TRENTON
-- Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced
today the filing of a federal lawsuit against
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) for failing to act on a petition from
New Jersey objecting to a proposed operating
permit for a coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania.
“This
facility is directly across the river from
New Jersey and has emitted more than 30,000
tons of sulfur dioxide annually. As a result,
it contributes to New Jersey’s inability
to attain its clean air goals for sulfur
dioxide,” Governor Jon S. Corzine
said. “We will take every action we
can to force EPA to do its job and to protect
the citizens of this state."
Filed today with the U.S. District Court
in Trenton, the lawsuit also names as a
defendant Stephen L. Johnson, in his official
capacity as Administrator of the EPA. The
lawsuit charges that EPA has violated the
federal Clean Air Act by failing to grant
or deny a petition filed by the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection in
July 2006. The petition objected to Pennsylvania’s
proposed issuance of a revised operating
permit for a coal-fired plant known as the
Portland Generating Station.
The Portland facility is owned by Reliant
Energy Mid-Atlantic Power Holdings, and
is located directly across the Delaware
River from Warren County, New Jersey.
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA must grant
or deny the New Jersey petition within 60
days of its filing. The DEP petition was
filed on July 21, 2006 – 200 calendar
days ago – but EPA has yet to respond
to it.
"Our
lawsuit contends that the EPA is ignoring
a clear duty it has under federal law to
deal with New Jersey’s petition, which
raises significant concerns about the proposed
operating permit for a facility that emits
air pollutants directly across the river,”
said Attorney General Rabner.
“As
today’s action demonstrates,”
the Attorney General added, “we are
committed to working with the Department
of Environmental Protection to pursue litigation,
where necessary, that will protect the quality
of air we breathe here in New Jersey."
DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson called
the EPA’s failure to act on the New
Jersey petition “unconscionable.”
“The EPA continues to show little
concern for the environmental and public
health issues we have raised regarding the
Portland Generating Station," said
Commissioner Jackson. "With today’s
filing, we are putting the EPA on notice
that we will not tolerate being ignored.”
DEP’s petition to the EPA objected
to Pennsylvania’s proposed approval
of a revised 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 (which can include
dust, dirt, soot and smoke) and nitrogen
oxides, one of the main ingredients in
the formation of ozone.
The
Portland coal-fired plant is located upwind
of New Jersey’s Highlands, and prevailing
winds carry its air pollution directly into
the state.
The lawsuit filed today seeks a court order
directing EPA to either grant or deny New
Jersey’s petition opposing the Portland
station operating permit. The complaint
also seeks a declaration that both the EPA
and its Administrator, Johnson, have failed
to perform their “nondiscretionary
duty.” The suit also seeks reimbursement
for reasonable costs associated with the
state’s action.
Deputy Attorneys General Kevin Auerbacher,
Ruth Carter and Lisa Morelli, assigned to
the Division of Law, handled the matter
on behalf of the state.
>> NJDEP
v. EPA Complaint (71k pdf)
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