KINGMAN — More than a dozen Fort Mohave residents banded together and wore red shirts Monday to voice their opposition to a zoning decision made last month by the Mohave County Board of Supervisors related to the construction of a future power plant.
The proposed power plant is a natural gas turbine power plant that would be built by Mojave Electric Cooperative off Antionette Street near the residential area of Sunrise Hills.
MEC already owns the land, which was originally intended to be used as an indoor mineral reclamation plant.
Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Martel said in a presentation to the board on Dec. 4 that the plant will help control energy prices and provide emergency power when needed.
“These new gas facilities will not be large power plants like we have seen in Mohave County in the past. They will be much smaller and have much lower emissions,” Martell said.
The rezoning of the site, the first step in the plant construction process, was approved 4-1 (with Supervisor Ron Gould voting against) at the December board meeting.
But residents of Fort Mojave's Sunset Hills neighborhood asked the board to reopen and reconsider the issue for a variety of reasons.
Although the Sunset Hills development is billed as a “500-acre community stretching from Joy Lane to Boundary Corn Road,” most participating residents live on South Vanderslice Road, Antoinette Avenue, East He lives in the area between Pawnee Trail and South Shelby Road. .
The center of the power plant project is 4,748 feet from the community, and the closest corner of the site is 1,159 feet from neighboring homes, according to resident Mac McKeever.
One of the biggest concerns raised by speakers was the health problems that could be exacerbated or caused by pollutants coming from factories.
“I have asthma. I can't breathe this stuff. If they build a factory, I'll probably have to sell my house,” Robert Beverly said.
Jennifer Attaway, a cancer survivor who lives in the area with her daughter, who is also a cancer survivor, is concerned about the potential release of carcinogens from the factory.
Some people point out that it's not as simple as packing up and moving. Power plants can have a negative impact on real estate values, making them difficult to sell.
One resident explained that the operation of the power plant could cause noise problems, which could further impact residents' quality of life.
“Who wouldn't want to live next to a refrigerator, dishwasher, or generator that's running every night or whenever they're enjoying their backyard or pool,” Kelly Levbem says.
Several residents were also upset by what they believed to be false statements made by plant supporters at the previous meeting.
Some accused MEC of inflating the list of supporters without making it clear that they were employees of MEC. Some said they were able to cross-reference their identities through the MEC's website.
“At the meeting last month, a lot of people came together and said they were in favor of this project. They were all from Bullhead City,” Gerald Meyer said.
Another resident, Carol Hooker, pointed out that Sunset Hills would not benefit from the power plant because of nearby Unisource service.
In addition to speaking at the January meeting, change.org A petition to block the construction of the power plant has gathered around 500 signatures.
