Action Alerts

  • MEC Air Permit Hearing Set for August 1

    The North Carolina Division of Air Quality has scheduled a public hearing for Dominion Energy’s air permit application for the proposed Moriah Energy Center (MEC) in Person County, NC. The controversial MEC facility would initially be home to a 25 million liquified natural gas storage tank, with plans for a second 25 million gallon tank in the future.  

    Residents of the communities surrounding the proposed site of the facility have been fighting the proposal since the project was publicly announced in late August, 2023. In February of this year, several residents living closest to the facility filed a lawsuit against the Person County Commissioners, opposing the rezoning of more than 450 acres of land from “rural conservation”, to “general industrial”.  As of now, the rezoning remains paused due to this litigation.  

    Sediment-filled water is seen flowing from the Moriah Energy Center property during a rain.
    Dominion has begun clearing land to prepare for construction at the MEC site. Since that time, unprecedented levels of sediment have been recorded in nearby creeks, which are also home to a number of endangered or threatened aquatic species.

    One of the final hurdles for Dominion is the approval of their air permit application.  The liquefaction process would separate heavy hydrocarbons from the natural gas stream before storage. The heavy hydrocarbon stream would either be routed back to the natural gas pipeline or burned off with flares. The majority of emissions at the facility would come from combustion sources including heaters, generators and flares. Dominion’s own projections suggest that the facility will emit more than 65,000 tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, each year.  The facility would also allow tanker truck loading and unloading of liquid natural gas.

    The air permitting hearing will be held on Wednesday, August 1, 2024 at Vance Granville Civic Center in Henderson, NC.  Members of BREDL’s NoMEC chapter have voiced their displeasure with DEQ regarding the location of the hearing, which is two counties away from the location of the proposed facility. Numerous Person County residents have requested a change of venue, or an additional hearing. At this time, neither a change of venue, nor an additional hearing date has been announced.  

    NoMEC members are asking that DEQ deny Dominion’s air permit application, and that the facility be required to implement safety features that would reduce the threat of a significant leak and explosion.  If you would like to submit a comment to the Division of Air Quality, please email DAQ.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov before August 2. Be sure to include ‘Moriah-Energy.23A’ in the subject line. 

    For more information on NoMEC’s fight against Dominion Energy, please visit www.NoMEC.org.

  • Person County Planning Board Recommends Rezoning for LNG Facility Amid Public Outrage

    Residents of southeastern Person County, NC came to the Person County Office Building auditorium for the November 9 meeting of the Person County Planning Board to voice their concerns about Dominion Energy’s proposed Moriah Energy Center. Dominion came before the board seeking to rezone a 485 acre parcel of land from “rural”, to “industrial”. The proposed facility would initially include one 25 million gallon liquified natural gas storage tank, but plans submitted by Dominion suggest that a second tank could be built there in the future.

    More than 100 people attended the Thursday evening meeting. Prior to the start of a public hearing on the matter, Planning Board Chairman, Barry Walker, announced that 25 people had signed up to speak.

    Of the 25 people who signed up to speak during the hearing, only two speakers spoke in support of approving the rezoning proposal. The overwhelming majority of those who spoke live within 2 miles of the proposed site. Eighty-four year old Lois Brown, who lives about 500 feet from the proposed site of the facility, was the first speaker of the night. Brown, who lives alone, said she was “terrified” when she learned of the project, noting the certainty of noise and light pollution, as well as the potential for accidents.

    Several speakers expressed concerns about the speed at which the process has moved, and the fact that many of those who live closest to the site of the proposed rezoning were only made aware of the project through word of mouth and the newspaper. “I live about 1.8 miles away from the proposed site” said Michael Savino. “I just want you to know that I learned about this by reading the paper, and it sounded like a done deal. I felt kind of stabbed in the back by whoever did these negotiations because they left us out of the process.” Don Ahrens, who lives less than 2 miles from the site, said “I read today in the paper that the Economic Development Commission had been in negotiations [with Dominion] for 18 months. I learned about this on October 30.”

    Others who spoke expressed concerns about safety, protecting the environment and endangered species, property values, and the uncertainty involved with rezoning a wooded rural residential area for heavy industrial use. Ronnie Reaves, said he recently purchased 30 acres of property that border the proposed rezoning area, where he had hoped to build a home. He now has concerns about whether his land will be suitable to build on or sell. “What’s this going to do to the property value, the air quality, the lights that will be on all the time, and so forth? You guys, put yourselves in the shoes of the people that surround this place. Would you want this in your backyard? This is going to kill the resale value of our property. If this goes in, are the commissioners going to lower our taxes to make up for that? We all know they won’t.”

    Chris Clayton, who lives directly across from the proposed site, asked board members, “Would y’all want this in your front yard? Would y’all want to come home to this every day? I have everything that I own right here in my back pocket, in this place. I’ve worked hard for it, and I would hate to see it go away.”

    Andrea Childers, who lives a half mile from the proposed site, questioned why the board would choose to create an “industrial island” in the middle of a rural area. “When the commissioners adopted the current land use agreement, this is clearly not what they had in mind.” She continued, “Economic growth is about attracting jobs and people who will stay in Person County. Not 300 construction jobs that won’t go to Personians.” Following her comments, Childers delivered a petition to the board signed by members of the community.

    Planning Director Chris Bowley and Dominion representatives repeatedly referenced “Guiding Principle 2” of the Roxboro/Person County Joint Comprehensive Land Use Plan as the basis for approving the rezoning application. Guiding Principle 2 is a series of 8 measures geared toward facilitating sustainable economic growth in Roxboro and Person County. A number of speakers, however, questioned the applicant’s failure to adhere to Guiding Principle 1. Guiding Principle One of the Roxboro/Person County Joint Comprehensive Land Use Plan reads as follows:

    Guiding Principle 1: Celebrating Our Rural Character and Lifestyle 

    • Implement growth management policies that direct development to growth areas, helping preserve prime agricultural and sensitive natural areas.
    • Develop tools and identify funding to support partner organization efforts to preserve farmland and forests.
    • Adopt context sensitive development standards (such as “conservation subdivisions”) in prime agricultural / sensitive natural areas.
    • Support the diversification of agricultural related activity to strengthen the financial position and viability of farming.
    • Provide enhanced services for rural communities.

    Vonda Frantz, and other speakers shared a future land use map, which was a part of the county’s land use plan. Based on the maps, the proposed site is well within a dark green area which is designated for “single family and agricultural uses”. The site is several miles away from the light green portions of the map which are designated as “growth areas”.

    The plan’s failure to adhere to the first guiding principle of the agreement, was not addressed in detail by the planning board or Dominion Energy.

    Following the public hearing, planning board member Cynthia Lynch asked numerous questions of Dominion Energy, which focused on how the plant would benefit the people of Person County. The project is expected to create no more than 12 permanent jobs. It remains unclear, however, whether those jobs would ultimately be filled by Person County residents. Multiple speakers noted that the small farms and businesses that they own near the proposed site are far more impactful to the local economy as job creators.

    During Lynch’s questioning, Dominion representatives repeatedly declined to respond when asked approximately how many Person County residents would receive gas from the new facility. Lynch’s motion to reject Dominion’s application, ultimately failed due to not receiving a second. Planning Board member Zakiya James then made a motion to approve Dominion’s application, which passed 5-1.

    The planning board is an advisory committee to the Person County Board of Commissioners. Dominion’s rezoning application will now move on to the Commissioners for approval. A public hearing before the Person County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for December 4th at the Person County Office Building.