By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 9, 2006; VA03
The Federal Aviation Administration has given a green light to a plan to raise the height of smokestacks at the troubled Mirant power generating station in Alexandria, ruling that the change would pose no risk to Reagan National Airport's flight operations.
Mirant officials have said that increasing the height of the plant's five smokestacks by 50 feet could help to remedy the environmental violations that forced the plant to shut down temporarily in August. The plant, on the banks of the Potomac River, provides electricity to hundreds of thousands of customers in the District and Maryland. It does not serve Virginia.
The FAA's ruling, issued last month, dealt a blow to opponents of the plant who have been battling for years to have the facility, a documented polluter, shuttered.
"We're just amazed" at the FAA ruling, said Alexandria City Attorney Ignacio Pessoa. "Surprised and shocked and outraged."
Pessoa said that the city plans to petition the FAA to reconsider its decision, which he and other critics characterized as a reversal of a September determination in which the FAA said taller stacks at the Mirant plant were a "presumed hazard."
"It's a shameless acquiescence to Mirant's operational needs," said Elizabeth Chimento, who has helped to lead the campaign against the 56-year-old plant. "Before, they said [taller stacks] would be a hazard, and they rejected the application. Now they've reversed that decision. That speaks to me that this is really a political decision."
Mirant spokesman Steve Arabia declined to comment for this report except to say that "we're pleased that the FAA has made its final decision."
FAA officials insisted that their Feb. 26 decision was not a reversal. They said that the position they had taken in September was that any increase in stack height would require an investigation to determine whether the change would pose a risk to air travel.
FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said that the agency's latest investigation was undertaken after Mirant asked the agency to consider the impact of extending the tops of the stacks from 214 feet above ground level to 264 feet.
"Some community activists thought we were reversing ourselves, but we're not," Takemoto said. "When an object is a certain height and distance from an airport, it's presumed to be a hazard. That requires us to go in and see if it is a hazard. We looked at this purely in aeronautical terms . . . and whether [the objects] will interfere with navigation. In this case, it was found to be clearly not a hazard."
The FAA has said that Mirant will have to clearly mark and light the stacks if the heights are increased.
U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) was one of many opponents of the plant who signaled victory in August after a study found that some pollutants in the vicinity of the coal-fired plant considerably exceeded national standards. As a result of the study, the plant was voluntarily, temporarily shut down.
"This is the worst stationary source of pollution in the Washington area, and here it is under our noses," Moran said. "The EPA should be giving us some help regardless of the fact the administration is in bed with the power companies. We're disappointed in the FAA's decision, but more importantly, we're frustrated with Mirant continuing to try to reopen this plant."
During the stoppage, Mirant officials told Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality that they might be able to correct some of the plant's problems, possibly by increasing the stack height, which would dilute the polluted downwash from the facility's emissions.
In September, before any changes were made, the plant reopened on a limited basis. In December, the U.S. Department of Energy ordered Mirant to step up operations, saying the plant's energy was necessary to prevent a blackout in the District.
Moran said he took comfort in the planned construction of a power transmission line across the Potomac, which he said would make the Mirant plant unnecessary. Additionally, he said that the Alexandria City Council will have the last word on whether Mirant can raise its stacks, which would require a special-use permit.
"We still have a trump card," Moran said.