August 27, 2009
Midwest Generation sued by state, feds
August 27, 2009
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON— Midwest Generation, which has coal-fired power plants in Romeoville and Joliet, is being sued for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.
The United States and the state of Illinois filed a civil complaint against Midwest Generation, alleging that the company violated, and continues to violate, the Clean Air Act. The lawsuit was announced Thursday by the Justice Department, EPA and the Illinois attorney general's office.
The complaint alleges that Midwest Generation made major modifications to its coal-fired power plants in Illinois without also installing and operating required pollution control equipment. As a result, Midwest Generation's six Illinois power plants, which have a combined capacity of more than 6,000 megawatts, are illegally emitting massive amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.
The complaint also alleges that emissions from Midwest Generation violated opacity and particulate matter limits.
The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the EPA and the state of Illinois attorney general's office, asks the court to order Midwest Generation to install and operate state-of-the-art air pollution control technology to substantially reduce emissions from the Midwest Generation power plants.
The United States and the state of Illinois also seek civil penalties up to the maximum amount authorized by law, as well as actions by Midwest Generation to mitigate the adverse public health and environmental effects caused by the violations.
"The excess illegal emissions resulting from the violations alleged in the complaint are sufficient to cause serious harm to human health and the environment. Today's federal court filing is the first step in this litigation and it demonstrates our commitment to ensuring compliance with environmental laws in the energy sector," John Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a press release.
Earlier this month, Midwest Generation marked the installation of a pollution-control system designed to catch 80 percent of the mercury that previously had been released into the air. Company officials also said they planned to have in place equipment to cut the release of nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide.
Previously, a coalition of environmental groups had announced plans to file a lawsuit against the company to force it to cut the amount of soot released by the plant.
The coalition included the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, the Sierra Club and Citizens Against Ruining the Environment.
August 27, 2009
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/08/illinois-coal-plants-sued-over-dirty-air.html
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan today sued the owner of six coal-fired power
plants that are some of the biggest contributors to dirty air in the Chicago area.
In a 75-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the federal and state governments accused Midwest Generation of
extending the life of its aging power plants without installing pollution controls required under the federal Clean Air Act.
The agency also alleges the company releases too much soot, microscopic air pollution that can trigger asthma attacks and cause
lung disease, heart problems and early deaths.
Coal plants are major sources of soot and other pollutants that create smog, which lingers over the Chicago area during the
summer. The lawsuit cites the company's two plants in Chicago (in Pilsen and Little Village), two in Will County (in Joliet and
Romeoville), one in Waukegan and one outside Peoria.
"The excess illegal emissions resulting from the violations alleged in the complaint are sufficient to cause serious harm to
human health and the environment," said John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department's
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of California-based Edison International, bought the plants in 1999 from ComEd, which was not
cited in the complaint.
Targeted repeatedly by neighborhood activists and environmental groups, the coal plants have avoided anti-pollution regulations
for years, in part because federal regulators assumed decades ago that the aging generators would have been scuttled by now.
"I am very concerned about the negative health effects that these aging plants have on the people who live in the communities
where the Midwest Gen facilities are located," Madigan said.
Midwest Generation is the latest power company to face tougher scrutiny from the EPA. The agency gradually realized that many
older coal plants across the nation had been modified and expanded so many times that they should be considered new plants and
forced to comply with modern pollution standards.
The Fisk plant in Pilsen began operating in 1903. The other plants cited in the lawsuit date back to the 1940s, 1950s and
1960s.
The federal EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice already have brokered settlements with several other companies that agreed
to spend millions on new pollution controls. A coalition of environmental groups last month threatened to go to court to force
the EPA to take similar action against Midwest Generation.
Under a deal with the Illinois EPA, company officials already have agreed to clean up or close the six coal plants by 2018. The
federal lawsuit could force the company to upgrade or shutter its plants faster.
Critics have grumbled that the state deal gave Midwest Generation too long to clean up its plants. In 2005, Madigan documented
thousands of pollution violations at the power plants, but the Illinois EPA agreed with company officials who argued that
occasional bursts of soot were normal and nothing to worry about.
The Illinois EPA is not a party to the lawsuit filed today.
Federal EPA officials in Chicago have been investigating the power plants for years. Today's lawsuit involves a provision of
the Clean Air Act known as New Source Review, which requires upgraded pollution controls when power plants undergo major
modifications.
The Bush administration tried several times to gut that section of the law. By contrast, President Barack Obama promised during
his campaign last fall to press forward with additional complaints if warranted.
