FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 29, 2020
Media Contact: Tim Cywinski, tim.cywinski@sierraclub.org, (540) 272-5358
Statement on State Water Control Board’s Unanimous Approval for Chickahominy Power Plant’s Water Withdrawal Permit
Today, the State Water Control Board, via a 6-0 vote, granted a groundwater withdrawal permit from the overallocated Potomac Aquifer for the Chickahominy Gas Plant. If built, this fracked-gas plant will be located in Charles City County, a community already impacted by a landfill, gas power plant, and a wastewater treatment plant.
Gustavo Angeles, Environmental Justice Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club issued the following statement in response:
“Projects like the Chickahominy Gas Plant continue systemic environmental injustice, forcing vulnerable populations and communities of color to shoulder a disproportionate amount of pollution. Today's unconscionable and unanimous permit decision by the Water Control Board, encouraged by DEQ, is essentially an approval to turn Charles City County into a sacrifice zone. We cannot reach a more equitable future if the citizen review boards, designed to protect Virginians from harmful projects, continue to allow polluters to seek out profits at the expense of people’s health.”