled only one public hearing, September 18 at 6 pm in Forest City.
We need to tell DAQ as a community that one public hearing is unacceptable. To do this effectively we'll need to turn up the pressure starting NOW on multiple fronts.
We encourage folks from membership organizations to ask their members to contact Gov. Easley and Secretary Ross
and urge them to ask DAQ Director Keith Overcash to schedule more public hearings. (They can contact Keith Overcash directly as well).
Governor Easley: 1-800-662-7952 (valid in North Carolina only), (919)733-4240, or (919)733-5811 (email form available at http://www.governor.state.nc.us/email.asp?to=1 )
DENR Secretary Bill Ross: (919) 715-4102
DAQ Director Keith Overcash: (919) 715-6290 keith.overcash@ncmail.net
A suggested message is something like this (please tailor to your individual organization):
The state air quality agency has scheduled only one public hearing on the draft air quality permit for the proposed Cliffside coal unit, in Forest City near the Cliffside plant. The effects of mercury, smog, soot and global warming pollution from a new dirty coal unit at Cliffside would be felt far beyond Forest City, and a single public hearing will not give interested members of the public in other areas of the state a fair opportunity to be heard. The state should hold additional public hearings at locations around the state to give all North Carolinians a chance to be heard on this controversial proposal.
It would also be great to get the major newspapers to editorialize on need for multiple
hearings.
Thanks!
Gudrun
Gudrun Elise Thompson
Staff Attorney
Southern Environmental Law Center
200 West Franklin St., Suite 330
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
(919) 967-1450
gthompson@selcnc.org
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PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICE ON PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION AND NOTICE FOR PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING APPROVAL OF AN APPLICATION SUBMITTED UNDER THE "REGULATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION OF AIR QUALITY" Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC - Cliffside Steam Station has applied to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality (DAQ), Permits Section (PS) for the approval to construct and operate one new 800 MW supercritical pulverized coal-fired utility boiler at it's facility located at: 573 Duke Power Road (SR 1002) Cliffside, NC 28024 Rutherford County The proposed facility is subject to review and processing under North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC), Title 15A, Sub-Chapter 2D.0530 - Prevention of Significant Deterioration. The facility is defined as a "major stationary source" for the discharge of significant quantities of particulate matter (PM), PM-10, PM-2.5, carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfuric acid mist, and lead. The Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC - Cliffside Steam Station application has been reviewed by the DAQ, Major New Source Review Branch in Raleigh, North Carolina to determine compliance with the requirements of the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission air pollution regulations. A preliminary review, including analysis of the impact of the facility emissions on local air quality, has led to the determination that the project can be approved, and the DAQ air permit issued, if certain permit conditions are net. Rutherford County is classified as an attainment area. Compliance with all ambient air quality standards and the PSD increments is projected. The maximum Class II PSD increment consumption (percent of allowable) from the facility is predicted by computer dispersion modeling to be: PM-10 Particulate Matter, 24-Hour 48% PM-10 Particulate Matter, Annual 35.4% A copy of all data and the application submitted by Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC - Cliffside Steam Station and other material used by the DAQ in making this preliminary determination are available for public inspection at http:\daq.state.nc.us/permits/psd/cliffside.shtml by August 17,2007 or during the normal business hours at the following locations thereafter: Asheville Regional Office 2090 U.S. Highway 70 Swannanoa, NC 28778 NC DENR Division of Air Quality or Major New Source Review Branch 2728 Capital Boulevard Raleigh, NC 27604 Haynes Branch Library P O Box 629 Henrietta, North Carolina 28076-0629 Interested persons are invited to review these materials and to submit written comments. Comments should be addressed to Donald van der Vaart, Ph.D., P.E., Chief, Air Permits Section, Division of Air Quality, North Carolina Department of Environment, and Natural Resources, 1641 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27699-1641 Attention: Permits Section. A public hearing on the proposed modification will be held at 6:00 PM on Tuesday September 18, 2007 at Chase High School located at 1603 Chase High School Road in Forest City. Persons wishing to present oral comments at the hearing should prepare their presentations to be three minutes or less. After considering the comments received and other available information on the project, the DAQ will act on the Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC PSD application. B. Keith Overcash, P.E. Director LP6022451 |
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First Meeting of Sustainable Energy Council of
Western North Carolina
to Convene at Southern Energy Environment Expo Friday August 24, 2007
Media Invited to Attend Opening Press Conference
Who: Individuals
and Representatives of organizations based in
Western North Carolina
who are committed to a sustainable energy future have formed the
Sustainable Energy Council of WNC (SEC-WNC). Council members include:
Avram Friedman of the Canary Coalition, Ned Ryan Doyle of SEEEXPO, Mike
Hopping of Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads, Asheville City
Councilman Bryan Freeborn, Richard Fireman of NC Council of Churches
Interfaith Power and Light, Mary Olson of Nuclear Information and Resource
Service, Josh Tager of Electric Solutions, Inc., and others.
There will also be non-member guest panelists invited by the
Council for their expertise in energy and related issues including Hope
Taylor Guevara of Clean Water for NC and Margie Meares of Clean Air
Community Trust.
What:
The meeting will open with a
Press Conference featuring short statements from each Council Member
and a call to the communities of
Western North Carolina
for additional participation in this new body with a mission to make
energy policy recommendations to decision-makers at every level.
Where: At the
ECO Car Arena, inside the Southern
Energy and Environment Expo (www.seeexpo.com)
located at the
WNC
Agricultural
Center
, opposite the
Asheville
Regional
Airport
. Meeting will be inside the arena with the alternative car exhibit.
When: Friday
August 24 at 11:00 a.m.
Why: We
all need a sustainable energy future – and an energy future that does
not include new coal, other fossil fuels, or new nuclear power plants is
not only desirable, it is possible. The SEC-WNC will help lead the way to
energy independence, energy security, energy prosperity, energy justice
and a healthier region.
The Mission Statement of the SEC of WNC and other
information is posted at: http://www.sec-wnc.org/
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Membership
Renewal Reminder
If you have not already done so,
please renew your annual membership with the Canary Coalition and help keep
the database updated with your most recent contact information. There is
no mandatory annual membership fee, although all donations are gratefully accepted
(and very much needed). Average individual member donations are about $35.
Businesses about $100.
All new and renewing members receive the
interactive membership computer CD. The membership CD is a powerful tool
that aids its owner in being a clean-air activist. It contains a 15-minute
PowerPoint presentation about air quality issues and the Canary Coalition
that can be shown to friends, groups, classrooms, etc. Also on the
membership CD is a library of documents containing information about
important air quality issues. There are also graphics for iron-on
applications, printable membership forms and a link to the Canary
Coalition website.
We will also include a bumper sticker
for any renewal or new membership that includes a donation.
Send updated contact information and
donations to:
The
Canary Coalition
PO
Box 653
Sylva,
NC 28779
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