Dominion Energy

Governor Calls Bipartisan Effort to Clean Coal Ash ‘Historic’

VCU CNS | January 25, 2019

Topics: coal ash, Dominion Energy, environmental safety, General Assembly, Ralph Northam, Scott Surovell, utility bills

Virginians could see an additional $5 charge on their power bills after Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, Republican House Speaker Kirk Cox and a bipartisan group of legislators announced an agreement Thursday to clean up large ponds of toxic coal ash throughout the state.

The $3 billion plan is to remove coal ash — the residue from power plants — from sites near Virginia’s waterways within 15 years. Democratic Sens. Scott Surovell of Fairfax and Amanda Chase of Chesterfield began the team effort to address the problem three years ago. Chase, Surovell and Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, are sponsoring legislation to close the coal ash sites, clean them up and prohibit further construction.

Surovell’s Senate Bill 1533 specifically targets the ponds in Prince William, Chesterfield Fluvanna counties and the city of Chesapeake. Dominion Energy, which operated the coal-fired power plants responsible for the ash, would pass along the cost of the cleanup to customers. The company would be required to use local labor and resources when practical to remove the material.

Chase has filed two bills — SB 1009 and SB 1743 — prohibiting coal ash ponds in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and requiring the closure of existing ponds. She said she is excited to work with her colleagues to solve this problem.

“Clean water is a bipartisan issue,” Chase said. “If you think of the cost of cancer and compare it to $5 a month, that’s nothing.”

If the legislation becomes law, that amount would begin appearing on Dominion customers’ bills starting in 2021.

Virginia has been storing coal ash in ponds since the 1930s. Dominion Energy’s website states that it has 11 coal ash ponds and six coal ash landfills totaling about 27 million cubic yards of coal ash statewide. The plan requires the power company to recycle a minimum of 7 million tons by the 15-year mark.

In a statement, Dominion Energy representative Dan Genest said the company “supports the comprehensive agreement reached by the Governor, legislative leaders, and members of the General Assembly that accomplishes clean closure, minimizes truck traffic, and prudently manages customer costs for the closing of ash ponds at our power stations.”

Northam described the bipartisan agreement as historic and said the plan is a breakthrough in protecting the people and environment of Virginia.

“Our effort will ensure we are disposing of coal ash in the safest, most environmentally responsible way. As they exist now, we run the risk that they could contaminate the drinking water supply, our tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay,” the governor said. “I think the environmental impact far outweighs those costs.”

Northam said 25 percent of the coal ash must be recycled into concrete, asphalt, or other construction materials. Coal ash that isn’t recycled would be moved to landfills certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or into modern pits at the site of power plants whose lining will prevent contamination.

Democratic Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy lives near the Possum Point Power Station, which has four coal ash ponds, in Prince William County. She said she commends her colleagues, constituents and the power company for compromising on a solution.

“Coal ash is something that’s very personal to me, having Dominion’s coal ash pond in my backyard,” Foy said. “Arsenic, lead and mercury needed to be removed from the community so it would not disturb and have poison in our playgrounds and lead in our water.”

The bills addressing the issue have been referred to the Coal Ash Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor.

By Kathleen Shaw, Capital News Service. Photo via CNS

Debate Around Coal Ash Heats Up As General Assembly Considers Environmental Legislation

Sydney Lake | January 24, 2019

Topics: coal ash, Dominion Energy, environmental safety, General Assembly, james river, Ralph Northam, Scott Surovell, State Corporation Commission, utility bills

In the wake of debates about the toxic byproducts of coal, local power plants are taking the heat — and local government is taking a stand through legislation.

Coal ash, the toxic byproduct of its namesake energy source, has been at the forefront of recent environmental debates, despite the deep roots of the problem. What historically served as a lifeline of income for people during the early 20th century has cramped the style of modern-day energy gurus such as Dominion Energy.

Chesterfield Power Station, owned by Dominion, stores 15 million tons of coal ash on its property. The close proximity of their coal ash waste ponds to the James River has caused concern from environmental organizations that a severe flooding event could send the ash spilling into the river, according to a recent RVA Mag article.

Coal ash was classified in 2016 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a “significant hazard,” one that could lead to economic loss, environmental damage, and disruption of lifeline facilities in the areas near the coal ash ponds.

The Virginia General Assembly appears to be addressing this “significant hazard” on Dominion Energy’s property through the introduction of a bill that would require the excavation of coal ash stored in the company’s ponds across the state.

Attempting to find a solution, Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) introduced a bill, SB 1533, that would require Dominion to remove 27 million cubic yards of coal ash, recycle and haul the remains to landfills. Although the bill is at an early stage, currently being considered by the Senate Finance Committee, it has already been backed by Gov. Ralph Northam.

Recycled coal ash can be used in a variety of ways — primarily as a substitute for the creation concrete and plaster-like materials.

“The reality of coal ash is that we use it to make products every day,” Surovell told the committee, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We have this thing sitting in our state that is polluting groundwater, and we can use it to make good Virginia products, create some jobs, and clean up the environment while we’re at it.”

Surovell’s bill would also hold companies like Dominion accountable for the project’s upkeep. The bill requires the owner or operator to submit two annual reports, the bill summary states. The reports would include closure plans, progress, water monitoring results, and beneficial reuse proposals.

The biggest challenge this bill will face is its financing. The project would be paid for by the 2.5 million Dominion ratepayers, which, according to an estimate by State Corporation Commission Deputy Director Patrick Carr, reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, could result in an increase of as much as $3.30 per month on individual customers’ utility bills.

With a short session this year, the pressure will be on to get the bill to pass before mid-February. If little is done to prevent the growth of coal ash within the state, air, water, and ground pollution could become a ordeal, as unlined ash ponds will continue to leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater.

“We can’t allow Dominion to cap 30 million tons of toxic coal ash along the banks of Virginia’s rivers and just leave it there indefinitely,” Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks told RVA Mag. “At some point it will continue to cause more problems, and has already caused documented 30 years of groundwater contamination.”

Chesterfield Coal Ash Ponds Under Scrutiny After Brutal Hurricane Season

Daniel Berti | December 6, 2018

Topics: Chesterfield Power Station, coal ash, Dean Naujoks, Department of Environmental Quality, Dominion Energy, hurricane season, james river, Nate Benforado, Southern Environmental Law Center, Virginia environment

Chesterfield Power Station stores 15 million tons of coal ash on its premises, and environmental groups are worried about it. The coal ash’s close proximity to the James River has caused concern among environmental organizations that a severe flooding event could send the ash spilling into the river. The ash ponds are located less than a half-mile from the riverbank, and only several hundred yards from Dutch Gap Conservation Area, a popular walking and kayaking destination.

According to environmental activist and Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks, the power station’s ash ponds aren’t prepared for the type of flooding seen during Hurricane Florence, which caused an estimated 17 billion dollars in damage and wreaked havoc on North Carolina’s rivers last September.

“Older coal ash ponds, like the lower ash pond at Chesterfield Power Station, are at serious risk of breaching and flooding from hurricane events,” Naujoks said. “Anytime [the James River] floods, water is going to go right to that area.”

North Carolina experienced just such an event during Hurricane Florence when a coal ash landfill at Sutton Power Station in North Carolina was breached by floodwaters, and released 2,000 cubic yards of toxic ash into nearby Sutton Lake and the Cape Fear River. The spill has brought renewed attention to the stability of Virginia’s coal ash ponds.

Chesterfield Power Station has two coal ash ponds on site, as well as newly constructed dry ash landfill. Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Nate Benforado said that the ash pond’s aren’t equipped for severe weather, and expressed concern at the power station’s ability to prevent an ash spill.

“Chesterfield is one of the sites we are very concerned with when it comes to flood risk,” Benforado said. “It’s surrounded by water and marshy areas and could very easily flood, and the fact that it’s basically constructed in an active river system is also very concerning.”

The lower coal ash pond at Chesterfield Power Station was built in 1964 and contains two million tons of coal ash. It was classified in 2016 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a “significant hazard.”

A “significant” hazard rating indicates that, in the event of a dam failure or misoperation, there would be economic loss, environmental damage, and disruption of lifeline facilities, including power and water services, in the areas surrounding the coal ash ponds.

The remaining 13 million tons of coal ash are stored at the power station’s upper ash pond. The EPA determined that the upper ash pond’s hazard potential was not significant.

A representative of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) downplayed the possibility of a coal ash spill at the site. According to the DEQ, both ponds at the power plant “should have had plenty of capacity for a rain event, such as a hurricane.”

Dominion Energy, who owns and operates Chesterfield Power Station, is in the process of closing 11 coal ash ponds across four sites in Virginia. Many of the coal ash ponds will be capped in place, including Chesterfield’s lower ash pond.

According to Dominion’s website, the capping procedure involves “removing, treating, and testing the water stored in the ponds, stabilizing the ash material, and installing a protective, multilayer impermeable cover system, topped with two feet of soil and grass.”

Environmental organizations have scrutinized Dominion’s decision to leave the coal ash in place, saying that the unlined ash ponds will continue to leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater after they’ve been closed.

“We can’t allow Dominion to cap 30 million tons of toxic coal ash along the banks of Virginia’s rivers and just leave it there indefinitely,” Naujoks said. “At some point it will continue to cause more problems, and has already caused documented 30 years of groundwater contamination.”

In March 2018, Dominion began releasing groundwater reports for the coal ash ponds at Chesterfield Power Station, as required by EPA regulations. According to SELC, the reports showed that ten of the wells at the site exceeded the allowable limit for arsenic, in some cases as high as 17 times the limit. Dominion’s data also showed high levels of chemicals like boron and chlorides in the groundwater at Chesterfield Power Station. These reports were online as recently as last month, but Dominion’s website now has a dead link where they once were.

“We found arsenic at incredibly high levels, 282 parts per million right here, which is higher than many Superfund sites that have really bad pollution problems,” Benforado told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2017. According to the EPA, the presence of these chemicals at these levels are among the indicators that coal ash pollutants are seeping into the groundwater in the surrounding area.

“The evidence is very clear that the coal ash ponds at Chesterfield Power Station are leaking into the adjacent waterways,” Benforado said.

A 2017 report issued by researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that recycling Virginia’s coal ash for use in concrete manufacturing is a cost-effective alternative to capping the existing ponds, and would substantially reduce the environmental impact of the ponds on the surrounding ecosystems. Dominion Energy hasn’t offered any alternatives to its current plan, however.

“Dominion wants to leave its coal ash on the banks of rivers where it will continue to threaten our rivers and drinking water supplies,” Naujoks said. “Even if it’s capped we’ll still be at risk of flooding, and it will continue to leak because it will stay in these unlined pits.”

Photos via Southwings

NAACP Condemns Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Governor, and Secretary of Natural Resources

George Copeland, Jr. | October 23, 2018

Topics: ACP, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dominion Energy, environmental justice, Mountain Valley Pipeline, MVP, pipeline resisters, Ralph Northam, virginia state conference naacp

The Virginia State Conference NAACP took state regulators to task for their recent approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). In a press statement released Saturday, the group expressed its concerns with the state’s “refusal to protect our land, water and communities,” with a particular focus on environmental and social costs. The group also focused on specific condemnation for the actions of Governor Ralph Northam and Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew Strickler.

“It is well-documented that the permitting processes are flawed, and yet the projects are being allowed to move forward with reckless abandon to our natural environment and communities,” the statement reads.

This criticism came a day after the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved a permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, giving the go-ahead to Dominion Energy to begin its 300-mile, state-crossing construction. The ACP will join the already-in-progress Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), and will include a compressor station in Buckingham that has seen specific focus and disapproval for its placement in the historic, majority black Union Hill.

In a statement acknowledging the opposition brought against the pipelines’ completion, Strickler said, “We remain dedicated to holding them to the highest environmental standards possible pursuant to state authorities.”

The VSC NAACP weren’t the only group to call out the Northam administration’s actions. The Virginia Pipeline Resisters released their own statement Monday that followed a similar track in their messaging. Along with disapproval for the statements Northam has made through Strickland, both the Pipeline Resisters and VSC NAACP highlighted the negative impact the MVP and ACP’s construction would have on Virginia’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities — with the latter citing a report conducted by the NAACP and CleanAir Task Force on the wide discrepancies in those at risk to toxic chemical emissions in the United States.

Deriding statements from the Governor and Secretary as “riddled with falsehoods,” the Pipeline Resisters wrote that “despite deceptions from the Northam Administration, the State of Virginia’s regulatory entities can and should prevent any further work on the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.”

Northam’s approval of the pipelines has proven to a frequent issue, stretching from the gubernatorial campaign trail to the day of his inauguration and well into 2018.

This year has seen both the pipelines and Dominion Energy facing steady criticism from a wide spectrum of voices, from established Democrats like Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, congressional candidates that include Jennifer Lewis, 6th District, and community pushback that extends beyond Virginia state lines.

Northam himself has seen opposition to the pipelines’ construction from within his own administration. The Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice called on the suspension of permit approval for the MVP and ACP in a letter to Northam in August, citing the potential negative consequences for poor, indigenous, brown and black communities in the Commonwealth. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, meanwhile, has been open on his antipathy to the pipelines, meeting with religious and community leaders to discuss the matter in mid-September.

A public hearing on a permit for the ACP compressor station is set for November 8 and 9 in Union Hill, Buckingham.

A New Phase of Resistance: The Tree Sitters Along the Mountain Valley Pipeline

Madelyne Ashworth | April 30, 2018

Topics: Dominion Energy, environmental protests, Mountain Valley Pipeline, MVP, pipeline protests

As tensions over Dominion Energy’s pipeline projects increase across the state, embittered landowners along the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) path have turned their efforts towards occupation movements.

Theresa “Red” Terry, 61, and daughter Theresa Minor Terry, 30, have been living in treehouse platforms in the woods on their own property since April 2. The Terry property, situated on Bent Mountain, has been in the family for seven generations. Other tree sitters have begun to join their movement throughout the area, such as those who are perched in the woods on Carolyn Reilly’s property, just 30 minutes away.

“Most people [the pipeline] was affecting have been busy doing lawful things for three years and it’s gotten them nowhere,” Red Terry said. “When they gave the permission to cut on my property, that’s when I decided to go up [the tree]. It’s gotten [MVP’s] attention a lot faster than doing things the right way.”

Reilly and the Terrys are now being held in contempt of court, while the Terrys have been charged with three misdemeanors by the state, including impeding work and trespassing. Both Red and Minor Terry are living on separate tree platforms in two different locations, both near streams running through their property. MVP claims their protest has halted work to cut trees, but the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has forbidden MVP to cut trees within 75 feet of any waterway for the season due to the Roanoke logperch spawning season, a local fish protected by the state.

“If I weren’t here, they would cut anyway,” Minor Terry said, whose tree perch is described by state law enforcement as an ‘active crime scene.’ Both state police and Global Security, a private security company hired by MVP, share a tent while camping outside Red and Minor’s tree sits.

“We need to be clear with ourselves that this structure of law enforcement is to serve this company over the power of the people,” said Alex, a tree sitter on the Reilly property who is using a different name to preserve anonymity. “I know that this is a way, at least for a time, to stop the construction. They’re getting scared now.”

The Terrys’ court date is set for tomorrow, while the Reillys are set to appear this Friday at 11am. If convicted, they each could be charged with daily fines for every day they remain living in the trees.

Some photos from RVA Mag’s trip to document the tree sits out west can be found below:

Sign’s Surrouynding Red Terry’s Tree Sit

All photos by Landon Shroder

*Editors Note: Keep an eye out for RVA #33 and Madelyne Ashworth’s in-depth reporting on pipeline resistance throughout the Commonwealth.

Government Agency Denies Seasonal Tree Cutting Extension for Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Madelyne Ashworth | April 5, 2018

Topics: Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Bold Alliance, Dominion, Dominion Energy, Mountain Valley Pipeline, pipelines, Southern Environmental Law Center

In a rare turn of events, last Wednesday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied Dominion Energy’s request to extend seasonal tree cutting along the Atlantic Coast Pipeline path (ACP), the proposed 600-mile natural gas line running from West Virginia through North Carolina.

Dominion Energy was originally given until March 14 of this year to cut trees due to time-of-year felling restrictions intended to protect migratory bird species and endangered species such as warblers, owls, and the Indiana bat. FERC determined that “it would not offer an equal or greater level of protection” to extend their allotted time for tree felling, according to the letter sent to Dominion by FERC’s Division of Gas Director, Richard McGuire.

“FERC made the right decision [Wednesday] by holding ACP developers to their promise to protect migratory birds. Tree-cutting restrictions are a critical part of the measures FERC required to minimize the harmful effects of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline,” Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Greg Buppert said in a statement. “Dominion’s last-minute request to renege on its commitments to environmental protection is another example of the company’s attempt to flex its political muscle for quick rubber-stamp approvals.”

Legal teams and environmental groups like the Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Voices, and the Sierra Club have spent the past several years fighting the pipeline construction. Despite these efforts, Dominion predicts the project’s completion by 2020.

“For any large infrastructure project, we have to plan for contingencies,” Dominion spokesperson Aaron Ruby said. “By rearranging some of our construction plans and shifting some work to 2019, we’ll keep the project on track for completion by the end of next year.”

Back Creek Mountain, Highland County. Photo: The Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative

Thus far, Dominion claims to have cut over 200 miles of trees on the projected pipeline path. This rejection to extend tree felling follows another blatant negligence from Dominion, as the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) cited 15 violations of State Water Control laws and regulations that occurred during the felling along the ACP last month.

“It’s just criminal that they get permission to do this… They just dropped the trees,” said David Seriff, a Virginia landowner. “They got permission to cut the trees, but they don’t actually have permission to start the pipeline yet. It’s a horrible scar across the land.”

Dominion’s sister project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), has also met resistance from landowners and environmental groups. Similarly to the ACP, locals fear sediment pollution in waterways, unstable conditions due to a karst landscape, damage to private lands and to local endangered species, among other concerns. Last month, MVP began tree felling in the Brush Mountain Wilderness area in the Jefferson National Forest, land that is normally protected by the Department of the Interior.

The United States Forest Service granted MVP the permit required to build through the national forest, roadless land normally reserved for wildlife and outdoor recreation.

“Normally, the Forest Service is on our side,” said Kirk Bowers, pipelines program coordinator at the Sierra Club. “When Trump came into office, the entire political situation changed and they caved in to pressure from the oil industry and political interests to approve the permits.”

Groups like the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center continue to take legal action against ACP and MVP. Dominion has permission from FERC to continue tree felling in the fall, once the migratory bird species move on for the winter.