PA DEP Issues Air Permit for Gas-fired Elec Plant Next to Pot Farm
In early October MDN told you about a second Marcellus gas-fired electric generating plant being planned for Greene County, PA (see 2nd Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant Proposed for Greene County, PA). Hill Top Energy Center, based in Huntington Bay, N.Y., is planning to build a 620 megawatt plant (original story had it wrong, saying 536 MW) on 41 acres of land off Thomas Road in Cumberland Township. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a public hearing in early November about the project. Only 20 people turned up and nobody objected. Last Friday the DEP issued an air quality permit for the project–the last major hurdle before the project can begin. In press coverage of the permit and the project advancing, we discovered one piece of new information: The plant will be built next door to a “medical marijuana operation”–i.e., a pot growing farm. Well now that’s interesting! Workers at the new electric plant can slip out the back door on break and roll a joint for later…
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