Deny Permits for the Pleasants County WV Methanol Facility

Joseph Kessler, Engineer, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Air Quality

For generations, our region's once-pristine air has been poisoned by hazardous emissions from countless factories and extractive operations. Now, West Virginia Methanol wants to construct a brand-new type of facility that would further endanger the air quality of thousands of Ohio River Valley residents. The "Me-OH-to-Go" facility would produce about 1,000 tons of methanol from natural gas every day, spewing a constant, toxic cocktail of emissions into the air we breathe. Click here to tell WVDEP to deny all permits for the WV Methanol facility.

The facility would consist of "three methanol plants with a maximum production capacity of nearly 400,000 tons of methanol per year that would use an average of 36 million cubic feet per day of natural gas," according to an article in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and the site "would also include eight 375,000-gallon methanol storage tanks and a ninth tank of the same size for venting, plus truck and railcar loadouts each using two 400 gallon-per-minute methanol loading racks."

According to the WV Methanol facility's permit application, the plant will annually emit 93 tons of nitrous oxide and 92 tons of carbon monoxide, 54 combined tons of three different kinds of particulate matter, and 11 combined tons of the known or probable human carcinogens formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene and 1,3-butadiene. All of these gases are hazardous toxins linked to a host of public health problems. And air quality experts insist that these emissions levels are likely underestimated.

But because the facility's self-reported nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide emissions are just below the state threshold for designation as a major polluter, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection intends to permit the facility without any air modeling or environmental impact assessments and with zero consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and non-air quality impacts, including potential impacts on property values, traffic, zoning and national energy issues.

This type of modular facility has never before been built in the United States, meaning that industry leaders and regulatory agencies have absolutely no precedent to evaluate the threats to public health and the environment the plant poses. Residents of the Ohio River Valley are being made into guinea pigs for the oil and gas industry's latest experiment. It's time to stand up to state regulators and greedy fossil fuel interests: sign onto our petition to tell the WVDEP to deny permits for the WV Methanol facility! You don't have to be a WV resident to add your name.

To: Joseph Kessler, Engineer, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Air Quality
From: [Your Name]

Dear Mr. Kessler,

The Pleasants County West Virginia Methanol facility endangers the air quality and public health of thousands of Ohio River Valley residents. I urge you to protect our community by denying air permits for this facility.

According to the WV Methanol facility's permit application, the plant will annually emit 93 tons of nitrous oxide and 92 tons of carbon monoxide, 54 combined tons of three different kinds of particulate matter, and 11 combined tons of the known or probable human carcinogens formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene and 1,3-butadiene. All of these gases are hazardous toxins linked to a host of public health problems. And air quality experts insist that these emissions levels are likely underestimated.

Permitting the facility without any air modeling or environmental impact assessments and with zero consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and non-air quality impacts, including potential impacts on property values, traffic, zoning and national energy issues, places local residents at risk. Because this facility is so close to the major polluter threshold, I ask that WVDEP take every precaution and perform a full review of the WV Methanol facility as a major source of emissions before any permits can be granted.

Moreover, this type of modular facility has never before been built in the United States, meaning that there is absolutely no precedent to evaluate the threats to public health and the environment the plant poses.

This is a step backward for West Virginia. The proposed petrochemical buildout and the attendant “Appalachian Storage Hub” risks the health and safety of West Virginians and should be stopped. This facility should be permitted as a major source, and modeling should be done to gain information about the impact to nearby communities. The current permit application must be denied.