By Dan Klepal
Enquirer staff writer

ABERDEEN - The Sierra Club put Dayton Power & Light on notice Wednesday of its intent to file a federal lawsuit over air pollution from the Stuart Generating Station on U.S. 52 in Adams County.

The coal-fired power plant, third largest in Ohio, is operated by DP&L, which shares ownership with Cinergy Corp. and Columbus Southern Power Co.

Sierra Club lawyers must wait 60 days before filing the suit. It will allege that portions of the plant were expanded or upgraded - allowing the plant to generate more electricity but, in turn, spew more harmful emissions - without installation of new pollution control equipment, as required by federal law.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleged the same thing four years ago, when it issued a "notice of violation" to the power company over the Stuart plant. No action has been taken by the agency since then.

"We have to bring this suit because apparently it's just not a priority of the current administration to insure communities are protected from illegal levels of pollution," Sierra Club attorney Robert Ukeiley said.

U.S. EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said she wouldn't comment on "ongoing investigations" when asked about the Stuart case. But DP&L spokeswoman Amy Wright said there have been no discussions and no fines from EPA over the notice of violation, issued in 2000.

"We believe the allegations are without merit and that we are in compliance with federal law," Wright said, adding that the company will fight the Sierra Club lawsuit.

Wright said DP&L has spent $200 million on pollution control equipment in the past few years, but those additions were required for the company to comply with new federal law.

Sierra Club officials are suing over what they call "a long history of ... repeatedly failing to comply with clean air standards, and illegally modifying its facilities without installing modern pollution (control) equipment."

"These modifications consist of physical changes and changes in the method of operations, each of which has resulted in a significant net emissions increase in particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions," says the letter sent to DP&L Wednesday.

Each of those pollutants are harmful to human health:

• Particulate matter is tiny unburned metals that fly out of smokestacks and can be breathed deeply into the lungs, where it can inflame the respiratory system and cause cardiac disease, including heart attack and stroke.

• Sulfur dioxide is an invisible gas that can cause coughing, shortness of breath and inflammation of the respiratory system and low birth weight.

• Nitrogen oxide decreases lung function and is associated with respiratory disease in children. It also helps create ground-level ozone, which is harmful to respiratory systems.

Ukeiley said the Sierra Club hopes the lawsuit will force the Stuart plant to cut emissions of most of those pollutants by about 90 percent.

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com