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NEW HAVEN -- Several state lawmakers got a look at the new carbon sequestration facility at the Mountaineer Power Plant in Mason County on Tuesday afternoon.

Appalachian Power, an American Electric Power subsidiary, displayed the new facility using a newly-developed "chilled aqueous ammonia process" to capture carbon dioxide from gases generated by the coal-fired power plant on the banks of the Ohio River.

Gary Spitznogle, an engineer overseeing development of the new facility, called it "one of the first efforts to develop technology to capture carbon dioxide efficiently from coal-fired plants."

Spitznogle said workers are looking for leaks and other potential problems. "We expect the plant to be fully functioning by the first part of September," he told legislators.

Brian Sherrick, manager of the plant's carbon dioxide capture and storage project, said that once the project is up and running, gases coming out of flues from the power plant itself will get chilled down to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

The carbon dioxide is then absorbed by ammonia carbonate, which creates slurries from which carbon dioxide gases are extracted and stored underground.

Every two hours, the plant burns about one barge of coal, which contains 1,200 tons, according to the company.

"There is talk in every place in West Virginia and around the world about pollution control," Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, said after the tour. "This shows West Virginia is a leader in cleaning up the atmosphere from carbon dioxide."

Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, said, "I am very impressed with the opportunity to visit a plant like this. What a wonderful opportunity this is.

"When you passed a plant like this 25 or 30 years ago, you saw it spewing and gases and smoke.... This is a wonderful day for West Virginia."

Appalachian Power announced plans to develop the plant in March 2007, then began construction in March 2008.

Later this month, Spitznogle said, AEP plans to apply for federal funds to help expand its carbon control efforts from the U.S. Energy Department's Clean Coal Power Initiative program.

At its new facility, Appalachian Power plans to capture and compress at least 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year underground, then store it underground.

The initial project will cost $73 million and will operate for the next three to five years. If successful, AEP plans to expand its carbon capture efforts.

"This is a subject that is not going to go away," Tomblin said.

AEP has worked on the New Haven project with Alston Power Inc., a company that provides equipment and services to the power-generating industry.

Appalachian Power operates six coal-fired power plants in West Virginia and Virginia, the largest of which is the John Amos Plant in Putnam County. It also operates nine hydro facilities near river dams in the two states, including those located in Montgomery, Marmet and Winfield.

Last year, Appalachian Power burned 12.9 million tons of coal, 7.8 million tons of which came from West Virginia mines.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.