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A public hearing is scheduled for July 7 on the natural gas-fired power plant a Virginia company plans to build in Salem Township.The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will hold the meeting from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Berwick High School for an air quality plan approval submitted by Moxie Freedom Energy LLC.The Vienna, Virginia-based company plans to fuel the 1050-megawatt plant with natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Two other similar plants are under construction by Panda Power Funds of Dallas, Texas in Bradford and Lycoming counties.&#8220;Natural gas-fired power plants are a relatively new concept in this part of the state, so it is important that residents be allowed to voice their opinions on the permitting process with projects like this one,&#8221; Mike Bedrin, director of DEP&#8217;s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre, said in a prepared statement.DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly added that it will not be a question-and-answer session. People will only be allowed to provide testimony, she said.The company submitted an air quality plan approval application to DEP on Oct. 6 of last year, stating it would use gas to fuel two turbines to heat water to create steam and power two other turbines to produce electricity that would be distributed to the power grid. The gas consumed in the operation will produce nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compound emissions and the plant will be designed to minimize them.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 would not draw water from the Susquehanna River.The hearing next month is part of the technical review process, Connolly explained. No one responded to a published notice of the company&#8217;s application in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on Jan. 24 for public comment. A separate notice seeking public comment was published in the Bulletin last month on the air quality plan approval. Comments can be mailed to: Mark Wejkszner, Air Quality Program Manager, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701 or email at mwejkszner@pa.gov.Submissions must be received by 4 p.m. July 17.The plan approval application can be veiwed at the DEP Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, 18701. Please call 570-826-2511.Individuals in need of an accommodation as provided for in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 should contact DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly at 570-826-2035 or through the Pennsylvania AT&amp;T Relay Service at 1-800-654-5984 (TDD).

Public hearing for proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Salem Township