A public hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, 6 p.m. at the Clyde A. Erwin High School Auditorium (60 Lees Creek Road) in Asheville for individuals to comment on the announcement by the Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency (WNCRAQA) of its intent to renew a Title V permit for Duke Energy’s coal-burning electric plant in Arden.
The primary purpose of the Title V permit is to consolidate and identify existing local and federal air quality requirements applicable to the plant and to provide practical methods for determining compliance with these requirements. This permit will be enforceable by the WNCRAQA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and citizens as defined under the Federal Clean Air Act.
Individuals may register to speak at the hearing and/or submit written comments. All written comments received on or prior to April 30 will be considered by the WNCRAQA in making its final decision to issue the Title V permit.
Read the full announcement here:
March 26, 2015 – The Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency (WNCRAQA) announces its intent to renew a Title V permit for Duke Energy Progress, Inc. – Asheville Steam Electric Plant located at 200 CP&L Drive in Arden, North Carolina. The Asheville Steam Electric Plant operates two coal-fired boilers and two natural gas / No. 2 fuel oil-fired, simple-cycle combustion turbines. The primary purpose of the Title V permit is to consolidate and identify existing Local and Federal air quality requirements applicable to the Asheville Steam Electric Plant, and to provide practical methods for determining compliance with these requirements. The permit has been prepared in accordance with the WNCRAQA Air Quality Code, Chapter 17, Section .0500 – “Title V Procedures” and Title V of the Federal Clean Air Act. This permit will be enforceable by the WNCRAQA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and citizens as defined under the Federal Clean Air Act.
WNCRAQA has received a request for a public hearing on the proposed permit. A public hearing has been scheduled for 6 p.m. on April 29 at the Clyde A. Erwin High School Auditorium, 60 Lees Creek Road, Asheville. Individuals may register to speak at the hearing and/or submit written comments. Participants who wish to speak at the hearing should plan to limit their comments to three minutes or less. The hearing officer will have the discretion to limit speaking times, if necessary, to accommodate the number of speakers. Written comments will be accepted until April 30 and can be submitted at the hearing or sent to:
Betsy Brown, Air Quality Supervisor
WNC Regional Air Quality Agency
49 Mt Carmel Rd
Asheville, N.C. 28806 or
betsy.brown@buncombecounty.orgAll comments received on or prior to that date will be considered by the WNCRAQA in making its final decision to issue the Title V permit.
The draft permit, permit application, compliance plan, monitoring and compliance reports, all other relevant supporting materials, and all other materials available to the WNCRAQA that are relevant to the permit decision are available for public review at the following address:
Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Materials are available for review during the hours of 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The office phone number is 828-250-6777.EPA has agreed to treat this draft Title V permit as a proposed Title V permit and to perform its 45-day review provided by the law and regulations concurrently with the public notice period. Although EPA’s 45-day review period will be performed concurrently with the public comment period, the deadline for submitting a citizen petition to object to the EPA Administrator will be determined as if EPA’s 45-day review period is performed after the public comment period has ended (i.e., sequentially). The status regarding EPA’s 45-day review of this project and the deadline for submitting a citizen petition can be found at the following website address:
www.epa.gov/region4/air/permits/northcarolina.htm
After the public comment period and EPA review period have expired, copies of the final Title V permit, as well as public and EPA comments received and any other relevant information, will then be public record available for review during normal business hours at the above address.
For additional information, please contact Betsy Brown, Air Quality Supervisor, at (828) 250-6787 or betsy.brown@buncombecounty.org.
I implore you to revise the permit to be in accordance with the EPA regulation. It seems absurd to allow pollution levels well over 70 times higher than the EPA standards.