Winter 2002 Newsletter
Center Joins in Filing Legal Petition to
Review Air Pollution Permits
In November, the Center joined environmental and health
advocates from across the state in filing a legal petition with
the Georgia Environmental Protection Division
(Georgia EPD).
The petition asks the agency to review permits it issued
to three of Georgiaís dirtiest coal-fired power plants,
including Plant Kraft near Savannah. Additionally, the
petition requests that Georgia EPD hold public hearings in
Savannah, Cartersville and Macon within 90 days.
The plantsóKraft, Bowen (Cartersville) and Scherer
(Macon)ówere sued by the US EPA and the Department of
Justice for polluting at levels that violate the Clean Air Act.
The three coal plants were ìgrandfathered,î or exempted from
meeting modern air pollution standards, when the Act passed
in 1970. However, the federal government determined
that the plants have since expanded or significantly modified
their facilities, but plant operators have not installed
proper pollution control technology, in violation of federal
clean air regulations.
According to federal and state law, plants that make major
modifications to their facilities in effect revoke the pollution
exemption for older plants and must clean up to meet the
modern standards. The US EPA sued the three Southern
Company plants in 1999 to compel them to comply with the
law, and to install the pollution controls necessary to meet
the more protective standardsówhich protect public health
and our air and water resources.
Also in 1999, Georgia EPD issued these plants their operating
permits. The permits do not recognize the US EPA's evidence
or determination and do not require the plants to reduce their
pollution. The permits should have included "schedules of
compliance," which are
timelines with milestones
that the plants would
follow to gradually reduce
emissions. Officials with
Georgia EPD claim that
they did not have the
resources necessary to
review US EPAís evidence
or join in the lawsuit at the
time of the filing.
The petition before
Georgia EPD requests
that the State review
the permits for Plants
Kraft, Bowen and
Scherer in light of the
federal evidence to
ensure that they were
issued properly and
comply with state and
federal law. At stake are hundreds of thousands of tons of
air pollution known to trigger asthma attacks and contribute
to the development of respiratory disease.
Coal-fired power plants account for eighty percent of
the stateís sulfur dioxide, and almost one-third of the
smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution. Power plants are
also the largest industrial source of airborne mercury, which
collects in rivers, lakes and streams. Marine life, such as fish
and shellfish, becomes contaminated with mercury and when
ingested poses a serious health threat, especially for
prospective mothers and their offspring.
Other petitioners joining the
Center in the action include:
African-American
Environmental Justice Action
Network
Bellevue Concerned Citizens
Community Organization
CAUTION Macon
Citizens for Clean Air and Water
Citizens for Environmental
Justice
Coosa River Basin Initiative
Friends of the Chattahoochee
Georgia ForestWatch
Georgia Public Interest Research
Group (Georgia PIRG)
Macon Environmental Justice
Organization
Sierra Club
Southern Organizing Committee
for Social and Economic Justice
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