Utilities operating six coal-burning power plants in New York state have agreed to slash nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions as part of a settlement with state officials.
Gov. George Pataki and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Tuesday the reductions will both reduce emissions that cause acid rain and remove some of the pollutants blamed for asthma and other respiratory ailments, especially in children.
Under the settlement, nitrogen oxide at the plants will be reduced by more than 18,000 tons a year -- the equivalent of removing 2.5 million cars from New York roads. Sulfur dioxide emissions will be cut by more than 123,00 tons a year — the equivalent of removing every diesel truck and bus operating in the United States.
The two previous owners of the six plants also agreed to pay almost $4 million in fines. Two of the plants are the largest in the state.
Pataki cites park protection
“These historic agreements will dramatically enhance air quality in New York, improve public health and help preserve the state’s greatest natural treasure, the Adirondack Park,” Pataki, a Republican, said in a statement.
NRG Energy Inc., the current owner of two of the plants, will achieve the lower emissions by installing new pollution controls, using cleaner-burning coal and retiring the four oldest generators at the plants.
NRG President David Crane said it made sense for the company to settle the suit with the state because it gives the company “regulatory certainty” and allows it to keep using the two plants.
AES Corp., which owns the other four plants involved in the settlement, said it would install new “clean coal” technology at one plant and either close the other facilities for good or install new pollution controls.
Pataki and Spitzer said the agreement should not cause electric rates to rise or diminish the amount of power generated overall in the state.
In-state and out-of-state concerns
Spitzer sued the operators of 17 out-of-state power plants in 1999, seeking to force reductions in pollutants that harm New York’s atmosphere. That action is still pending, though one utility settled in 2003.
Spitzer said the levels of pollution of New York’s coal-burning plants left state officials open to charges of hypocrisy as it pursued the case against out-of-state generators.
The attorney general, who has stirred up controversy with his investigations against nationwide businesses, was among the first to sue out-of-state utilities, a role historically filled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In cases in 2003, Dominion Virginia Power agreed to install $1.2 billion in controls on eight plants while Mirant Corp. agreed to reduce pollution at its Lovett plant in New York’s Hudson River valley as part of a $1.4 million settlement.
Most recently, attorneys general from eight states and New York City filed suit against what they deemed the five largest contributors to global warming: American Electric Power Co. , The Southern Co. , Tennessee Valley Authority, Xcel Energy Inc. and Cinergy Corp.
