PUBLIC HEARING SET ON AIR PERMIT RENEWAL FOR DUKE POWER PLANT

RALEIGH - The N.C. Division of Air Quality has scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 14 on the renewal of the air quality permit for the Duke Cliffside power plant in Rutherford County.

Duke Energy Carolinas has applied for the air permit renewal to continue operating its coal-fired boilers and associated pollution control equipment at the Cliffside Steam Station, 573 Duke Power Road, in Rutherford County. Duke has operated power plants at this site since the early 1940s.

The public hearing will be held from 6-9 p.m. Jan. 14 at Chase High School, 1603 Chase High Road, Forest City. Individuals may register to speak at the hearing and/or submit written comments. Participants will be allowed to speak up to three minutes, but the hearing officer will have discretion to reduce speaking times if it is necessary to accommodate the number of speakers.

Participants also may submit written comments at the hearing or send them to DAQ, postmarked no later than Jan. 22. Written comments should be mailed to Donald van der Vaart, NC Division of Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1641, or e-mailed to donald.vandervaart@ncdenr.gov

The permit renewal concerns all of the air emissions sources at Cliffside, including the existing Units 1-5 and the new Unit 6 Duke is now constructing at the site. DAQ issued a permit for Unit 6 in January 2008 and has held three public hearings on that facility, which is scheduled to begin operating in 2012.

Under the permit, Duke must demonstrate that it can comply with state and federal rules for controlling particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, visible emissions, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. The plant would use various air pollution control devices, including a wet scrubber, electrostatic precipitators and a selective catalytic reduction system. Other permit conditions require the facility operators to:

• Monitor air pollution control equipment.
• Conduct periodic stack testing of emissions from recovery furnaces and boilers annually.
• Operate continuous emission monitors for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and visible emissions.

The permit may be viewed online at http://daq.state.nc.us/cgi-bin/perm_draftrev.cgi or at the following locations: DAQ Asheville Regional Office, 2090 U.S. Highway 70, Swannanoa. The office phone number is (828) 296-4500. It may also be seen at the division's central office in the permits section, Parker Lincoln Building, 2728 Capital Blvd., Raleigh. The central office's phone number is (919) 715-6255.

By law, the DAQ must review permits for compliance with air quality regulations. The division has no authority over zoning, land use or where a company decides to locate a facility. Local governments are responsible for regulating land use. More information about other air quality issues can be found at the DAQ Web site, www.ncair.org.

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