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TRENTON
– Attorney General Zulima V. Farber
today hailed a federal judge’s decision
denying an attempt by Allegheny Energy Inc.
to dismiss a suit filed last year by New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut
and Maryland over violations of the federal
Clean Air Act at three of the company’s
coal-fired power plants in western Pennsylvania.
The
five states filed suit in U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
against Allegheny Energy Inc., based in
Greensburg, Pa., and a number of its subsidiaries.
The suit alleges that Allegheny made major
upgrades at its Armstrong, Hatfield’s
Ferry and Mitchell plants that significantly
increased emissions, without installing
new pollution controls required by the Clean
Air Act. As a result, the plants have continued
to emit thousands of tons more pollution
each year, including sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide emissions, which blow into
New Jersey and cause smog, acid rain and
respiratory disease.
On
May 30, the court adopted the recommendation
of a U.S. magistrate judge by rejecting
Allegheny’s attempt to dismiss the
states’ claims as time-barred or barred
based on other technicalities.
“New
Jersey will continue to vigorously pursue
litigation to protect our citizens’
health and meet clean air quality standards,”
Governor Jon S. Corzine said. “This
decision proves that New Jersey can and
will pursue action to enforce the Clean
Air Act’s protections even when the
federal government abdicates its own responsibility
to do so.”
“We
are pleased that the court has cleared the
way for us to move forward with our suit,”
said Attorney General Farber. “We
are seeking to compel Allegheny Energy to
install the pollution controls mandated
by the Clean Air Act so that we can eliminate
thousands of tons of toxic pollutants that
are blowing into New Jersey. The Hatfield’s
Ferry plant is among the worst coal-fired
power plants in terms of its harm to public
health and the environment in New Jersey.”
“New
Jersey has actively pursued clean air for
its residents, including enforcement actions
to require the state's major power plants
to meet clean air standards,” said
DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson. “We
expect power plants outside of New Jersey
to do the same.”
The
three plants at issue in this litigation
emit in total hundreds of thousands of tons
of pollutants a year. The three plants put
out more nitrogen oxide emissions than all
the power plants in New Jersey combined
and more than three times the total amount
of sulfur dioxide emissions emitted by all
New Jersey power plants. The Hatfield’s
Ferry plant is the fifth largest single
source of sulfur dioxide emissions in the
country.
In
addition to the federal violations, the
suit alleges violations of Pennsylvania’s
air pollution laws and regulations. New
Jersey and its co-plaintiffs are seeking
injunctive relief to require Allegheny to
reduce its harmful emissions by installing
state-of-the-art pollution controls at each
of the three plants. The states also asked
the court to assess civil monetary penalties
and order Allegheny to take additional appropriate
actions to make up for the harm done to
public health and the environment by its
violations of federal and state law.
The
suit is being handled for New Jersey by
Deputy Attorney General Kevin Auerbacher,
Section Chief for Environmental Enforcement,
and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Morelli.
The
following chart outlines emissions from
the three coal-fired plants:
The
subsidiaries named as defendants in the
lawsuit are Allegheny Energy Service Corporation,
Allegheny Energy Supply Company LLC, Monongahela
Power Company, The Potomac Edison Company
and West Penn Power Company.
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