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SALEM TWP. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has approved the air quality plan for the Moxie Freedom LLC natural gas power plant.

The Virginia company proposed to build and operate the 1050-megawatt plant to produce electricity to be distributed to the power grid.

“The application received a thorough review by the Department and we determined that Moxie’s proposal satisfies applicable emissions control requirements, including use of Best Available Control Technology and Lowest Achievable Emission Rate,” Mike Bedrin, director of DEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre, said in a press release Thursday. “This plant will also have emissions testing, record keeping and continuous emission monitoring requirements to assist DEP in monitoring emissions from the facility to help ensure compliance.”

Moxie Freedom submitted its plan almost a year ago. It proposed the use of a combustion gas turbine and a steam turbine to produce electricity from natural gas produced in the Marcellus Shale.

Last November, Salem Township supervisors approved a zoning permit for the $850 million plant to be located on 150 acres along Mingle Inn Road and U.S. Route 11, approximately five miles from the Susquehanna nuclear power plant operated by Talen Energy. Unlike the nuclear power plant, the Moxie Freedom plant will not draw water from the Susquehanna River.

Staff report

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