To the Editor:

The Old Dominion Electric Cooperative plans to build Virginia’s largest coal-fired electricity producing power plant in Isle of Wight County’s own back yard.

This type of new power plant will cause all types of additional pollution and lessen our quality of air, water and land.

Potential hazards await us regionally, as well as locally. The approximate $4-billion Cypress Creek facility would cause potential negative environmental, public health issues and would be upwind of the Greater Hampton Roads communities, cities and the Chesapeake Bay.

Coal burning emits mercury, which causes brain damage to the yet unborn, and dioxin, which is a known cause of cancer.

Meanwhile, the carbon dioxide and other chemicals produced naturally by the burning of the coal makes smog and will contribute to global warming.

Additionally, fly ash is a solid waste by-product and must be physically contained. Fly ash contains arsenic, cadmium, lead and other toxins. The country of France has become totally nuclear. What has happened in the United States, where nuclear facilities producing electricity have not been built now for 40-plus years?

How foolish can we be as a nation?

We citizens of Greater Hampton Roads must stand together and give our elected government politicians and officials “a resounding NO” to this obvious hazard and potentially devastating method of producing our much-needed electricity.

We must have a source of clean, renewable energy. We must not have a dirty, dangerous energy source.

I ask our local, state and federal leaders to use common sense at all levels of government and take a proactive stand against this vital issue. Our quality of life depends on your decisions.

Nobody wants our air, water and land to become more polluted and dangerous. What do the Clean Bay-Chesapeake Bay Act laws do for helping ensure safety?

We need and deserve clean energy.

Arthur L. DeGroft

Windsor