
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 20, 1993                   TAG: 9307200519
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COAL-FIRED PLANT IDEA ABANDONED POLLUTION FEARS, LOST CONTRACT CITED

LG&E Power Systems has officially dropped its plans for a Buena Vista power plant that had drawn fire from environmentalists, citizens and two federal agencies because of its potential for causing acid rain and other air pollution.

LG&E withdrew its application for an air permit for the 60-megawatt plant from the Department of Environmental Quality on July 7.

In a letter to the state, LG&E Vice President Robert Kennel said the chief reason for withdrawing the application was that LG&E's contract to supply electricity to Virginia Power had been terminated in March by the utility.

Kennel also cited reports by the Shenandoah National Park and the Jefferson National Forest staffs that the coal-burning plant would degrade air quality in the park and in the James River Face wilderness area.

The so-called findings of adverse impact by the federal agencies "will require considerable resources to attempt to contest, with no obvious chance of success," he wrote.

Kennel was unavailable for comment Monday.

LG&E's contract with the utility stipulated that construction should have started by the end of February, Virginia Power spokesman Billy Byrd said Monday.

But the project was stalled when the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville appealed the state's decision to issue a permit, and again when the federal Environmental Protection Agency sent the permit back to the state for more work.

Byrd said the loss of the Buena Vista project would not affect the amount of power supplied to customers. "Our need for new capacity has dwindled," according to new forecasts of power demand, he said.

by CNB