By David Gaier, spokesman, NRG East Region (File photo)
To the editor:
We at NRG read with interest the Times’ July 23 editorial, “GenOn plant cleanup needs transparency.” While we appreciate the editors’ point of view, in the interest of basic fairness we’d like to clear up some misunderstandings.
When NRG merged with GenOn in December of 2012, we inherited a site that was in the middle of a deactivation process. We have made significant progress at the site, including developing a corrective action plan that was approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in late 2014. The plan received comments from the District Department of the Environment and the National Park Service and we are actively working with those agencies.
We recently responded to a letter from the DDOE that requested additional site characterization work. However, it’s important to understand that neither the DDOE nor VDEQ expressed “fears” about the Corrective Action Plan. That’s not how agencies work. They simply provided comments asking us to do some additional testing and monitoring.
In response to the DDOE, we submitted a revised work plan to that agency on July 20. NRG is not being “mum” or secretive about the details; we are merely following agency protocol. Until DDOE finishes its review and we can analyze its responses, the revised work plan remains a technical proposal. We appreciate the desire for stakeholders to understand the details of the plan, and the DDOE Water Quality Division has said it will distribute the work plan to the City of Alexandria for review and public release when it is final.
There is a process at work here that NRG must follow. NRG has not and will not do merely what “we can get away with.” What we are doing, and will continue to do, is work with the agencies involved to address their requests to their complete satisfaction.
NRG remains committed to doing what it takes to resolve the legacy issues we inherited at this site, so that it eventually can be redeveloped in a way that benefits all stakeholders and the community.
