Duke Energy sued over N.C. plant construction
Despite his green media image, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers is facing a fight from environmental advocates over his plans to build a polluting new coal-fired power plant in western North Carolina.
In the latest effort to stop the Cliffside project, a coalition of environmental organizations announced yesterday that it's suing Duke to halt construction of the Rutherford County plant until regulators determine whether it meets legal pollution limits and until Duke's building permit includes such limits as operating conditions. The Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council are filing the suit in federal district court in Asheville, N.C. on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, National Parks Conservation Association, and NRDC.
"Every day that Duke continues to build this plant it flouts the law and exposes the public and its shareholders and ratepayers to unnecessary risk," says SELC attorney John Suttles. "The Clean Air Act is clear: A properly performed analysis could change the way this plant is built and operated, and Duke must examine the best way to control mercury and other pollutants before it begins construction."
Earlier this year, a federal court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act when it removed coal- and oil-burning power plants from the list of hazardous air pollution sources subject to the law's strictest pollution controls. A subsequent appeals court ruling confirmed that air permits for new coal plants such as Cliffside must be based on an analysis of what's known as the "maximum achievable control technology" for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants -- and that the analysis must be performed before construction.
Duke, however, has ignored that ruling and forged ahead with construction at Cliffside without the legally required analysis. Last month, Duke announced that it would "voluntarily" perform such a "maximum achievable" assessment. But as SELC attorney Gudrun Thompson tells Facing South, Duke's voluntary assessment does not offer an opportunity for public comment and hearings as required under the Clean Air Act, nor is it enforceable by the government or private citizens.
Says Michael Regan of Environmental Defense, "It's hard to understand why Duke Energy believes clean air laws don't apply to them."
In the latest effort to stop the Cliffside project, a coalition of environmental organizations announced yesterday that it's suing Duke to halt construction of the Rutherford County plant until regulators determine whether it meets legal pollution limits and until Duke's building permit includes such limits as operating conditions. The Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council are filing the suit in federal district court in Asheville, N.C. on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, National Parks Conservation Association, and NRDC.
"Every day that Duke continues to build this plant it flouts the law and exposes the public and its shareholders and ratepayers to unnecessary risk," says SELC attorney John Suttles. "The Clean Air Act is clear: A properly performed analysis could change the way this plant is built and operated, and Duke must examine the best way to control mercury and other pollutants before it begins construction."
Earlier this year, a federal court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act when it removed coal- and oil-burning power plants from the list of hazardous air pollution sources subject to the law's strictest pollution controls. A subsequent appeals court ruling confirmed that air permits for new coal plants such as Cliffside must be based on an analysis of what's known as the "maximum achievable control technology" for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants -- and that the analysis must be performed before construction.
Duke, however, has ignored that ruling and forged ahead with construction at Cliffside without the legally required analysis. Last month, Duke announced that it would "voluntarily" perform such a "maximum achievable" assessment. But as SELC attorney Gudrun Thompson tells Facing South, Duke's voluntary assessment does not offer an opportunity for public comment and hearings as required under the Clean Air Act, nor is it enforceable by the government or private citizens.
Says Michael Regan of Environmental Defense, "It's hard to understand why Duke Energy believes clean air laws don't apply to them."
Labels: Cliffside, coal, Duke Energy, Jim Rogers, north carolina, Southern Environmental Law Center
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Return to Facing South's main page