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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