N.J. to join EPA suit against midwest power plants
Date: 06-Dec-99
Country: USA
New Jersey, unlike neighbouring New York and Connecticut, has no plans
yet to file a separate lawsuit against the plant owners, preferring
instead to join forces with the federal Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), they added.
"We're not looking to file our own suit. We feel the best approach is to
join the federal suit," a spokesman at the New Jersey Attorney General's
Office told Reuters.
The EPA on October 3 filed a lawsuit against seven Midwest and Southern
utilities, citing alleged Clean Air Act violations.
The EPA lawsuit takes aim at power plants owned by American Electric
Power Co. Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, Cinergy Corp. of Cincinnati, Ohio,
FirstEnergy of Akron, Ohio, Illinova Corp. of Decatur, Ill., Southern
Co. of Atlanta, Ga., TECO Energy Inc. of Tampa, Fla., and Southern
Indiana Gas & Electric Co. of Evansville, Ind.
New York and Connecticut earlier this week jointly filed their own
lawsuit against AEP, the biggest coal-burning power producer in the
Midwest, but have said they also wish to join the EPA suit.
"All of our efforts (to clean New Jersey's air) are fruitless...if New
Jerseyans must breathe the dirty air coming into our state from mid-west
coal-burning power plants," N.J. Governor Christie Whitman said in a
statement issued Friday.
"This legal action will require that these power plants clean up their
emissions and stop polluting our air," she said.
Central to both lawsuits is a Clean Air Act requirement that older power
plants undergoing extensive upgrades be held to the same strict
emissions standards as new power plants.
A New Jersey Attorney General's Office spokesman said the state was
scheduled to file papers early next week in Columbus, Ohio, where AEP
has its headquarters.
The statement from governor Whitman said New Jersey "will continue to
explore our litigation options with an eye towards taking additional
action against the owners and operators of other power plants."
AEP, though not immediately available for comment, said earlier this
week its older plants meet Clean Air Act requirements and that work done
on them was maintenance only.
AEP has long argued that Northeastern states could more effectively
fight air pollution by cutting car traffic in their own urban areas than
by attacking coal-fired power plants 500-600 miles away.
