Thursday, September 16, 1999
Cinergy: N.Y. lawsuit just a pay-up tactic
Beckjord plant pollution claimed
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cinergy Wednesday rejected New York's claim that Beckjord power station in Clermont County illegally fouls downwind air.
Company spokesman Steve Brash said New York's accusation was the latest maneuver in a quarter-century of trying to get others to pay for cleaning up the Empire State's air pollution.
The brouhaha revived on Tuesday when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he would sue Cinergy and eight other upwind utilities.
Mr. Spitzer said their pollutants violated the Clean Air Act and created acid rain, smog and tiny, lung-damaging particulate that fell on New York.
Wednesday, Mr. Spitzer mailed formal notices of intent to sue required by the Clean Air Act. In 60 days, he can file his suits in federal courts, Assistant Attorney General Jared Snyder said.
New York's central allegation is that work done on the aging Beckjord power station was so extensive that it expanded the generating capacity to where it must meet pollution control standards for new facili ties.
“We'd like a careful look at that,” said Jack Shaner, spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Council in Columbus. “If that's true, let's make them clean up. The law says if you substantially increase your generating capacity, then you've got to meet a higher standard for emissions.”
New York also said Cinergy failed to comply with other aspects of the Clean Air Act in its Beckjord work.
Had Cinergy met the letter of the law, New York's Mr. Snyder said in an interview Wednesday, it could have eliminated up to 95 percent of the sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitted by Beckjord. SO2 is a primary component of acid rain and particulate.
Similarly, Mr. Snyder said, if Cinergy had installed the required best available technology to control nitrogen oxides (NOx) at Beckjord, it could have reduced that smog ingredient to a “pretty low level. ... It can get you down quite clean.”
Whatever the numbers, Mr. Brash countered, “EPA was fully aware of the activities that we undertook in the mid-1980s and the work that was done at Beckjord was to allow the units to operate at their rated capacity, and we do not believe that the operation of Beckjord is in violation of any law.”
As for Mr. Snyder's claim that Cinergy should have installed scrubbers to minimize SO2 and best available technology to reduce NOx, Mr. Brash said Beckjord's location virtually eliminates that possibility.
Built between U.S. 52 and the Ohio River near New Richmond, it lacks space, he said.
Mr. Snyder said notices of intent to sue were mailed without any new attempt to negotiate longstanding differ ences with utilities in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
The 60-day notification was designed for settlement talks, he said, but it will take more than promises to forestall complaints being filed.
“To pre-empt us, they would have to put it (pollution controls) in place,” Mr. Snyder said.
“We're willing to talk with anybody,” Mr. Brash responded.
At the environmental council in Columbus, Mr. Shaner said there was merit to Cinergy and New York claims.
“We think they're both right,” he said. “Midwest states are a major generator of air pollution. ... I don't know how many molecules from Ohio end up in New York but I suspect some do.
“Ohio utilities are also right when they say the Northeast should clean up their plants. Unfortunately, Ohioans breathe at least some of this pollution. Therefore, anything that helps clear the air in Ohio is good.”
Some studies suggest that long-distance transport of pollutants make it difficult for some localities in the Northeast to meet federal air standards.
Cinergy and its allies blame vehicles and power plants in Northeast states and say New York and other regulators would clean up their air faster if they took politically unpopular steps required to curb local emissions.
Further, Cinergy and its allies claim that Northeast states also want to handicap others by forcing up electricity rates through costly upwind pollution controls.
Today, states along the Ohio River generally have lower power costs than New York and its neighbors and a competitive advantage in attracting and holding industry.
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