Morrisey, DEP and developer panned by residents at meeting on expected data center

“Given the self-serving, spineless governor that we’ve got,� Davis Mayor Alan Tomson said to DEP officials more than two hours into Monday night’s packed meeting at Canaan Valley Resort State Park, “would you actually listen to him [if] he said you can’t shut this down?�

Tomson was worrying about what he believes could be state interference in support of an air permit application request filed by Purcellville, Virginia-based Fundamental Data LLC for a proposed turbine power facility that has prompted widespread local environmental health worries.

Tomson and other Tucker County residents have been critical of House Bill 2014, requested by Gov. Patrick Morrisey and hailed by the first-year state chief executive as the centerpiece of his economic agenda.

HB 2014 was crafted by state lawmakers to ease in-state data center development in part by prohibiting counties and municipalities from enforcing or adopting ordinances, rules or regulations that limit creation, development or operation of any certified microgrid district or high-impact data center project.

DEP officials indicated Monday night that HB 2014 wouldn’t have changed its permit review approach, which has resulted in a preliminary determination the proposed construction would meet all applicable state rules and federal air quality regulations.

But that was little consolation for dozens of residents at Monday’s meeting wary of Fundamental Data and the DEP amid lingering fears the project would result in unacceptable levels of air pollution, habitat destruction and decline in the area’s tourism-based economy in Davis, Thomas and the Canaan Valley.

Fundamental Data representative Casey Chapman has not responded to requests for comment.

“I’ll just be forthright and say I don’t trust Fundamental Data one bit,� Tomson said.

Concern about 'minor source' designation

Residents decried the DEP’s treatment of the proposed facility as a “minor source,� a category for sources that emit below a certain threshold, drawing less stringent state oversight.

Because Fundamental Data hasn’t reported the proposed facility as having the potential to emit more than 100 tons per year of any regulated pollutant, it’s not defined as a major stationary source. Instead, Fundamental Data has proposed the facility be permitted as a “synthetic minor facility� a designation that includes limits on capacity to remain below major source thresholds.

But the proposed facility comes close to the 100-ton annual threshold with the potential to emit 99.35 tons per year of nitrogen oxides, which can harm the human respiratory system and contribute to acid rain.

The proposed facility also would have the potential to annually emit up to:

• 71.54 tons of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which can pierce the lungs and lead to asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death
• 58.89 tons of sulfur dioxide, which can blow hundreds of miles away and reduce lung function
• 56.36 tons of carbon monoxide, which can cause nausea, fatigue and other flu-like symptoms at very low levels
• 44.21 tons of ozone, which can reduce lung function through long-term exposure

Because the proposed facility isn’t subject to a state rule governing major stationary air pollution sources, air dispersion modeling isn’t required.

“We’re not going to be able to analyze the effects,� Tomson said, lamenting the lack of an air dispersion modeling requirement for the Fundamental Data facility.

State legislative rule governing minor sources allows the DEP to require a source to submit additional information when the agency finds a potential for significant ambient air quality impact.

Virginia native Tyler Nielson, a skier who grew up in the Salt Lake Valley, said he adopted the Canaan Valley for “wintertime adventures� but was diagnosed in 2022 with an inexplicably severe respiratory illness linked to exposure to industrial pollution where he grew up.

Nielson questioned how the DEP could fulfill its statutory mandate to protect human health and safety without air dispersion modeling.

Joe Kessler, New Source Review program manager for the DEP Division of Air Quality, responded by signaling support for the permit application.

“[W]e’re confident, very confident, that this is a properly designed, crafted, draft permit that will protect the synthetic minor status at this proposed facility,� Kessler said.

Site would have vast diesel tank storage capacity 

The facility would be powered by gas-fueled turbines equipped with heat recovery steam generators, but the turbines may need to use diesel as a backup fuel source during gas pipeline failures, according to DEP documents.

“Fundamental Data could avoid a lot of controversy by switching to renewable energy resources,� Jim Kotcon, chair of the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, said after the meeting.

Planned for a location off U.S. 48 near the city of Thomas, the facility would have three 10-million-gallon diesel storage tanks, fueling fire safety concerns at Monday’s meeting. The application indicates there would be haul road activities and equipment leaks.

Operation startup is planned for 2027 or 2028 but subject to change depending on availability of equipment from manufacturers, according to the application filed in March.

The planned site is approximately 1.5 miles from U.S. 48, accessible only through a private gate, per the DEP. The site would be located about .75 miles north of the Tucker County Landfill and would be located on a reclaimed coal mine roughly 1.7 miles from both the Thomas and Davis post offices. The closest residence is approximately 1.1 miles from the proposed facility, according to the DEP.

The DEP noted in an engineering evaluation that the permit application didn’t include a data center and wasn’t definitive regarding “the ultimate end use of the power,� a nondisclosure which the agency said isn’t a cause to deny the permit. But major source and acid rain permits may be required depending on how power is used at the site, the DEP said.

DEP defended approving company confidentiality claims

In its engineering evaluation, the DEP defended its acceptance of Fundamental Data confidentiality claims about air pollution and equipment after having questioned them.

The DEP said it reviewed the response provided by Fundamental Data and determined that there are “nonconfidential alternatives� that include hours of operation tracking, heat input limitations and emission limits.

The application is heavily redacted, causing the DEP to question Fundamental Data’s confidentiality claims about air pollution and equipment before approving them in a decision in May that project challengers have appealed to the West Virginia Air Quality Board, which hears appeals of DEP air quality enforcement decisions.

The state Air Quality Board on June 12 received a notice of appeal challenging the Division of Air Quality’s acceptance of Fundamental Data’s permit application confidentiality claims from Tucker United, a local citizen organization, Friends of Blackwater, a Tucker County-based conservation group, and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.

“[T]he meeting made clear that citizens fear for the worst,� Kotcon said, “and Fundamental Data should release the details of their plans so that citizens can make informed decisions about the impacts to their community.�