Photo courtesy of Photo by Caity Coyne/West Virginia Watch
WHARNCLIFFE, W.Va. — When Sheila Miller sat down at a picnic table at Wharncliffe Park last Thursday, she was armed with a notebook, a pen and numerous questions.
She wanted to know what the environmental and health ramifications would be for two off-grid methane power plants, a data center and an ammonia plant that are proposed to be constructed at the old Twisted Gun Golf Course a few miles from her home.
“I don’t know much about this at all and that worries me,” Miller said. “I like my peace and quiet and now I’m hearing this could really change things. I would have liked to be more informed by the government or the company or whoever else should have informed us so I could know what those changes would be.”
The proposed development — called the Adams Fork Energy project — comes from TransGas and would create the largest natural gas-fueled ammonia plant in the world. The two power plants onsite — which would operate as “microgrids” — would power two new data centers: one at the golf course in Wharncliffe and another near the Mingo-Logan county line at the Harless Industrial Park.