A state regulatory board ordered a halt to controversial construction at the Mirant Corporation’s power plant in Alexandria Thursday night. Mirant wants to merge some of the five smokestacks at its coal-fired plant, forcing the emissions out of just two stacks. The move will help the environment, Mirant officials assert, because the emissions will move faster, shoot higher into the air and disperse better.
Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board was not convinced, however, that Mirant could do the work without a construction permit. On Thursday the board voted 3-1 that a permit was needed and ordered the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to perform “enforcement action” so no further construction occurs.
Mirant had announced in August it was going ahead with the controversial work without waiting for a determination on the need for a permit from the board.
Mirant officials decided to start construction after three independent lawyers advised them that a construction permit wasn’t necessary, Debra Bolton, Mirant’s assistant general counsel and vice president, told The Examiner in August.
Mirant has a short opportunity to do the work now, Bolton said in August. The work will require some outages, and less power is needed in the fall, she said.
Jeff Holmstead, an environmental lawyer representing Mirant, asked the board to grant the construction permit Thursday, but was told the board will consider it at its next meeting in October.
