Report on Coal Ash Hearing #2

Nate Benforado with SELC Addressing Committee

Spent the day today in Richmond for the second meeting of the Joint House/Senate Commerce and Labor Committee meeting on resolving Virginia's coal ash situation.

Dominion Briefing
Dominion was first to the podium.  They briefed the committee on a recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that reversed a Richmond federal judge who held that their Chesapeake Coal Ash landfill was violating the Clean Water Act.  The appellate court held that the trial judge was wrong and that although the landfill was leaking toxic metals, it was not leaking it in a way that violated the Act.

Next, Dominion talked about the status of their request for proposals on coal ash recycling.

• 86 people from 51 firms attended Dominion's initial information session
• 26 suppliers indicated interest in bidding
• They held tours at four sites where 57 people from 23 firms attended
• They received 115 questions and issued 12 clarifications for the bid process
• They ultimately received 12 bids with 2,100 pages of information
• They are currently asking questions of the bidders and then expect to have a report to the legislature by November 15, 2018

Dominion also noted that they are exploring have multiple solutions are multiple sites and not unitary solutions at each site.