TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
today that New Jersey has entered into a
settlement agreement with the Ohio-based
American Electric Power Service Corp. that
resolves allegations the company modified
and operated numerous coal-fired electric-generating
facilities in violation of the federal Clean
Air Act.
According to Milgram, the multi-state agreement
will result in major reductions in emissions
of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate
matter at 16 coal-fired AEP plants located
in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and
West Virginia. In addition to New Jersey
and the other participating states, several
citizens’ groups and the U.S. Department
of Justice worked collaboratively on the
AEP litigation.
The settlement encompasses a total of 46
coal-fired, steam-generating units located
within AEP’s Eastern power system
and, in terms of total emissions reduced,
is the single largest settlement of its
kind in the nation’s coal-fired power
industry history. Ultimately, the agreement
will be responsible for eliminating 813,000
tons of air pollutants emitted by the 16
AEP plants by imposing stringent caps on
emissions.
In addition to taking steps to reduce plant
emissions, AEP must pay a $15 million penalty
under the settlement and commit $60 million
to developing environmental improvement
projects. Of that money, $36 million is
earmarked for projects that AEP will either
develop itself or have implemented on the
firm’s behalf. Another $24 million
will be distributed among the participating
states, including New Jersey, New York,
Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New
Hampshire, Maryland and Rhode Island.
"This
is a significant outcome for the quality
of life and health of all New Jersey residents,"
said Milgram. "Over time, New Jersey
has taken any number of regulatory steps
to reduce its own sources of pollution.
However, emissions from upwind, coal-fired
plants such as those impacted by this agreement
have continued to pose a safety and health
threat. This agreement will result in a
substantial reduction in those potentially
harmful emissions, and at the same time
provide funding for projects that are environmentally
beneficial."
"New
Jersey has steadfastly pursued cleaner air
for its residents, including taking tough
actions to bring our power plants into compliance
with clean air standards," said DEP
Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson. "This
historic settlement will result in significant
reductions of pollutants that blow across
our borders, meaning healthier air for all
of us."
The environmental improvement projects AEP
is required to develop or fund can include
– but are not limited to – installation
of pollution control technology on buses,
ferries and trains, "green" building
and appliance efficiency projects, and subsidies
for construction of facilities associated
with alternative energy sources such as
wind and solar.
Under the settlement agreement, sulfur dioxide
emissions at AEP power plants will, by the
year 2018, have been reduced 79 percent
from 2006 levels. Such an emissions cutback
represents the largest percentage decrease
achieved in any prior government settlement
with coal-fired electric utilities in the
U.S. Meanwhile, nitrogen oxide emissions
from AEP plants included in the settlement
will be reduced 69 percent from 2006 levels
by the year 2016.
Under terms of the settlement agreement,
AEP is required to install and continuously
operate flue gas desulfurization devices
(commonly referred to as scrubbers) for
the control of sulfur dioxide emissions.
A Consent Decree memorializing the settlement
agreement calls for 14 such scrubbers, which
will require a multi-billion-dollar investment
by AEP.
AEP will also install and continuously operate
selective catalytic reduction (SCR) devices
for the control of nitrogen oxides, and
will be required to operate existing SCR
devices throughout the year instead of during
the five-month ozone season. (The ozone
season is May, June, July, August and September.
It is the time when there is sufficient
heat to support the atmospheric processes
that lead to formation of ozone from nitrogen
oxides. )
Deputy
Attorneys General Kevin Auerbacher, Jon Martin
and Maurice Griffin of the Division of Law's
Environmental Enforcement Section handled
the AEP matter on behalf of the State.
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