PLAN FOR BUENA VISTA POWER PLANT DITCHED

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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993                   TAG: 9303040274
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
PLAN FOR BUENA VISTA POWER PLANT DITCHED
Plans for a $100 million power plant to be built in Buena Vista have been scrapped after Virginia Power canceled a contract to buy its electricity.
LG&E Power Systems of Kentucky on Tuesday blamed a delayed air-pollution permit for its failure to begin construction by Monday, thedeadline set in the Virginia Power contract.
The plant was to have been located near the Shenandoah National Park and the Jefferson National Forest, both extremely sensitive to air pollution, according to environmentalists.
"We are deeply disappointed we could not complete the Buena Vista project, even though [it] was environmentally one of the cleanest solid-fuel projects in the world," said Bob Kennel, Power Systems vice president.
The 60-megawatt cogeneration plant was to have supplied power to Virginia Power and steam to one of Buena Vista's last thriving industries, Georgia Bonded Fibers.
Virginia Power last year said it no longer needed the electricity from the proposed plant because of decreases in projected demand.
The state granted LG&E the necessary air permit last year, but that decision was appealed to the federal Environmental Protection Agency by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of several environmental groups.
The EPA granted the appeal, saying the state never properly considered potential damage from plant emissions to the national park and to wilderness areas in the national forest.
That decision doomed the project because of the March 1 deadline. The process of reviewing the EPA decision by the state could not be done before then.
"There have been mixed feelings about the plant since day one," said Jack Brockenbrough, Buena Vista's mayor and one of the few city officials opposed to the plant.
He said the announcement about the plant's demise had been expected for some time.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB