‘People’s Hearing’ held by Chesterfield residents against Dominion Energy’s proposed natural gas plant

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Controversy continues to ensue over the construction of Dominion Energy's proposed natural gas plant -- the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC) -- as those against the site hosted a meeting Tuesday night. Chesterfield County community group Friends of Chesterfield held a "People's Hearing" at Thomas Dale High School to voice their concerns on Tuesday, Oct. 29. According to the group, this meeting is in response to the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors' failure to provide it with a public hearing on the matter. PREVIOUS: ‘The People’s Hearing’: A group against Dominion Energy’s Chesterfield gas plant to meet Tuesday "The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors is turning a blind eye by refusing to conduct the investigations to determine whether a site in Chesterfield County is suitable for this plant," said Nicole Martin, President of the Chesterfield Branch of the NAACP. Alongside Chesterfield residents, meeting attendees included community organizations, lawmakers and students. "Low-income families, including children and elders, face harm from additional combustion from fossil gas --that's including hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds," said Mary Finley-Brook, Chesterfield resident and associate professor at the University of Richmond. "Dominion Energy is not concerned about community safety — there has not been a comprehensive risk assessment for this project, in spite of the possibility of gas leaks, fires or explosions." Testimonials were taken both by video and on the stage of the high school's west campus auditorium. "Such emissions threaten to further degrade our already polarized air quality," said Chesterfield resident Carol Fisher. PREVIOUS: Dominion Energy chooses controversial Chesterfield site for new gas plant “We do not need to choose between progress and public health," added Maria Alvarado, of Chesterfield's CASA--Court Appointed Special Advocate. "There are better, cleaner ways to meet our energy needs that don’t involve sacrificing our families.” The group believes that the board should move forward with a fresh evaluation of where the proposed site is located: the Chesterfield Power Station, a retired coal plant that Dominion Energy said it already has existing permits for. This comes in response to the board’s move in April, providing Dominion Energy with the permission to use the zone based on the approval the board provided back in 2010. 8News spoke with Dominion Energy officials Wednesday, who gave more insight into the project. “We need to have that reliable, always-available energy source -- and that's the natural gas facility at Chesterfield," said Jeremy Slayton, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy. "During periods of peak demand -- [such as the] hottest days of the year, coldest days of the year -- we [would] have that facility, which is ready to come on at a moment's notice, to keep the lights on for our customers so that they can go about continuing their days and living their lives.” In response to concerns about using the Chesterfield Power Station site, Slayton told 8News the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center would bring fewer emissions, which is a step in the positive direction. Slayton also brought up work Dominion Energy has been doing with renewable energy. "We are currently building the largest offshore wind project in the United States -- we have the second largest solar fleet that's currently operating in the U.S. [and] we're planning to build on those exponentially over the course of the next 10 [to] 15 years with more solar, more offshore wind," Slayton said. "[However], offshore wind and solar are both intermittent resources, so the sun's not always going to shine [and] the wind's not always going to blow, so, we need to have that natural gas facility there in the background waiting to come on line when our customers need it the most." Testimonies will be presented to the county board of supervisors and the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality responded to 8News' inquiry and said in an email that an air permit has not been issued for the proposed site. It provided a screenshot of the latest status of the process, along with a link to check on it, which can be found here. (Courtesy: Irina Carlos, Communications Team Lead, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality) 8News also reached out to the county's Board of Supervisors, which is currently working on the inquiry. This is a developing story, stick with 8News both on air and online for the latest.