Kentucky Utilities (KU), a coal-fired electric utility, has agreed to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty and spend approximately $135 million on pollution controls to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act.
The Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that KU has agreed to install new pollution control equipment on its largest generating unit that will reduce combined emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by more than 31,000 tons per year, which is 90 percent below the 2007 emission levels.
KU will also install controls to reduce particulate matter emissions by approximately 1,000 tons per year.
The company will spend approximately $3 million on projects to benefit the environment and mitigate the adverse effects of the alleged violations, including contributing $1.8 million to a pilot project on the effectiveness of storing compressed carbon dioxide gas, a by-product of coal combustion, in deep injection wells.
KU will also spend $1 million to retrofit school buses with filters or other controls to reduce emissions of particulate matter, and pay $200,000 to the National Park Service to help restore Mammoth Cave National Park, located in Kentucky.
KU has agreed to surrender the excess nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide allowances it will have after installing the pollution controls. Coal-fired power plants are allowed to emit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides as allowances, which are granted under federal or state acid rain permits.
This settlement is part of the EPA’s enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements. The total combined sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission reductions secured from these settlements will exceed more than 1.8 million tons each year once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.
Coal-fired plants release sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides, which are a primary cause of acid rain that harms trees and lakes and impairs visibility. These pollutants cause severe respiratory problems, contribute to childhood asthma, and contribute to smog and haze. Air pollution from power plants can drift significant distances downwind.
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