Colorado, utility agree on air pollution plan
Date: 07-Oct-99
Country: USA
Author: Judith Crosson
The $205 million programme is expected to reduce emissions of two big
air pollution contributors - sulphur dioxide by 70 percent and nitrogen
oxide by 40 percent.
"This proves groups with very different interests can get together and
craft a proposal for the common good," said Wayne Brunetti, vice
chairman and chief operating officer of New Century Energies , Public
Service's parent company.
The programme will be financed by a surcharge, adding 82 cents a month
to the average customer's electric bill starting Jan. 1, 2003, and
lasting for 15 years. Preliminary work has begun and construction is
expected to be completed by 2003.
Brunetti, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and environmental groups announced
the plan at a news conference in the state capitol.
Owens noted the state has been in compliance with air pollution
requirements for several years, compared with the 1970s when it failed
to meet requirements.
"But that doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels," the Republican
governor said.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS LIKE THE PLAN
Eric Blank, energy project director for The Land and Water Fund of the
Rockies, a non-profit environmental group that has at times sparred with
the electric utility, described the plan as ground breaking, which can
serve as a model for other areas.
"It's one of the single biggest things that can be done to improve air
quality," he said. "It's a model. They're not waiting for the federal
government."
Margie Perkins, director of Air Pollution Division of the Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment, said it was too early to
tell if the new programme would completely erase the Denver area's brown
cloud.
The cloud, formed when various pollutants combine and bake in the sun,
has been diminishing in recent years because of tougherlaws, such as the
Clean Air Act.
Also, utilities and manufacturers are monitored and automobiles are
powered by cleaner fuels, according to Christopher Dann, spokesman state
Health Department's Air Pollution Control division.
Colorado was the first state in the mid-1980s to require oxygenated fuel
sales between Nov. 1 and Feb. 7. There are also restrictions on wood
burning fireplaces during the winter, Dann said.
Public Service's plants currently meet all state and federal emissions
requirements. To achieve additional emission reductions, new control
equipment will be installed and other modifications will be made at
three power stations that use low-sulphur coal.
