Fully half of Virginia is drained by Chesapeake Bay rivers, and two-thirds of the state's population lives within the Bay watershed. From the farm fields of the Shenandoah Valley to the pinewoods of the Eastern Shore, for most Virginians the Bay is as close as the nearest creek or stream.

SURRY POWER PLANT

Power Plant Will Harm Bay

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CBF Report Finds Surry Coal-Fired Power Plant would increase Mercury and Nitrogen pollution across Virginia.

Watch video: Residents protest over power plant emissions pollution.

See a map of Mercury impaired waters near the proposed site.

Did you know that eight of Virginia's 18 largest mercury polluters are concentrated within a 60-mile radius of the proposed ODEC plant? See the map (pdf)

Read the Army Corps' decision to conduct a full EIS.

Get the facts about the proposed Surry County Power Plant.
 

A coal-fired power plant proposed for Surry County, Va., would worsen pollution of the James River and the Chesapeake Bay, CBF has concluded.

According to figures released by the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), the plant would add 1.9 million more pounds of nitrogen pollution, 118 more pounds of mercury pollution, and 14.6 million more tons of carbon dioxide pollution to the air above the Bay.

"This pollution will only worsen the well-documented nitrogen, mercury, and climate change problems already plaguing the Bay," said CBF Virginia Deputy Director Joe Tannery. "That is simply unacceptable."

CBF has called upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to become directly involved in federal environmental impact studies for the plant and for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold additional public hearings in heavily populated Hampton Roads, where plant impacts would be felt by the greatest number of people.

CBF also is urging ODEC to pursue less environmentally damaging alternatives, pointing out that the 2007 Virginia Energy Plan concluded that energy efficiency and conservation measures can provide the quickest, most cost-effective ways to meet Virginia's future energy needs. 

Learn more

02.01.10 - Chesapeake Bay Foundation Urges Dendron to Deny O.D.E.C. Rezoning Request

01.22.10 - Bay Foundation Applauds Isle of Wight for Caution on Coal Plant

12.14.09 - CBF Urges Surry County to Deny O.D.E.C. Rezoning Requests

10.09.09 - CBF Report Finds Surry Coal-Fired Power Plant Would Increase Mercury, Nitrogen Pollution Across Virginia

06.26.09 - CBF: Surry Power Plant Will Harm James River