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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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December 7, 2006  
Lee Moore
609-292-4791

Office of The Attorney General
- Stuart Rabner, Attorney General

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Attorney General Announces Intent to Sue EPA on Clean Air Act Failures;
Complaint on Behalf of DEP to Focus on Coal-Fired Power Plant in Pennsylvania

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TRENTON -- Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced today the issuance of a formal Notice of Intent to Sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 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 a coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania.

According to Rabner, New Jersey petitioned the EPA on July 21, 2006 to review a proposed Pennsylvania operating permit for a coal-fired plant in Upper Mount Bethel Township – within one mile of New Jersey – owned by Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Power Holdings. Although required by the Clean Air Act to do so within 60 days of receiving the petition, EPA has yet to respond to the petition.

Known as the Portland Generating Station, the Reliant-owned plant is located directly across the Delaware River from Warren County, New Jersey.

"We are committed to working with the Department of Environmental Protection to pursue litigation, where appropriate, that will help protect the quality of air we breathe here in New Jersey," said Attorney General Rabner. "The state’s position is that the EPA has a clear, non-discretionary duty under the Clean Air Act to address DEP’s petition. The Department’s petition raises significant concerns about the terms and provisions of the proposed operating permit for the Reliant plant."

"It's unconscionable that the EPA to date has shown so little regard for the environmental and public-health concerns we have detailed in our petition," said DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson. "In this case, the EPA is ignoring the law, and we are putting the agency on notice that it cannot continue to thumb its nose at the people of New Jersey".

DEP’s July 21, 2006 petition to the EPA objected to Pennsylvania’s proposed approval of a permit for the Portland Generating Station for two reasons:

  • The Portland plant made modifications allowing it to increase its emissions of air pollutants without installing the pollution controls required under the Clean Air Act. As a result, a “compliance schedule” --including an enforceable sequence of compliance milestones – that will eventually lead to the elimination of all violations is needed in the permit.
  • The permit lacks operational limits called heat input limits, and would allow the Portland plant to exceed air quality standards set by the Clean Air Act. Heat input is a measure of the amount of coal burned each hour and limits on heat input are necessary to avoid excessive hourly emissions for many air contaminants, for example particulate matter and hazardous air pollutants.

The Portland coal-fired plant is located upwind of New Jersey’s Highlands, and prevailing winds carry its air pollution directly into the state.

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