FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE
CONTACTS
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Joel Finkelstein for NPCA | 202.285.0113 | finkelstein@climateadvisers
Alison Flowers for Sierra Club | 303-246-6297 | alison.flowers@sierraclub.org
Kevin Reuther for Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy | 651-287-4861 |
kreuther@mncenter.org
RELEASE
Clean Air Groups Applaud EPA Review
of Pollution Plan for Minnesota’s
Dirtiest Coal-Fired Power Plant
Xcel’s Sherco Coal Plant Damages Air Quality for Midwesterners
and our National Parks and Wilderness Areas
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — After years of delay, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) yesterday agreed to revisit the pollution control plan for Xcel Energy’s
Sherburne County Generating Station (Sherco). Sherco is Minnesota’s dirtiest coalfired power plant. The pollution created by the 37-year-old Sherco plant is unhealthy
for people and is a major contributor to the haze that obscures views at Voyageurs
and Isle Royale National Parks, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
As a result of this agreement, EPA will act on a 2009 certification by the National
Park Service that Sherco is impairing national park visibility. The agency will
propose a plan by February 27th, 2015 and finalize a plan by the end of August 2015.
EPA's obligation is based on the Clean Air Act's requirement to protect America’s
greatest national parks and wilderness areas from air pollution.
EPA's commitment comes as the result of a lawsuit brought by a group of clean air
advocates, including the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), Sierra
Club, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), Friends of the
Boundary Waters Wilderness, Voyageurs National Park Association and Fresh
Energy.
“This is a major step toward clean air in Boundary Waters, Voyageurs and Isle
Royale,” said Stephanie Kodish, Director & Counsel for the Clean Air Program at
NPCA. “At last, today we can say that EPA is going to act. Now we need to make sure
that EPA’s action is as strong and meaningful as the Midwest deserves.”
While EPA has agreed to take some action by the end of next February, the form of
that action is uncertain. There are at least three possible scenarios:
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EPA could require Sherco to be retrofitted with best available pollution
controls.
EPA could determine that the National Park Service was wrong and that
Sherco does not impair the air quality in Voyageurs and Isle Royale National
Parks, and require no additional controls. This is similar to the argument
Xcel is making, even though both Xcel’s and the state’s own air pollution
modeling both show that these controls still mean dirty air and impacted
visibility at Voyageurs and Isle Royale for roughly a month each year; and at
Boundary Waters almost two months of every year.
EPA could agree to a weak haze plan put forward by Minnesota state
regulators that does not require best available retrofit controls, even though
technology that can remove 90 percent or more of haze-causing emissions is
available and has been installed on over 200 similar coal plants nationwide.
"We hope that our families will soon be able to breathe a little easier, especially in
our parks," said Jessica Tritsch, organizer for the Sierra Club in Minnesota. "The
health consequences of Xcel Energy's Sherco power plant are still very present, and
we need this utility to step up and clean up the dirty air it's been creating for years."
EPA's agreement to take action on the Park Service's 2009 certification is set forth in
a Consent Decree that was lodged yesterday in federal district court in Minneapolis.
The Consent Decree will not become final until the completion of a public comment
period and thereafter review and approval by the Court.
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