CANAAN VALLEY — About 350 residents packed a public meeting Monday night regarding an Air Quality Permit for a proposed power plant near the towns of Davis and Thomas.

The state Department of Environmental Protection public meeting had been scheduled to run from 6-8 p.m. Monday, but instead lasted until close to midnight, as about 150 spoke, Davis Mayor Al Tomson told The Inter-Mountain Tuesday.

“The meeting was well-attended and the DEP was very accommodating, respectful and allowed everybody who signed up to speak and actually voice their opinions and provide comments,” Tomson said. “I really respect the DEP Air Quality Division for doing what they did last night.”

The meeting, at Canaan Valley Resort’s Marple Spruce Room, was designed for the DEP to collect public comment about the Air Quality Permit application submitted by Fundamental Data, the company looking to construct the power plant, which is expected to be used to fuel a data center.

Tomson said that everyone who spoke during the meeting was against the proposed 500-acre natural gas power plant.

“It was unanimous last night, everybody that spoke during the meeting spoke against the power plant being constructed in the location being proposed,” Tomson said. “And that’s been noted by the DEP.”

Tomson added that several organizations attended the meeting, including the Tucker County Commission and Tucker United.

“The big takeaway from the meeting was that the DEP has to follow a permitting process, and they have regulations and rules that they have to abide by,” Tomson said. “So far, it looks like Fundamental Data is meeting all the criteria necessary for the permit to eventually be approved.

“What people were asking for at the meeting in particular was for Air Dispersion Modeling to be done. Because right now what you have is the hazardous chemicals listed, the amount of emissions, and the tons per year that will be released into the atmosphere. And that’s meeting the DEP guidelines.”

Tomson said in order for residents who live near the proposed facility to feel safe and actually know how harmful the chemicals are that will be released, Air Dispersion Modeling needs to be done. 

“What’s missing and what the Dispersion Model would analyze is the danger of someone who lives in close proximity to the power plant, as opposed to 10 miles away or 20 miles away,” Tomson said. “Because, with the permit, they are not required to do the Dispersion Modeling, but what people are encouraging them to do is somehow be able to do it anyway.

“It’s timely, it’s costly, but it’s very, very important. And if you want to give people peace of mind that it’s not dangerous to live near this power plant, you have to do the Dispersion Modeling, which actually analyzes it and gives you the results of that analysis.”

In a legal notice published earlier this month, the DEP outlined the potential discharge amounts listed in the Air Quality Report for the project, including: Volatile Organic Compounds, 44.21 tons per year (TPY); Nitrogen Oxides, 99.35 TPY; Carbon Monoxide, 56.36 TPY; Sulfur Dioxide, 55.89 TPY; Total Particulate Matter, 97.46 TPY; Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter, 71.54 TPY; and Total Hazardous Air Pollutants, 9.70 TPY.   

Tomson said to his knowledge there were no representatives from Fundamental Data at Monday’s meeting. The company has yet to have a representative at any of the meetings held in Tucker County to discuss the construction of the power plant.

“This plant really needs to go somewhere else, this is not the right location to build a power plant,” Tomson said. “Blackwater Falls is one of the top attractions in West Virginia and we’d like to keep it that way.

“We are a tourist-based economy in Davis and Thomas and we need people to come here in order to support the livelihood and the people who live here and make a living here. You put a power plant and 100 data centers here and that will change the dynamics of this area completely.”  

The DEP will offer a virtual public meeting Thursday, July 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Written comments can also be submitted at any time until 5 p.m. on July 18. Emails can be sent to Jerry.Williams@wv.gov with the subject line “Fundamental Data Comments.”

“People can make public comments up until July 18 and the DEP will listen, read, and hopefully react to some of the issues,” Tomson said. “The DEP will listen to anybody with this particular issue. It’s not exclusively a Tucker County issue.”