CARBO, Va. – The coal-fired power plant under construction outside St. Paul, Va., was not the first to promise jobs, economic development and prosperity for Southwest Virginia. The same promises were made here 50 years ago when the Clinch River Plant was built.
“The coming of the plant into Southwest Virginia will stimulate other plants to locate in the area and to utilize the vast natural resources. It will mark the beginning of a new era,� said American Electric Power President Philip Sporn at the plant’s groundbreaking on May 16, 1956.
“New industries will increase the population of not only Russell County but the entire area. Salaries to the employees and taxes by these companies will definitely change this section into one of prosperity – the greatest it has ever known.�
Sporn, in words echoed by elected officials and other industry leaders, said at the $55 million coal-fired power plant’s dedication on Nov. 18, 1958, that industries soon to locate in the Clinch River Valley would employ “additional hundreds – perhaps thousands – of people.�
In half a century, the jobs have not materialized, and there is a sharp difference in opinion on whether the company has kept its promises.
The people who live here in the shadow of the smokestacks say the plant’s negative effects go beyond dust and noise. They say it has destroyed their community’s spirit and reduced its numbers, and many claim that there are high numbers of cancer cases among Carbo residents.
In the county seat of Lebanon, however, elected officials say taxes from the plant have paid to educate the county’s children and provide other needed services, as well as jobs and economic development.
Many of those who live in between have mixed feelings – they’re glad for the jobs at the plant, in the mines and on the railroad, but they also wonder about the effect the power plant – one of the state’s top polluters – is having on their families’ health.
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