MEDIA ADVISORY
March 6, 2008
Concerned Citizens and Students to Hold Public Hearing for Clean Air Before the Department of Environmental Quality Regional Office
 On Friday afternoon students and youth from Mountain Justice Spring Break will join with local community members to oppose Dominion Power's proposed Wise Co. coal-fired power plant to rally for clean air before the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Regional Office.
The rally will include a march from downtown Abingdon to the DEQ office on Deadmore St. At the office, students and opponents to the plant will deliver letters of dissent and questions for the DEQ, as well as hold an open public hearing on Dominion's draft air permit.
The march will move from the Barter Green Park on West Main St. (Hwy. 58) to the DEQ office at Deadmore St., arriving around 1:00 PM.
The rally is a chance for students who have spent the last week learning about energy and coal issues to walk in solidarity with local residents who would face negative impacts on air, water and environmental health if Dominion's proposed plant were built. The students themselves are concerned about the impact the plant would have on global climate change that would negatively affect the quality of life in their own lives.
"As a student I feel that Dominion Power and Virgina's elected officials aren't concerned with my generation, which would be disproportionately burdened with the unhealthy consequences of this power plant," said James Madison University student Emily Culbertson. "The lifecycle of coal dirties and dries up our water. Young people are standing up to demand something different from the 'business as usual' model, because we no longer have a choice," said Dana Kuhnline, organizer with Student Environmental Action Coalition.
Contact Holly Garrett at 276-475-3842 or 864-617-2801 for more information.
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