Press Release: Person Co. Commission Puts Gas Plant Rezoning Back on Agenda, Without Public Comment or Response to Concerns

February 13, 2025 CONTACT Steph Gans, Communications Manager, Clean Water for NC, (609) 802-4126, [email protected] ROXBORO, N.C. — On Feb. 3, The Person County Board of Commissioners voted to table Duke Energy’s application to rezone 297 acres of land near Hyco Lake to industrial use for proposed methane gas power plants.  One reason the board cited was that the public did not have a chance to review the application. That night, public speakers raised impacts of the gas plants on farms, health, and the economy. However, undermining its stated rationale for postponing the decision, the board now plans to take up the rezoning during their Feb. 18 “retreat,” when there will be no opportunity for public input. A large crowd attended the Feb. 3 meeting, mainly to discuss tax re-evaluations. However, the hearing on rezoning of the land near Hyco Lake to industrial use proved quite controversial. All of the commenters at the hearing were concerned about the lack of transparency. Duke’s full rezoning application was submitted after the planning board had already approved sending Duke’s request to the county commissioners. Commenters testified that on the day of the hearing, they could not access the application through the County’s website. The top concerns were about farms, health, and other damaging industries coming to Person County as a result of the rezoning for a gas plant. The plants’ gas would be supplied by the 45-mile, 36-inch diameter T-15 pipeline, proposed to run through nearby land. Pipeline construction or leaks can harm soil quality, drinking water, air quality and destroy more profitable opportunities for landowners. The pipeline is set to run about three-quarters of a mile from Woodland Elementary School, prompting concerns that any leak or accident could be dangerous to children. Microsoft recently bought an industrial mega-site nearby. No information has been shared with the public by the county commissioners or by Microsoft about their plans for the site but residents and advocates are concerned that Microsoft’s plans mirror the corporation’s plans for data centers in Catawba County, close to proposed gas plants. At the Feb. 3 hearing, Juhi Modi, NC Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices, stated, “We know that Microsoft would be an industrial customer, but we don’t know what the site would be used for. I request that the vote to rezone is delayed until the community actually has transparency, and we know what the site would be used for.” After the comments, the crowd loudly objected to a motion to close the public hearing on the topic. In response, Commissioner Puryear said, “Given tonight you’ve heard some concerns regarding that, and I understand there were some technical issues accessing the information, and we want to be as transparent as completely possible, I would entertain a motion of tabling it until our next meeting for further discussion.” When the motion passed 4-1, the crowd applauded. Tracy Sexton, a resident who originally commented at the Feb. 3 meeting, responded to the decision to hold the next vote without public comment. “The commissioners are in a position of power,” Sexton said. “They have the power to help those of us with less power: the citizens of Person County. This is about our health. My comments about not using coal ash in construction, giving us real-time 3rd party readings of what’s going on with the emissions, and making Duke name how many days we’ll be polluted by both the gas and coal plants, the commissioners should take responsibility to use their power wisely for the benefit of the citizens.” Hope Taylor, executive director of Clean for North Carolina, an organization that worked for years with the community around the coal plant for treatment systems and coal ash clean-up, stated, “By scheduling the vote on rezoning at a meeting where the public cannot weigh in, the Person County Commission shows that it never intended to allow public input after review of the zoning application. The commissioners must honor their own Feb. 3 decision, and delay the rezoning vote until the March 3 meeting or later, providing adequate time for public comments, and show that they will be responsive to questions about impacts to health, farms, and by industrial customers like Microsoft.”