N.C. DEQ hosts public hearing on UNC's application for fuel pellets at cogeneration plant

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Air Quality (DAQ) held a public hearing last Thursday at the Chapel Hill Town Hall to receive comments on UNC’s application to test a new fuel source at its cogeneration facility. 

The cogeneration facility, located on W CameronAve, uses natural gas and coal to create energy. 

In July 2024, the University submitted an application to the DAQ to test “engineered fuel pellets” at the coal plant, according to UNC's energy services webpage. The webpage also says that it aims to "transition away from coal while increasing the use of renewable fuels” by testing the fuel pellets. 

According to the University’s webpage, the pellets are created from pre-consumer paper and plastic scraps that would otherwise end up in landfills. 

UNC Media Relations declined The Daily Tar Heel's request for comment about the University's permit application. 

Executive Board Member of TransparUNCy, Raima Dutt, said TransparUNCy opposes the facility's use of coal.  

“It turns out that if you divide the amount of coal they [the UNC cogeneration facility] burn[s], it's one ton of coal ash per UNC undergrad,” Dutt said. “So obviously it's really detrimental to the environment, and they dump it in South Boston, Virginia, which is just a predominantly Black and poor population.” 

Although the proposal to use fuel pellets looks good on paper, Dutt said, the pellets are extremely detrimental to the environment. The fuel pellets would contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as "forever chemicals.” 

According to a DAQ webpage, the permit would require UNC to perform regular sampling of the pellets for PFAS and test its boilers to determine actual PFAS emissions. Based on an analysis of the pellets, the facility would not emit more than 1.2 pounds of PFAS per year, the website currently says. 

However, Dutt said that 1.2 pounds of PFAS per year has a large impact on the environment. 

“Because they're forever chemicals, they essentially have health hazards that we all need to be concerned about, and they're most going to affect the Chapel Hill community and students nearby,” Dutt said. 

TransparUNCy is advocating for the cogeneration plant to switch to clean energy, Dutt said. 

Dutt added that the cogeneration facility is also located near three of Chapel Hill's historically Black neighborhoods, including Northside, Pine Knolls and Tin Top. 

N.C. Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Caswell, Orange, Person) said he’s been leading a project encouraging Chapel Hill, Orange County and University leaders to begin thinking about how to reimagine the current rail line that runs through Orange County when the University stops burning coal. 

While Meyer did make a request to have the public hearing moved from Hillsborough to Chapel Hill, he did not take a public position during the meeting. 

N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Public Information officer, Shawn Taylor, said the DAQ often makes changes to permits based on public comments. 

Taylor said someone from a different office will review every comment and draft a report that will come out in mid-February. The Director of the DAQ will review this report and decide what to do with the permit, where it will then be accepted, modified with revisions or sent back to the UNC cogeneration facility for revision, Taylor said. 

Taylor said the public comment period will remain open until Jan. 23. 

“Mid to late February, I expect we will have completed our review of the public comments, and we'll be announcing our final action,” Taylor said. 

Leah Nelson, a PhD student in UNC's environment ecology and energy program, and co-chair of the UNC Climate Crisis Committee, said she thinks the fuel pellets will be more harmful than helpful because of the PFAs emissions they will release. 

“We think that it's a false solution—kind of a band aid fix—and not really what we were hoping to see from UNC in terms of reducing emissions,” Nelson said.

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