Environmental groups oppose Duke Energy's plans

After almost a year of quietly targeting Davie and Davidson counties for the next two installments of their massive methane gas-fired power plant buildout, Duke Energy has officially announced their plans for this harmful development ("Duke Energy plans its largest LNG facility for Davidson County," July 28).

Owning roughly 1,600-acre tracts of land in both Davidson and Davie counties, separated by the Yadkin River, Duke wants to build two massive methane gas-fired power plants, totaling almost 3,000 megawatts, in Davie County, and a massive, untested, first-of-its-kind "enhanced" liquified natural gas facility in Davidson County. Unlike regular liquified natural gas facilities, an ELNG facility would constantly be liquefying and vaporizing gas, creating pollution while doing so. This development would necessitate a roughly 3-mile methane gas pipeline under the Yadkin River to connect the gas plants to the ELNG facility.

Duke is already in the process of building three of the same type of methane gas-fired power plants in Person County and in Anderson County, S.C. What Duke fails to reveal in this announcement is the true impact this type of development will have on the air and water, public health, and environmental resilience of these counties. This development will strip away the natural character of the region, remove areas of Perkins Game Land from preservation and public use, industrialize this stretch of the Yadkin River, and fill the air with health-compromising air pollutants, all at the expense of the ratepayers. Further, the plants would attract more data centers to the area, which will industrialize western Davidson and eastern Davie counties even more.

To cool these power plants, millions of gallons of water could be pulled from the Yadkin River each day. A smaller amount of warmer and less biologically diverse water would be discharged back into the river, potentially causing thermal pollution that could result in increased water temperatures, depletion of dissolved oxygen levels, and suitable conditions for harmful algal bloom growth. Increased levels of healthcompromising air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) would pollute the air for nearby schools, churches and neighborhoods. Increased exposure to these toxic pollutants can lead to worsening asthma, respiratory infections, heart damage, cardiovascular disease, and other health issues. If the air emissions from this infrastructure push the region over federal air quality limits, future economic development could be stunted, preventing new industries that bring more jobs and sustainable growth from coming to the area.

Both counties and the Yadkin River are already under attack by past and future fossil fuel development, including construction of the Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline Project (a massive methane gas pipeline and compressor station expansion in Davidson County), legacy coal ash storage from the Duke Energy Buck Steam Station, and ongoing threats of data center development throughout the watershed. The Yadkin River is already stressed due to increased development and stormwater runoff, industrial agricultural pollution, and the resulting nutrient and sediment pollution. This industrial energy complex will exacerbate the challenges the river faces and change the rich natural and historic character of this section of the Yadkin River. The river has supported enough energy infrastructure over the years, from damming miles of river to support hydroelectric energy to facing coal ash contamination from the Buck Steam Station. Adding these massive gas plants and an untested ELNG facility could be the tipping point for the health and environmental well-being of the region and the river.

Environmental groups across North Carolina, including Yadkin Riverkeeper, Clean Water for North Carolina, Appalachian Voices, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the Southern Environmental Law Center are working in coalition to stop this harmful development. Organizers and experts from these groups are working alongside residents to protect the region from this fossil fuel attack.

This opinion column was sent by a coalition of groups: Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Yadkin Riverkeeper, Clean Water for North Carolina, Appalachian Voices and the Southern Environmental Law Center.