It was standing room only in Gilbert Thursday night as citizens of southern West Virginia got their chance to voice opinions on the draft air permit for the TransGas Development LLC coal to gasoline plant in Mingo County.

Some 600 people crowded into the Larry Joe Harless Community Center for the 6 pm meeting held by the WV Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Air Quality. DEP engineer Joe Kessler provided an overview of the proposed plant that would convert some 8,300 tons of coal per day into 750,000 gallons of premium ultra-clean gasoline.

Kessler described the control efforts the plant will use to ensure pollution is not emitted including paving all roads, covered storage for coal piles and that except during startup and shut down the plant will not emit any
gases as they are recycled in the system.

Speakers in support of the permit ranged from Buck Harless an entrepreneur from Gilbert to a housewife in Wharncliffe the community closest to the plant site and several regional ministers.

Those speaking in support were a who's who of WV political leaders with comments from Governor Manchin, the leadership of the WV Senate and the House of Delegates and Commissioners from Wayne, Lincoln, Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wyoming, and McDowell Counties along with Mayors from many of the regions towns.

Mr. Harless' opening comment that "The only people opposed to this permit do not pay taxes in Mingo county, do not live in Mingo County, and do not care about the future of Mingo County." was greeted by a standing ovation and set the tone for most of the comments that followed.

According to Mingo County Commissioner John Mark Hubbard "This project is not just something that sprang up, it is part of our comprehensive master plan developed by 65 of our citizens." Hubbard also pointed out that the plant will, "Produce fuel cleaner than any on the market today, drastically improving our environment."

Chairman of the House of Delegates Finance Committee Harry Keith White said "We have to stop being our own worst enemy and start speaking up for what we know is right." he went on to ask the DEP panel to go back to Charleston and tell DEP Secretary Randy Huffman and Governor Manchin that "The people of Mingo County and southern West Virginia want this permit."

Art Kirkendoll, president of the Logan County Commission lamented that he was tired of "Having to attend meetings and rallies to defend the rights of working class southern West Virginians to make a living" noting that "West Virginians do not go to California to protest the grape harvest or the northwest to protest timbering but every time we try to make a little progress guess what happens, they come here." Kirkendoll also asked if we are doing such a bad environmental job, "Why is the Hatfield McCoy Trail system the fastest growing tourist attraction with people coming from every state in the nation and fourteen foreign countries to enjoy the trails built on 300,000 acres of mine and timber land. Tell me what I'm missing here?"

Speaking in Opposition to the permit were a representative of the Coal River Mountain Watch of Raleigh County and a lawyer from the San Francisco based Sierra Club.

Bill Price, the Sierra Club lawyer, stated that Sierra Club opposes the issuance of the permit. He explained that because the application does not specify the particular seam of coal it will use they could not verify the emissions, also that because the brand of the bag houses was not stipulated they could not verify their ability to capture dust, finally he stated because the application did not state the firm that would dispose of the activated carbon used to capture the mercury that they could not be sure that it would not end up in the streams.

Benjamin Cisco a student at Matewan High School stated that those opposed to this permit are from places that have jobs, "We are the ones that need the jobs, they have jobs." he went to say that "we can get education but without jobs that can use it what are we to do?"

John Benedict, the Director of the Division of Air Quality, said that "Once all comments and had been reviewed and any points raised considered a final decision would be made and all parties notified." Benedict added that "I doubt there will be any points raised we have not considered as Joe Kessler is our senior engineer and very thorough."