Press Mention The Knoxville News-Sentinel July 11, 2001
Topical Mention
Air pollution regulation is not being enforced, coalition charges
In this mention
A Tennessee delegation presented a report to federal regulators in Cincinnati claiming that air pollution regulations are not being adequately enforced, citing research showing that pollution from coal-fired power plants like Bull Run shortens hundreds of Tennesseans' lives annually and triggers thousands of asthma attacks. The Tennessee Clean Air Task Force, a coalition of 15 health and environmental organizations, argues that the Tennessee Valley Authority has circumvented Clean Air Act protections by operating grandfathered coal plants without modern pollution controls. The testimony occurred during the first of four planned EPA hearings on how the Clean Air Act should apply to power plant repairs and upgrades.
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Air pollution regulation is not being enforced, coalition charges
By John Nolan
Associated Press
CINCINNATI – An air pollution regulation now under review is not being enforced well enough, environmentalists – including a delegation from Tennessee – told federal regulators.
Representatives of the Tennessee Clean Air Task Force wrote and released a report, which it says is based on research by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency consultants. The report claims at least 270 and as many as 553 Tennesseans have their lives shortened by pollution from power plants charged with violating the Clean Air Act. Those plants trigger as many as 10,249 asthma attacks, the report states.
"The fact is that every single day, the pollution from Bull Run and other power plants like it is shortening thousands of lives and endangering our health," Janice Nolen of the American Lung Association of Tennessee said in a prepared statement.
"By circumventing public health protections under the Clean Air Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority has increased the amount of pollution they belch into the air without using better pollution controls."
The task force – a coalition of 15 health and environmental organizations in Tennessee – says Bull Run is one of several old coal-fired plants that are "grandfathered" from modern pollution controls.
Power industry officials complain that the regulation of new sources of air pollution are too restrictive on power plants and increase maintenance time and costs.
Both sides testified in the first of four planned hearings nationwide on how the Clean Air Act should be applied to repairs and upgrades of power plants. A report is due to President Bush by Aug. 17.
At issue is the EPA's "new source review" program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program, incorporated into the Clean Air Act in 1977, was begun to ensure that new and some other types of pollution do not hinder progress toward cleaning up the nation's air.
The agency is assessing whether the program could be changed to encourage more efficient use of energy resources while maintaining air quality.