Power plant purchase best option, officials say

By Eric Spiegel
For PotomacLocal.com

Lorton, Va. –– The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Supervisor Gerry Hyland hosted the third of three informational sessions on Thursday night regarding the county’s plan to purchase a waste-to-energy facility in Lorton, currently owned and operated by energy company Covanta.

A mixture of county residents, members of the county’s public works department and representatives from Covanta attended the session.  The meeting was held to share information about the waste-to-energy facility; how it works, its contractual and financial workings with the county, and the county’s purchase proposal.

More to the Story: Fairfax County has leased the facility to Covanta for 30 years.

“It is a core function of a government to manage the trash,” Hyland said. “Purchasing this waste-to-energy plant would allow Fairfax County to have more control over its waste management than before.”

Following Hyland was a presentation by Charlie Forbes, the Assistant Director for the Division of Solid Waste Disposal and Resource Recovery.  As he explained, the facility burns solid waste to create steam from boilers that rotate turbines that generate electricity.  That generated electricity is sold back to Dominion Virginia Power with a portion of that money returning to the county.

The presentation then focused on the research done by both the county staff and various consulting groups to project the cost of three options that the county has for the facility: do nothing and let the current lease expire, continue to rent the facility, or to purchase the facility.  Officials say the county’s best option, over time, is to purchase the facility.

After the presentation was a Question and Answer session, where a variety of questions and concerns were raised.  Of these were questions requesting to clarify details of the cost and how it was calculated; whether Covanta is the best company to run the facility and what would happen if another company ran the facility; and any potentially detrimental effects for the surrounding Lorton.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will next hold a public hearing to consider the purchase option for the waste-to-energy facility.  This meeting will be held on February 22 at the Government Center.