AEP Coal Plant Settlement is Victory for Public Health

Major Utility Agrees to Spend Over $4.5 Billion to Clean Up Coal Plants

October 09, 2007 -- 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/.

Source: Sierra Club

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •