Commissioners Comment on River Hill

CLEARFIELD – On Tuesday the Clearfield County Commissioners commented on the River Hill Power Plant situation.

It was reported last week that the waste-coal project had reached an impasse. The commissioners said they recently were in a conference call with Sithe, the owners of the project, as well as the Department of Energy.

The commissioners said that what appeared to be a stumbling block for Sithe was that the Dept. of Energy would not guarantee funding with Sithe agreeing to utilize carbon capture technology. The problem, according to the commissioners, is that the technology the Dept. of Energy wants Sithe to utilize is still in the testing phases for smaller-scale operations.

“Whey they want is not commercially available,” said Commissioner Chair John Sobel.

“It’s a shovel-ready project,” said Commissioner Joan Robinson-McMillen, who added that during construction it would provide 1,200 jobs to the area.

Both McMillen and Sobel questioned the Obama administration and its supposed coal-friendly attitude. Sobel also commended Ray Savel and others who have worked toward getting the project off the ground.

Commissioner Mark McCracken said they have not received word from Sithe yet regarding the status of the project. The commissioners hope to have more information to report at their next meeting.

---