CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — As Dominion Energy officials work to determine what’s next for a proposed gas plant in Chesterfield County, residents are urging county leaders to hold a public hearing to allow everyone to have their voices heard.
Glen Besa, Chairman of Friends of Chesterfield County, is one of many community members asking where they fit in these plans.
“This gas plant may be the largest source of air pollution since the original coal plant was built by Dominion Energy,” Besa said. “We believe that the citizens of Chesterfield County have a right to be heard on this issue.”
Besa met with other community members at Beulah Recreation Center last Thursday to discuss actions to stop the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC) from being built. Those actions include voicing their concerns at a public hearing, which he said the county hasn’t had.
“The Board of Supervisors have heard from numerous citizens who have spoken out at public meetings,” Besa said. “They’ve gotten literally hundreds of letters and postcards asking for a hearing. So far, they’ve denied us a hearing.”
Besa said a reason for the denial could be that the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors hasn’t signed the air pollution-site suitability form from the Department of Environmental Quality.
In a May 24 letter provided to Besa through a public records request, the Deputy County Administrator told Dominion that the board is “not required to sign the attached suitability form and have not done so in the past.”
In a letter sent to the Board of Supervisors on May 1, Dominion Energy proposed the idea of “potentially siting CERC on the Chesterfield Power Station Property,” which is around six miles away from the currently-proposed site. Dominion Spokesperson Jeremy Slayton said the idea was based on feedback from the community. Dominion provided the following statement to 8News regarding the proposal:
“No decision has been made to change the location of the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC). We are doing our due diligence to determine the feasibility of building CERC at Chesterfield Power Station. This includes the county signed zoning confirmation letter that the CERC is a permitted use of power station property. We are also working with the county on site suitability.
PREVIOUS: Dominion Energy may move proposed natural gas plant to Chesterfield Power Station site
Besa said the time to act is now.
“We’re playing Whack-A-Mole with Dominion Energy in terms of where they want to put this gas plant and, regardless of where they put it, the citizens of Chesterfield County deserve to be heard on this,” said Besa. “Because this could be the largest air pollution source in the county since Dominion’s coal plant 80 years ago.”
Besa said community members plan to show up at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on June 26 to have their voices heard.
8News reached out to the Department of Environmental Quality and Board of Supervisors for more information but hasn’t heard back yet.
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — As Dominion Energy officials work to determine what’s next for a proposed gas plant in Chesterfield County, residents are urging county leaders to hold a public hearing to allow everyone to have their voices heard.
Glen Besa, Chairman of Friends of Chesterfield County, is one of many community members asking where they fit in these plans.
“This gas plant may be the largest source of air pollution since the original coal plant was built by Dominion Energy,” Besa said. “We believe that the citizens of Chesterfield County have a right to be heard on this issue.”
Besa met with other community members at Beulah Recreation Center last Thursday to discuss actions to stop the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC) from being built. Those actions include voicing their concerns at a public hearing, which he said the county hasn’t had.
“The Board of Supervisors have heard from numerous citizens who have spoken out at public meetings,” Besa said. “They’ve gotten literally hundreds of letters and postcards asking for a hearing. So far, they’ve denied us a hearing.”
Besa said a reason for the denial could be that the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors hasn’t signed the air pollution-site suitability form from the Department of Environmental Quality.
In a May 24 letter provided to Besa through a public records request, the Deputy County Administrator told Dominion that the board is “not required to sign the attached suitability form and have not done so in the past.”
In a letter sent to the Board of Supervisors on May 1, Dominion Energy proposed the idea of “potentially siting CERC on the Chesterfield Power Station Property,” which is around six miles away from the currently-proposed site. Dominion Spokesperson Jeremy Slayton said the idea was based on feedback from the community. Dominion provided the following statement to 8News regarding the proposal:
“No decision has been made to change the location of the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC). We are doing our due diligence to determine the feasibility of building CERC at Chesterfield Power Station. This includes the county signed zoning confirmation letter that the CERC is a permitted use of power station property. We are also working with the county on site suitability.
PREVIOUS: Dominion Energy may move proposed natural gas plant to Chesterfield Power Station site
Besa said the time to act is now.
“We’re playing Whack-A-Mole with Dominion Energy in terms of where they want to put this gas plant and, regardless of where they put it, the citizens of Chesterfield County deserve to be heard on this,” said Besa. “Because this could be the largest air pollution source in the county since Dominion’s coal plant 80 years ago.”
Besa said community members plan to show up at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on June 26 to have their voices heard.
8News reached out to the Department of Environmental Quality and Board of Supervisors for more information but hasn’t heard back yet.