Virginia Air Board Approves Mercury Permit for 585-MW Power Plant

Dominion Virginia Power said last week that a state air permit relating to mercury emissions for its Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center had been amended, and that the permit was now compliant with an order from the Richmond Circuit Court.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) approved the amendment last Wednesday, allowing the issuance of a court order remanding the permit to the department for removal of a condition relating to the establishment of mercury emission levels. Judge Margaret P. Spencer found that condition in violation of the federal Clean Air Act but upheld the permit in all other respects. She found a second permit to be in compliance with the law in all respects, rejecting an effort to have that permit overturned.

"The Virginia DEQ’s efficient handling of our request allows Dominion to maintain its schedule with a power station project that is vital to meeting the future energy needs of Virginia and to helping the economic well-being of the southwest Virginia," said David A. Christian, CEO of Dominion Generation. "Dominion believes that the air permits for the Virginia City project may be the toughest ever issued."

The new permit includes a 4.45-pound-per-year mercury limit that was in the previous permit. But the new permit removes a provision that allowed that limit to be loosened if the plant had trouble meeting it.

In her ruling, Spencer also dismissed six of the seven legal challenges to the two permits made by a group of plaintiffs. Ruling for the plaintiffs on a single issue, the judge held that a so-called "escape hatch" condition could be construed to allow establishment of mercury limits after commencement of construction, in violation of the Clean Air Act. Spencer sent the permit back to the VDEQ, directing it to remove that provision.

Dominion said after Spencer’s ruling that it had no objection to removing the clause from the permit and applied for an amendment. The company said today that it has no plans to appeal the court ruling.

The 585-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center project, which began construction June 2008, is more than 36 percent complete and is scheduled to begin commercial operation in mid-2012.

Source: Dominion Virginia Power