On Aug. 21, the Maryland State Public Service Commission (PSC) handed down a ruling that approved Mirant Mid-Atlantic’s application to add a new wet-scrubber stack to the Morgantown power generating station.

The wet scrubber will bring Morgantown into compliance with the state’s Healthy Air Act (HAA) of 2006.  But, county residents feel that the state is allowing Mirant to bring the plant into compliance by sacrificing our water sources, bridge safety and by creating a billowing visual blight on that part of Charles County.

Ken Robinson of stopmirant.com and President of Swan Point Property Owners Association (SPPOA) told The Bay Net that the wet scrubbers are an improvement because they will help reduce the amount of pollution emanating from the facility, which he says has been a problem in the Swan Point area that has been evident over the years.

“Some of us have wiped soot from our lawn furniture,” Robinson said.

Barry S. Neuman and Christopher Rizzo of SPPOA attended a final hearing held by the PSC on Aug. 16. In attendance were representatives from Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC, the Office of People’s Counsel, the Maryland Energy Administration and the Department of Natural Resources Power Plant Research Program.

By the end of the hearing, Neuman and Rizzo for Swan Point were the only participants not in agreement over the terms of Mirant’s application.  Their concerns for the plant’s potentially negative impact on the county went unheeded.

Consequently, the other four entities filed a “Non-Unanimous Agreement of Stipulation and Settlement” and cut Swan Point Property Owners Association out of the settlement agreement completely.  It was that settlement agreement which the PSC approved on Aug. 21, stating that benefit of the potential changes to air quality outweighs the concerns expressed by the county’s citizenry.

The terms of the settlement agreement gives interested parties only seven days, until Aug. 29, to file an appeal.  The SPPOA immediately filed a strongly worded notice of opposition with PSC Executive Secretary Roy Bourland.  You can read the document in this pdf file courtesy of stopmirant.com.

“We are disappointed but it was not unexpected.  We are weighing our options in terms of [further] appeal,” said Robinson.

Mirant has no choice but to upgrade the plant’s pollution control. The Maryland General Assembly passed the HAA in April 2006 which requires a reduction in certain pollutant emissions by the year 2010.  No one is upset about cleaner air, but the way Mirant is choosing to clean the air is a source of apprehension within the county.

Also according to Robinson, Mirant is now allowed to take four years, increased from two, to use Charles County’s drinking water for their new wet scrubber.  In its application, Mirant projected that it would draw about 1.66 million gallons of water per day for the scrubbers at the Morgantown site.  By comparison, the 70,000 people in the Waldorf area use 6-7 million gallons per day.  It alone will use as much of our water supply as 10,000 county residents use daily.

Although the plant’s location would allow it to use the Potomac River as a resource, the water contains a level of saline which is costly to remove.  It&rs