Controversy abounds over the University's most recent requests to increase the amount of fuel used at its main heating facility on Jefferson Park Avenue.
Both state and local officials have voiced their apprehensions about the consequences of burning coal.
In a letter to area neighborhoods, City Councilman Kevin Lynch said he was "very concerned about the potential adverse effects of operating a large coal burning facility in an urban area."
These effects include possible health risks to area residents such as respiratory trouble and environmental effects such as acid rain and smog, Lynch said. They result from the output of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide that are produced by burning coal.
Such unwanted byproducts were inevitable in energy production, University Director of Utilities Cheryl Gomez said.
"Any time you have any kind of human activity, such as driving a car or heating a home, there is an environmental impact," Gomez said.
The increased fuel burning is needed to meet increased demands for energy at the University as a result of a growing population and new building projects, she added.
Concerns with the University's fuel burning came to Lynch's attention at a March 7 discussion at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission meeting. At the meeting, members discussed the University's request to obtain a permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to burn more fuel in the future.
Lynch said he was shocked to learn that the University did not rely on cleaning methods at the plant such as the use of scrubbers or air filtration systems to decrease the amount of harmful chemicals the plant produced.
"It surprised not only me, but everyone in the room," he said.
Lynch's worries are part of an ongoing discussion between the University and the DEQ over improving air quality procedures at the plant.
The University first applied for a permit with the DEQ in 1996 in compliance with state orders, DEQ Senior Environmental Engineer Michael Kiss said.
The DEQ told the University that it first needed to meet state energy regulations of air quality analysis, Kiss said. It would then be possible to examine the effect of plant output and control technology and establish the feasibility of cleaning procedures such as scrubbers.
Under federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration law, though, the University was exempt from these regulations.
"The University's position was that federal rule supercedes state," Kiss said.
The University also took the position that having one central plant, which is what subjected it to state environmental regulations, was more energy efficient and therefore more beneficial to its alternative - having individual boilers providing energy to each University building, Gomez said.
"Because we have a central heating facility with all this heating equipment, it's in the radar," she said.
In October 2001, seeing the continued and growing need for additional fuel, the University reapplied for the permit, she added.
However, the University since withdrew that application.
"Right now it's in limbo," Gomez said.
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