Power Plant Calls For 'just Resolution' In Colombia Dispute

Power plant calls for 'just resolution' in Colombia dispute

By Tom Dalton, The Salem News

14th April 2006

The owner of Salem Harbor Station yesterday called for a "just resolution" in the dispute between displaced farmers in Colombia and the owners of a mine where the local power plant buys some of its coal.

"We sympathize with the plight of (Jose Julio Perez) and his village," said Dan Genest, a spokesman for Dominion, the Virginia owner of the Salem plant. "Dominion expects all of its suppliers ... to comply with all of the rules, laws and regulations governing their operations. Dominion urges a just resolution to the issues."

Perez, president of the community council in Tabaco, a village in Colombia that was forced to move because of the mine's expansion, met for about an hour yesterday with Salem Harbor Station General Manager Mike Fitzgerald and other plant representatives.

Perez has accused the mine and the local government in Colombia of human rights abuses, violence, and ignoring environmental and health problems.

Genest did not say if Dominion plans to contact officials in Colombia. "We're going to have a meeting next week to discuss it internally," he said.