FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2007
Contact:
Virginia Cramer, 202-675-6279
Coal Plant Settlement is Victory for Public Health
Major Utility Agrees to Spend Over $4.5 Billion to Clean Up Coal Plants
Washington DC: In a huge victory for public health, energy giant American
Electric Power agreed today to markedly reduce hazardous air pollution from
dozens of its coal-fired power plants- dramatically improving air quality
and reducing health risks to neighboring communities. After almost eight
years of refusing to clean up its dirtiest plants, AEP has agreed to cut
its nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions- pollutants which cause
smog and acid rain- by hundreds of thousands of tons.
The move is part of a landmark settlement with the Sierra Club and other
environmental and governmental organizations, which also requires that all
pollution reductions come from actual on-the-ground improvements, not
purchased pollution credits or allowances. AEP will spend approximately
$4.6 billion to install extensive pollution controls on dozens of the most
polluting units in its eastern system.
"AEP is operating some of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the
nation," said Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope. "After years of
trying to evade installing proper pollution controls, AEP is finally
cleaning up their old power plants. The massive reductions in smog, fine
soot and acid rain from these plants will profoundly benefit both public
health and the environment."
The company will spend another $60 million dollars to fund environmental
projects aimed to mitigate damages resulting from AEP’s unlawfully high
pollutant emissions over the past decade; AEP will also pay a civil fine of
$15 million to the federal government for failing to install modern
pollution controls as required under the Clean Air Act. Just over one-third
of the mitigation funds will be dedicated to state specific clean up
projects, with funds also delegated to remedy damages to the Chesapeake Bay
and Shenandoah National Park.
"Dozens of coal plants across the country still lack modern pollution
controls- jeopardizing our air, water and health," said Bruce Nilles,
Director of the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign. "We need to clean up
the dirty business of coal, making sure coal is mined responsibly and
burned cleanly. But more importantly we need to start looking at cleaner
sources of energy that can meet our needs, while protecting public health,
reducing global warming pollution, creating jobs and boosting the economy."
------------------------------------------------------------
The Sierra Club filed enforcement actions against AEP in 1999 under the
"citizen suit" provision of the Clean Air Act, accusing AEP of violating
the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review Program, which requires coal plants
to update their pollution controls when they upgrade other portions of the
facility. Similar and separate enforcement actions filed by other
environmental groups, states and the Environmental Protection Agency were
subsequently consolidated into one action, which resulted in today’s
settlement.
Other plaintiffs in the suit include the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and 13 other environmental groups.
For more information on this settlement and to find out more about the
Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign visit http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/.
###