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Conservation Group Opposes W. Va. Hydroelectric Plant
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An environmental conservation group is opposing a $1.2 billion hydroelectric plant project in West Virginia on claims that it will threaten wildlife and hurt tourism.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the Friends of Blackwater organization said the Big Run Pump Storage Hydro Project would harm the Monongahela National Forest.
The group wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying the plant would be a blow to the “recreation economy” in Tucker County.
According to plans submitted to the commission, the project would be located on land owned by Western Pocahontas Properties and the forest and involve building a pump-storage hydroelectric generating facility with two reservoirs.
FreedomWorks LLC, the company planning the project, says it is in the public interest because it would create a way to store extra energy.