Monday, April 30, 2012
Utah Air Pollution Plan Fails to Cut Through the Haze

EPA: Pacificorp Coal-fired Power Plants Have to be Cleaned Up
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Salt Lake City—A Utah plan fails to protect people and parks from air pollution at two of the state’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

“Plain and simple, Utah’s plan isn’t good enough,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director.  “The EPA’s proposal is a welcome breath of fresh air that will ensure Utah’s largest and dirtiest sources of air pollution—its coal-fired power plants—are finally cleaned up.  That’s good news for people and parks.”

In a proposal signed today under a legal agreement with WildEarth Guardians, the EPA found Utah failed to ensure that air pollution from two of Pacificorp’s coal-fired power plants—the 996 megawatt Huntington Plant and the 1,472 megawatt Hunter Plant, all in central Utah—would be reduced in order to curb haze throughout the state.

Under the Clean Air Act, states are required to limit haze pollution to protect National Parks and wilderness areas.  Air quality in these protected landscapes is a bellwether for air quality regionwide.  In other words, clean air in Utah’s National Parks—such as Canyonlands or Arches—is a sign of clean air in neighboring communities.  Conversely, air pollution in these treasured landscapes is a sign of regional air quality problems.  As the State of Utah itself has stated, haze “does affect our quality of life.”

Unfortunately, some of Utah’s—indeed the nation’s—most cherished National Parks are under siege from haze.  According to the State of Utah, haze is a concern in Grand Canyon, Arches, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, and Canyonlands. 

The State of Utah submitted a plan to EPA in 2008 to address the state’s haze.  Today, the EPA proposed to approve all but two critical portions of the plan.  Under the Clean Air Act, to reduce haze, states are required to ensure that the oldest and dirtiest sources of air pollution install the “best available retrofit technology” to curtail their haze forming emissions.  In the western United States, these sources of air pollution primarily include coal-fired power plants.

Although both the Hunter and Huntington coal-fired power plants were subject to the retrofit requirements under the Clean Air Act, the State of Utah refused to require any additional controls to limit two haze forming pollutants—nitrogen oxide gases and particulate matter.  The EPA rejected this.

“Utah’s plan maintains the status quo—hazy skies, unhealthy air, and uncontrolled coal-fired power plants,” said Nichols.  “This is bad for public health, it’s bad for Utah’s iconic landscapes, and it’s bad for our quality of life here in the American West.”

The rejection comes as coal-fired power plants in other parts of the American West, including the neighboring states of New Mexico and Colorado, are meeting nitrogen oxide emission rates that are up to five times lower than the State of Utah proposed.

The same pollutants that form haze are also responsible for smog, acid rain, and deadly particulate matter pollution.  A recent report by the Clean Air Task Force found that air pollution from the Hunter and Huntington coal-fired power plants every year put 27 people at risk of premature death, 40 at risk of heart attacks, and 580 at risk of asthma attacks, all at a cost of nearly $200 million (see data for Utah).

 Once finalized, the State of Utah will have two years to fix its plan.  If it does not fix the flaws, the EPA will have to implement its own federal plan to clean up the Hunter and Huntington coal-fired power plants.

The proposal kicks off a public comment period that will likely end in the middle of July.

Under a legal agreement with WildEarth Guardians, the EPA must finalize its proposal by October 31, 2012.