Yesterday, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality issued an air quality permit for the state’s first commercial scale coal-to-liquid plant in Mingo County.
TransGas Development, LLC, submitted the permit application in 2008 for a 756,000 gallons-per-day gasoline plant near Wharncliffe. It is estimated the plant will use three million tons of coal per year to convert coal into gasoline. The application to construct the facility has been reviewed by senior staff for more than a year, and was the subject of a public meeting on December 17 in Gilbert, W.Va.
“The security of our nation is one of our greatest priorities, and West Virginia is at the forefront by using one of our domestic natural resources to achieve this goal,” said Gov. Joe Manchin. “I applaud TransGas for their commitment not only to investing in our state with this technology, but also for helping us secure our national energy independence.”
The air quality permit is the only permit the company has applied for at this point. As the project progresses it is likely more permits will be required.
The final permit, along with supporting documentation, is available on the DEP’s website at www.dep.wv.gov\daq.