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TRENTON,
NJ -- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
today that New Jersey has filed a lawsuit
against Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Power
Holdings, current owner of a coal-fired
power plant located in Pennsylvania, alleging
that Reliant has violated the federal Clean
Air Act by modifying and operating the plant
without required pollution control equipment
and construction permits. The lawsuit also
names three past owners of the plant as
defendants, including Sithe Energies, Inc.,
Metropolitan Edison Co. and GPU, Inc.
Filed today in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania,
the lawsuit alleges that emissions of sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the Reliant-owned
Portland Generating Station in Northampton
County, Pa. -- situated upwind and directly
across the Delaware River from Warren County
-- continue to emit harmful pollutants that
impact New Jersey’s air quality, citizens
and environment.
The complaint alleges that the Portland
plant has been modified in ways that caused
increased emissions of air pollutants. The
complaint also alleges that the Portland
plant’s owners failed to apply for,
or obtain, required permits before modifying
the plant, and that they continued to operate
the facility without the best available
pollution control technology in violation
of the Clean Air Act. A July 2007 report
by the Environmental Integrity Project entitled
“Dirty Kilowatts: America’s
Most Polluting Power Plants,” ranks
Portland as number five in terms of having
the highest sulfur dioxide emission rate
per megawatt generated in the country.
”The
Portland Generating Station continues to
operate each day in violation of federal
law, and pollutants from the plant continue
to carry across the Delaware River on prevailing
winds, harming the air breathed by New Jersey
residents,” said Attorney General
Milgram.
”Enough
is enough,” said DEP Commissioner
Lisa P. Jackson. “It seems that we
cannot rely on Reliant, except to put the
public in harm’s way. The fact is,
while Reliant continues to shirk its environmental
responsibilities, New Jersey residents are
being exposed to a host of pollutants, and
we simply will not let this go on.”
New Jersey’s lawsuit asks the court
to enjoin Reliant from operating the Portland
plant unless it is in compliance with the
Clean Air Act. The Complaint also asks that
Reliant install and operate “best
available” control technologies for
each pollutant. The lawsuit also asks that
Reliant be ordered to conduct an audit of
its operations to determine if any additional
plant modifications have occurred - modifications
that would be subject to the required review
and permit process -- that are not included
among those discussed in the State’s
complaint. The lawsuit seeks assessment
of “an appropriate civil penalty”
against Reliant and the other defendants,
and asks the court to award New Jersey legal
fees and costs associated with bringing
the federal lawsuit.
New Jersey has sought to address the excess
emissions from the Portland Generating Station
through a variety of legal actions. In December
2006, the state filed a Notice of Intent
to Sue the federal Environmental Protection
Agency 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 the plant. When EPA had not acted on
the petition by February of this year, the
State filed suit contending that the agency
was not doing its job, and that its failure
to act on New Jersey’s objection was
contributing to the state’s inability
to attain its clean air goals. On June 20
of this year, the EPA issued a Final Order
denying the New Jersey petition request.
The state responded by filing an appeal
of the EPA ruling in the U.S. Third Circuit
Court of Appeals. That appeal is still pending,
as is a petition for reconsideration of
the original denial filed with EPA.
Among other things, the state’s petition
for reconsideration before EPA asserts that
increases in air emissions at the Portland
Generating Station would violate national
air quality standards designed to protect
public health in the vicinity of the plant
both in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“This facility poses an environmental
danger, and our concerns have not been given
due consideration by the EPA,’’
Attorney General Milgram said.
Deputy Attorneys General Kevin Auerbacher,
Ruth Carter, Maurice Griffin, and Lisa Morelli
are handling the Reliant matter on behalf
of the state.
>>
View Complaint
(147k pdf) plug-in
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