A $1.6 billion coal-fired power plant proposed for Wise County is touted by the utility company that wants to build it as an eco-friendly “clean coal” model of environmental design.

But if built to the company’s specifications, it would be one of the biggest air polluters in Virginia, according to documents filed with the state.

The plant would give Dominion Virginia Power an extra 585 megawatts of power, enough to support 146,000 new homes.

The proposed Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center would be allowed to pump more than 12,500 tons — or 25 million pounds — of pollution into the air each year if Dominion Virginia Power goes through with its plans. The pollutants include nitrogen oxides, an ingredient of smog; sulfur dioxide, a major cause of acid rain; and carbon monoxide, which can pose serious breathing problems for those with respiratory ailments.

The emissions are in addition to the 5.3 million tons of carbon dioxide the plant could discharge annually, according to company officials. Carbon dioxide, though recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a greenhouse gas, is not regulated as a pollutant.

Dominion points out, however, that the Wise facility would pollute less than older plants. Dominion is allowed to call the power plant a “clean coal” operation under rules laid down by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is encouraging utilities to use certain coal technologies by giving the technologies the environmentally friendly sticker. 

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-2007-10-20-0146.html