News:
U.S. SUES ELECTRIC UTILITIES IN UNPRECEDENTED ACTION TO ENFORCE THE CLEAN AIR ACT

Updated on 01/21/05

U.S. EXPANDS CLEAN AIR ACT LAWSUITS AGAINST ELECTRIC UTILITIES

March 3, 2000 - WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As part of an ongoing initiative to stop pollution illegally released from coal-fired power plants, the Justice Department acting on behalf of the EPA, today expanded lawsuits filed against electric utilities in November 1999.

The United States is increasing the number of power plants cited in complaints filed against American Electric Power, Cinergy, and their affiliates. The government also is asking the U.S. District Court in Atlanta for permission to increase the number of power plants and companies cited in its lawsuit against Southern Company
subsidiaries.

"Dirty air effects all of us, and this Administration is committed to pursuing companies that are to blame," said Attorney General Janet Reno. "The actions of these companies compromised our health and degraded our environment."

In November 1999, the United States charged that these companies violated the Clean Air Act at 12 of their power plants by making major modifications to the plants without installing equipment required to control smog, acid rain and soot. The government asserts today that another 12 facilities owned by these defendants also failed to comply with these Clean Air Act requirements.

"Today, we are taking another step in our ongoing enforcement against illegal and harmful levels of air pollution from coal-fired power plants," said EPA Administrator Carol Browner. "Yesterday, we announced a billion-dollar settlement with a Florida utility to cut such emissions. We hope the utilities involved in today's action also will agree to reduce their emissions. Such an action would provide great health benefits to people living in the vicinity of these plants and also to communities located miles downwind. Until then, we will continue to pursue these cases."

The power plants targeted today include five American Electric Power facilities in Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia; two Cinergy plants in Indiana; and five plants in Georgia, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama operated by Southern Company affiliates. Each of these facilities were cited in Notices of Violation that the EPA served on the companies in November 1999.

The United States asserts that these power plants illegally released massive amounts of air pollutants for years, contributing to some of the most severe environmental problems facing the nation today. The plants have operated without the best available emissions-control technology, increasing air pollution near the facilities and far downwind of the plants, along the Eastern Seaboard.

In addition to the companies cited today, the federal government in November 1999 also brought actions against FirstEnergy, Illinois Power, Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company, and Tampa Electric Company, or their affiliates. This enforcement initiative now targets a total of 29 coal-fired power plants located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

On February 29, 2000, the United States announced the first settlement under the initiative. The agreement with Tampa Electric requires the company to significantly reduce emissions from its power plants and pay a $3.5 million fine. Tampa Electric will install permanent emissions-control equipment to meet stringent pollution limits; implement a series of interim pollution-reduction measures to reduce emissions while the permanent controls are installed; and retire pollution emission allowances that Tampa Electric or others could use, or sell to others, to emit additional pollution into the environment.

By filing these unprecedented lawsuits, the United States aims to reduce dramatically the amount of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter that coal-fired power plants release into the atmosphere. The lawsuits seek to force the facilities to install appropriate air pollution control technology to reduce emissions.

The United States will seek significant penalties from all the utilities. The Clean Air Act authorizes civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each day of violation at each power plant prior to January 30, 1997, and $27,500 for each day thereafter.

Power plants existing at the time the Clean Air Act was amended in the late 1970s were "grandfathered." Therefore, utility companies were not required to retrofit those existing plants with new air pollution control equipment, unless the utilities undertook major modifications of those plants. The United States asserts that the utilities each made major modifications to their plants in order to extend their lives and avoid the cost of building new plants. These projects included replacing large portions of the boilers that are the heart of the plants. Many of these actions cost tens of millions of dollars and took years to complete. Under the Clean Air Act, modifications of this kind require companies to install the "best available control technology," but the utilities did not do so.

The lawsuits seek to force the facilities to install appropriate air pollution-control technology to significantly reduce tens of millions of tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter illegally emitted into the air each year. It asserts that collectively, electric utility plants in the United States account for nearly 70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions each year and 30 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions. In addition to detrimental health effects on asthma sufferers, the elderly and children, power plant emissions have been linked to forest degradation, waterway damage, reservoir contamination, and deterioration of stone and copper in buildings.

Sulfur dioxide interacts in the atmosphere to form sulfate aerosols, which can travel long distances through the air and can be inhaled. The inhalation of high levels of sulfate aerosols is associated with increased sickness and mortality from lung disorders, such as asthma and bronchitis.

Nitrogen oxides are major producers of ground-level ozone, or smog, which can decrease lung function -- especially among children who are active outdoors -- and aggravate respiratory problems. Nitrogen oxides are also transformed into nitrogen dioxide, a dangerous pollutant that can constrict lower respiratory passages, create difficulty in breathing, and weaken immune systems.

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides interact in the atmosphere with water and oxygen to form nitric and sulfuric acids, commonly known as acid rain. Acid rain, which also comes in the form of snow or sleet, "acidifies" lakes and streams and damages trees at high elevations. It also accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage.

Particulate matter is often called soot. Breathing high concentrations of particulate matter can damage lung tissue and contribute to cancer and respiratory disease.

A summary of power plant enforcement: utilities, power plants, and their locations follows:


Parent and Operating Cos. Power Plant Names Plant Location

American Electric Power Cardinal Brilliant, OH
Columbus, OH Mitchell Moundsville, WV
(AEP Service Corp., Indiana Michigan Power, Muskingum River Beverly, OH
Ohio Power, Appalachian Power, Philip Sporn New Haven, WV
Cardinal Operating, Central Operating Co. Tanner's Creek Lawrenceburg, IN
Columbus Southern Power Co.) Conesville Coschocton Co., OH
Amos Putnam Co., WV
Kammer Marshall Co., WV
Kanawha River Kanawha, WV
Clinch River Russell Co., VA



Cinergy Beckjord New Richmond, OH
Cincinnati, OH Cayuga Cayuga, IN
(PSI Energy Inc., Cincinnati Gas Gallagher Floyd Co., IN
& Electric Co.) Wabash Vigo Co., IN




FirstEnergy Sammis Jefferson County, OH
Akron, OH
(Ohio Edison, Pennsylvania Power Co.)



Illinois Power Baldwin Baldwin, IL
Decatur, IL



Southern Indiana Gas & F.B. Culley Yankeetown, IN
Electric Company
Evansville, IN



Southern Company Barry Mobile, AL
Atlanta, GA Bowen Cartersville, GA
(Alabama Power Co, Georgia Power Co., Gorgas Jasper, AL
Southern Company Services Miller Birmingham, AL

Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, Savannah Power) Scherer Macon, GA
Kraft Savannah, GA
Watson Harrison Co., MS
Crist Escambia Co., FL
Gaston Shelby Co., AL
Greene County Greene Co., AL




Tampa Electric Company Big Bend Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL Gannon Tampa, FL

Complaints Filed After One of the Largest Enforcement Investigations in EPA History

TEXT OF THE CAROL BROWNER CLEAN AIR ENFORCEMENT PRESS CONFERENCE

November 4, 1999 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department, on behalf of the EPA, today filed seven lawsuits against electric utility companies in the Midwest and South, charging that 17 of the companies' power plants illegally released massive amounts of air pollutants for years and contributed to some of the most severe environmental problems facing the United States today. The EPA today also issued an administrative order against the Tennessee Valley Authority, charging the federal agency with similar violations at seven plants.

The seven separate suits allege that the electric utility companies -- American Electric Power, Cinergy, FirstEnergy, Illinois Power, Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company, Southern Company, Tampa Electric Company -- or their subsidiaries, and the TVA , violated the Clean Air Act by making major modifications to many of their plants without installing the equipment required to control smog, acid rain and soot.

"When children have trouble breathing because of pollution from a utility plant hundreds of miles away, something must be done," said Attorney General Janet Reno. "Today's actions will help clean the air and make us breathe a little easier."

For years, the 24 power plants have operated without the best available emissions-control technology, increasing air pollution near the facilities and far downwind of the plants, along the Eastern Seaboard. In addition to the lawsuits and administrative order filed today, the EPA issued notices of violations to the utilities, naming an additional eight plants where the agency maintains similar violations occurred. The 32 plants targeted today are located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

"As a result of one of the largest enforcement investigations in EPA history, we are today taking action to cut illegal and excessive air emissions from 32 coal-fired power plants throughout the Eastern half of the United States," said EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner. "This action will dramatically reduce the harmful smog and acid rain that directly threatens public health and the environment throughout the Midwest and up and down the East Coast."

By taking this unprecedented action, the United States aims to reduce dramatically the amount of SO2, NOx, and particulate matter that electric utility plants release into the atmosphere. The lawsuits -- filed in U.S. District Courts in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Tampa, East St. Louis, Ill., and Columbus, Ohio -- seek to force the facilities to install appropriate air pollution-control technology. Similarly, EPA's order directs TVA to install control technology that will significantly reduce SO2 and NOx emissions.

The United States will seek significant civil penalties from all these violators. The Clean Air Act authorizes civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each day of violation at each plant prior to January 30, 1997 and $27,500 for each day thereafter.

Power plants existing at the time the Clean Air Act was amended in the late 1970s were "grandfathered." Therefore, utility companies were not required to retrofit those existing plants with new air pollution control equipment, unless the utilities undertook major modifications of those plants.

The government asserts that the utilities each made major modifications to their plants in order to extend their lives and avoid the cost of building new plants. These projects included replacing large portions of the boilers that are the heart of the plants. Many of these actions cost tens of millions of dollars and took years to complete. Under the Clean Air Act, modifications of this kind require installation of the "best available control technology," but the utilities did not do so.

The utilities' failure to install this equipment resulted in tens of millions of tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter illegally emitted into the air, according to the government, leading to adverse environmental and health impacts. Each year, these plants release nearly three million tons of pollutants -- more than two million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and almost one million tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Collectively, electric utility plants in the United States account for nearly 70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions each year and 30 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions. In addition to detrimental health effects on asthma sufferers, the elderly and children, power plant emissions have been linked to forest degradation, waterway damage, reservoir contamination, and deterioration of stone and copper in buildings.

TEXT OF THE CAROL BROWNER CLEAN AIR ENFORCEMENT PRESS CONFERENCE

Carol M. Browner, Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency


Remarks Prepared for Delivery
Clean Air Enforcement Press Conference
Washington, D.C.
November 3, 1999


Good afternoon. I want to thank Attorney General Reno for hosting this news conference. Today EPA and the Justice Department are taking aggressive action to protect our air, our water and the health of our families from those who would disregard our nation's pollution laws -- acting as if they simply didn't apply to them. Today we file the first complaints in one of the largest investigations in the history of EPA -- launched two years ago and still ongoing. The actions we are announcing target 32 coal-fired power plants in 10 states from Florida to Ohio.

Today's actions will help us stop millions of tons of pollutants that cause choking smog and corrosive acid rain throughout the Midwest and up and down the East Coast. Millions of people will breathe easier and thousands of acres of forests, farmland and countless lakes will have greater protection.

These are not close calls. Next year these utilities will dump into the air 2.2 million tons sulfur dioxide, which cause acid rain, and 660,000 tons of smog-producing nitrogen oxides.

When Congress passed the Clean Air Act in the 1970s, it reasonably thought these old coal-fired plants would be replaced by newer, cleaner technologies. So it exempted these plants from meeting the tougher standards applied to new facilities as long as these "grandfathered" power plants maintained the status quo.

The companies were allowed to perform routine maintenance, but they were not allowed to make significant changes to the plant -- such as increased generating capacity, increased burning of coal, or modifications that prolonged the life of the plant -- without seeking permits and adding the best available pollution control devices.We charge that the companies named in these actions spent hundreds of millions of dollars modifying these plants - increasing their life and increasing their pollution. And they did this without applying for permits, without public notice and without installing pollution control technology.

For instance, one plant spent $60 million on five new furnaces. Another spent $10 million on 10 new burners.

Controlling the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from these plants could lead to an 85 to 95 percent reduction respectively in these pollutants. Taken together, these reductions would be the equivalent of taking 26 million cars off the road and reduce acid rain by an estimated 15 percent.

Beyond that, these pollution controls would also reduce mercury and soot emissions - leading to clearer skies and healthier air.

Remember, by ensuring that these plants obey the law, we are not just helping their immediate communities achieve cleaner air. We are helping almost the entire eastern half of the United States, because air pollution does not stop at state borders.

These pollutants move far beyond their source. Drifting on the wind, the smog and acid rain generated by a Midwest coal plant can trigger breathing problems, deforestation, dying lakes and fish kills through the Mid-Atlantic states, and up and down the East Coast all the way through to New England.

Children are particularly vulnerable to this type of pollution. Between 1980 and 1993, asthma-related deaths among children rose 118 percent. And we know these pollutants can act as a trigger.

We want the new century to be breathtaking for all -- and a struggle to breathe for none.

By taking action today to protect our air and our water from pollution, the Clinton/Gore Administration is making it clear that we will not allow any industry to defy the law and degrade public health.

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