Thursday, October 04, 2007

Turmoil in Giles County

Narrows, Virginia

One group wants to let Appalachian Power dump fly ash on a piece of land near the New River as fill material. The land would then be marketed for development. Another group says not in our back yard, or in this case, flood plain. In three weeks, the Department of Environmental Quality will weigh in on the issue. Will the propects of luring in an industry trump the concern to preserve one of Giles County's most marketable features?

3 comments:

Jeremy Peters said...

I'd have to come down on the side in opposition.

It seems like a risky proposal that would put the river and surrounding communities at unnecessary risk. Consider the problems
Anne Arundel County, Maryland has had with a fly ash dump leaching toxins into groundwater. It also is among the concerns with the proposed Dominion power plant in Wise County.

If Giles County is looking to create jobs and attract industry, why not try to get a cement company to locate closer to the plant. It would create jobs, decrease transportation costs of disposing the ash, and create a useable product. And it would spare the river from heavy metal contamination.

One parting thought...AEP looking to pass savings along to customers?? Yeah, right!! This is the same AEP that was forced by the State Corporation Commission to refund money to consumers they had charged..cough..gouged from an interim 25% rate increase!!

Steven said...

It's a rhetorical trick. The promise of jobs. Sheesh. I get tired of hearing companies beat the jobs drum and stand around waiting for politicians to march to it. It's time political leaders had some backbone. How many jobs? 5 or 6? In Glenn Lynn? Please. You can drive 15 more minutes to Princeton. And Rich Creek is full of empty retail space. Come on!

Mathew said...

This can't have effect in actual fact, that's exactly what I think.
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