CHARLOTTSVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Fluvanna County’s Planning Commission voted 3-1 Tuesday night to reject approval of a new Tenaska natural gas-fueled electric power plant.
Tenaska was seeking to build a second plant next to its facility on Branch Road, but the commission determined that the plan didn’t align with the county’s comprehensive plan.
In fact, Commissioner Kathleen Kilpatrick said the project concept “indeed contradicts” parts of that plan.
And Kilpatrick and Loretta Johnson Morgan questioned whether the comprehensive plan has kept up with rural pollution issues, some of which opponents of the new Tenaska plant brought up.
Jennifer Ruffner, who presented a petition of more than 8000 residents on behalf of the Fluvanna Horizons Alliance, pointed that out.
“Many of us chose to live in Fluvanna precisely to avoid chronic exposure to industrial scale pollution,” Ruffner said. “We did not choose to live in New York or Los Angeles but chose a rural county with a reasonable expectation of cleaner air, lower cumulative exposure, and land use decisions that reflect that character.”
As expected, plant opponents filled the Carysbrook Performing Arts Center as urged by Fluvanna Horizons, the Community Climate Collaborative, and others.
Some citizens questioned the legitimacy of the decision more than 20 years ago that led to approval of the first plant.
Lake Monticello resident Tracy Smith said, “There was no substantial accord review done for the first Tenaska plant.”
“That wasn’t a minor oversight, and it was a failure to follow state law,” she said. “The only reason Fluvanna residents couldn’t challenge that in court today is because the statute of limitations has run out.”
Smith said she understands the county is doing its due diligence in this case, “But the truth is we shouldn’t have had the first plant to begin with and that mistake has already shaped this community and harmed residents for the last 25 years.
“Now Tenaska is asking to double down.”
Opponents note this project is not in a growth area, and residents already deal with noise from the current plant.
During one of the public input hearings in the past, residents said a low hum could be heard as far as Cunningham Creek Winery about a mile away.
Commissioner Loretta Johnson Morgan was equally incredulous.
“I was surprised we were even asked to do this substantial accord when it wasn’t done on the first one. How did it get passed? No one can explain how it was done,” Morgan said. “And now all of a sudden this time, because they want to build an additional plant, we’re being asked to do this which pretty much I think is a slap in the face to Fluvanna County.”
Planning commission decisions are recommendations that are not binding policy. The ultimate decisions on the plant will be made by the Board of Supervisors.
In fact, the Tuesday evening meeting, which lasted more than five hours, became a joint session with the Board of Supervisors since three supervisors were in attendance and had to officially call a board meeting into session.
