North Fayette sets meeting on nearby planned power plant
Share with others:
A North Fayette community group will host a public forum on Tuesday to discuss a waste coal-fired power plant that's planned a few miles from the township border.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in Celebrations & More, 8110 Steubenville Pike, Imperial.
Nearly three years ago, neighboring Robinson, Washington County, approved plans for Champion Processing Inc. to build the Beech Hollow Energy Project on land bounded by Route 22 and 980 and Candor and Beech Hollow roads.
The 780-acre site contains about 40 million tons of waste coal, or gob, that would be burned to generate electricity.
Jennifer Iriti, co-chair of the grass-roots group Action for Change Today, said many North Fayette residents were not aware of the project and have questions and concerns the forum could address.
"If there are economic or environmental benefits or concerns, those things don't stop at the county line," Dr. Iriti said. "We're a community that's right next door. There's the potential for the power plant to affect our community, and we haven't been engaged in the discussion."
A question-and-answer session will follow presentations by the ACT group and by power plant watchdog Lisa Graves Marcucci, of the Environmental Integrity Project.
Power plant developer Raymond Bologna declined to attend or send a representative, Dr. Iriti said, but he sent information the group will use to prepare a presentation reflecting the developer's point of view.
"We really think it is important for the community to hear both sides," Dr. Iriti said.
Members of the community group have been advertising the forum at local businesses, inviting public officials, and going door to door to talk to residents.
"There's definitely a ton of interest," Dr. Iriti said. "And mostly what we're finding is people had no idea [about the power plant]."
Jim Morosetti, North Fayette supervisors' chairman, said some residents have expressed concern, especially in the Seabright neighborhood, which is near the county line.
After a core group of about eight ACT members learned about the power plant, they set about researching the project. They read newspaper articles, phoned the head of citizens group Robinson Residents Against the Power Plant, and visited the state Department of Environmental Protection offices to review the project's file.
The research prompted many questions, Dr. Iriti said, such as how the plant would handle fly ash, which is a byproduct of waste coal burning.
The Beech Hollow project has spurred controversy for years, with opponents citing concerns about air and water pollution and supporters touting benefits of job creation and removal of the gob pile.
Portions of the project have been built, but the developer still needs at least one state permit to move forward.
First Published June 18, 2009 5:21 am
