New Jersey Attorney General Announces Federal Suit Against Pennsylvania Coal-Fired Power Plant Owner

December 18, 2007 -- TRENTON, NJ -- New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Power Holdings, current owner of a coal-fired power plant located in Pennsylvania, alleging that Reliant has violated the federal Clean Air Act by modifying and operating the plant without required pollution control equipment and construction permits. The lawsuit also names three past owners of the plant as defendants, including Sithe Energies, Inc., Metropolitan Edison Co. and GPU, Inc.

Filed today in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, the lawsuit alleges that emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the Reliant-owned Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, Pa. -- situated upwind and directly across the Delaware River from Warren County -- continue to emit harmful pollutants that impact New Jersey’s air quality, citizens and environment.

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The complaint alleges that the Portland plant has been modified in ways that caused increased emissions of air pollutants. The complaint also alleges that the Portland plant’s owners failed to apply for, or obtain, required permits before modifying the plant, and that they continued to operate the facility without the best available pollution control technology in violation of the Clean Air Act. A July 2007 report by the Environmental Integrity Project entitled “Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants,” ranks Portland as number five in terms of having the highest sulfur dioxide emission rate per megawatt generated in the country.

”The Portland Generating Station continues to operate each day in violation of federal law, and pollutants from the plant continue to carry across the Delaware River on prevailing winds, harming the air breathed by New Jersey residents,” said Attorney General Milgram.

”Enough is enough,” said DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson. “It seems that we cannot rely on Reliant, except to put the public in harm’s way. The fact is, while Reliant continues to shirk its environmental responsibilities, New Jersey residents are being exposed to a host of pollutants, and we simply will not let this go on.”

New Jersey’s lawsuit asks the court to enjoin Reliant from operating the Portland plant unless it is in compliance with the Clean Air Act. The Complaint also asks that Reliant install and operate “best available” control technologies for each pollutant. The lawsuit also asks that Reliant be ordered to conduct an audit of its operations to determine if any additional plant modifications have occurred - modifications that would be subject to the required review and permit process -- that are not included among those discussed in the State’s complaint. The lawsuit seeks assessment of “an appropriate civil penalty” against Reliant and the other defendants, and asks the court to award New Jersey legal fees and costs associated with bringing the federal lawsuit.

New Jersey has sought to address the excess emissions from the Portland Generating Station through a variety of legal actions. In December 2006, the state filed a Notice of Intent to Sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency for violating the Clean Air Act by not responding to a petition from the state Department of Environmental Protection that objected to a proposed operating permit for the plant. When EPA had not acted on the petition by February of this year, the State filed suit contending that the agency was not doing its job, and that its failure to act on New Jersey’s objection was contributing to the state’s inability to attain its clean air goals. On June 20 of this year, the EPA issued a Final Order denying the New Jersey petition request. The state responded by filing an appeal of the EPA ruling in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. That appeal is still pending, as is a petition for reconsideration of the original denial filed with EPA.

Among other things, the state’s petition for reconsideration before EPA asserts that increases in air emissions at the Portland Generating Station would violate national air quality standards designed to protect public health in the vicinity of the plant both in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“This facility poses an environmental danger, and our concerns have not been given due consideration by the EPA,’’ Attorney General Milgram said.

Deputy Attorneys General Kevin Auerbacher, Ruth Carter, Maurice Griffin, and Lisa Morelli are handling the Reliant matter on behalf of the state.

Source: New Jersey Attorney General