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NJDEP and PA Power Plant Sign Agreement
to Protect Warren County Air:
Power Plant to Burn Cleaner Fuel; Close Coal-Fired Units
by 2007
(03/77) TRENTON – New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell today announced an agreement with PPL
Generation, LLC (PPL), to shut down two coal-fired units
at its Martins Creek power plant in Northampton County,
Pennsylvania, and to take other actions to significantly
reduce emissions of air pollutants from the plant.
“This agreement with PPL will greatly
reduce the impact of air pollution from Martins Creek on
communities in Warren County, New Jersey,” said DEP
Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell. “The agreement marks
the first time that a state has been able to negotiate the
shutdown of a coal-fired power plant outside its borders
– an essential complement to New Jersey’s efforts
to set more protective emission requirements for facilities
inside the state.”
Warren County residents and the New Jersey
DEP have worked for years to address local air quality concerns
resulting from Martins Creek plant emissions. Studies by
the federal Environmental Protection Agency identify the
plant’s sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions as the principle
reason for poor air quality in Warren County, which is located
across the Delaware River from the Pennsylvania facility
and has been in SO2 nonattainment since 1988. In addition,
a survey by the Belvidere Environmental Commission in Warren
County has found that the rate of asthma in town is twice
as high as the state average. A more comprehensive study
of asthma rates in the entire region is underway.
The agreement with PPL stems from New Jersey
DEP’s challenge of a Pennsylvania-issued permit that
authorized PPL to build a 600-megawatt natural gas-fired
generating unit at its Martins Creek site. Under the newly
signed agreement, the DEP has agreed to withdraw its appeal
of that permit, allowing development of the cleaner burning,
600-megawatt natural gas facility to move forward. In return,
PPL has agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from Martins
Creek’s four existing units as follows:
- By May 2004, burning cleaner coal and oil with lower
sulfur contents; and
- By September 2007, ceasing operations of the two 1950s-vintage
coal-fired generating units at the site.
As a result of this agreement, SO2 emissions
from Martins Creek will be reduced by up to 80 percent –
or approximately 20,000 tons per year by 2007. Also, emission
reductions will be achieved for nitrogen oxides, mercury,
and fine particulates. In addition, PPL will retire 70 percent
of the SO2 and NOx credits made available as a result of
the shutdown of the coal-fired units in 2007. Retiring the
credits will prevent them from being used to authorized
higher emissions at another facility upwind of New Jersey.
In addition to reducing emissions and agreeing
to annually monitor its stack emissions and report data
to the NJDEP, PPL is providing $100,000 to help fund a comprehensive
air monitoring project in Warren County being conducted
by Roche Vitamins. The monitoring project is collecting
data for an ongoing regional study on asthma rates of residents
in Warren County.
SO2 emissions cause acid rain, which harms
our streams, lakes, forests, and farmland. SO2 emissions
also create fine particles believed to contribute to hundreds
of premature deaths in New Jersey every year. NOx emissions
also contribute to acid rain and fine particles, as well
as causing high concentrations of ground-level ozone and
aggravating respiratory problems.
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