Local residents criticize Dominion’s plan to build new polluting gas plant at open house event
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2024
CONTACT
Glen Besa, Friends of Chesterfield Board Chair and Founder
804-387-6001
Chesterfield Community Demands Answers from Dominion Energy
Local residents criticize Dominion’s plan to build new polluting gas plant at open house event
CHESTERFIELD, VA - Over 70 Chesterfield residents, joined by advocates from across Central Virginia, gathered tonight for a community informational event hosted by Friends of Chesterfield, followed by an open house held by Dominion Energy to discuss its proposed gas plant. Attendees shared concerns over the utility’s choice to rely on costly and polluting infrastructure while failing to meet its energy efficiency targets.
“It's outrageous that neither Dominion Energy nor the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors ever consulted with community residents about the gas plant. From their perspective, it was a done deal from the day it was announced," said Glen Besa, Board Chair of Friends of Chesterfield and a speaker at the community information event. “Moving the proposed gas plant site one mile south changes nothing. These open houses are Dominion's attempt to put lipstick on this pig, but Chesterfield residents aren't buying it. ”
In an attempt to bypass county decision-makers, Dominion Energy recently announced its decision to move the location of its new methane gas power plant to the site of its former coal plant at 500 Coxendale Road. Opponents of the project maintain that the plant is wholly unnecessary, lambasting the monopoly utility for its plan to continue polluting Chesterfield neighborhoods, including those who’ve endured decades of pollution from the coal plant nearby.
Speaking to the concerns of the organization CASA, Rosie Saavedra shared that the gas plant “would harm an entire community, especially our children and seniors, since we will be greatly affected by the pollution and poor air quality that this would cause around us.”
Dr. Susan Miller, retired physician and member of Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action, emphasized the public health risks associated with methane gas plants, stating ”I am here tonight because the methane plant proposed by Dominion is a threat to our families’ health.”
Project opponents are committed to fighting the plant’s zoning determination and will challenge its air permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. They are also advocating for the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors to hold a public hearing to gather input from community members and evaluate the suitability of the proposed site.
Friends of Chesterfield will host its next event on Wednesday, September 25th outside the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors monthly meeting. Learn more and RSVP here.
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Friends of Chesterfield is a community-based group in Chesterfield County dedicated to bringing residents together around the issues that impact our lives. Friends of Chesterfield was formed in 2023 in response to Dominion Energy’s proposed 1000-megawatt methane gas power plant.
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