Old coal plants fuel debate: TVA disputes EPA on upgrades as Bush orders rules review

Old coal plants fuel debate
TVA disputes EPA on upgrades as Bush orders rules review

BY DAVE FLESSNER
BUSINESS EDITOR

STEVENSON, Ala. — To the Tennessee Valley Authority, replacing the pipes that carry steam inside the Widows Creek Fossil Plant here in 1989 was simply part of an ongoing program to keep the power plant in operation.

"It's like replacing an old battery to keep your car running," TVA spokesperson Barbara Martocci said.

But two years ago, federal regulators said the $4.1 million project in the Unit 5 boiler was far more than routine maintenance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the work was part of TVA's efforts to rebuild and extend the life of its aging, coal-fired plants to avoid having to meet the stricter pollution standards for new power plants.

"These dirty old plants should have been shut down long ago, or at least brought up to meet the clean air standards for new plants," said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, an environmental group.

TVA is heading to court again next month to challenge the legality of EPA's ruling, which could force a $3 billion upgrade of Widows Creek and eight other TVA coal plants. But even before then, the Bush administration may grant TVA and other utilities with older coal plants some relief from the new source standards adopted by the Clinton-era EPA.

President Bush ordered a reassessment this spring of those air pollution rules. Originally, the Bush administration was

scheduled to issue its findings by Aug. 17. But the review was postponed until later this year to provide time to create a broader approach to control pollution from coal plants. Limits on mercury pollution would be included for the first time.

"This fall, we will put forward an ambitious proposal that will reduce air pollution from power plants significantly more than the existing system," EPA Administrator Christie Whitman pledged last month.

New or rebuilt power plants are required to install the latest pollution control equipment and must comply with the rules stemming from the Clean Air Act of 1970. But older plants are grandfathered in under less stringent standards and have been repaired and modernized without adding anti-pollution equipment.

UPGRADES OR MAINTENANCE?

Determining just what is new or is substantially upgraded and what is merely routine maintenance is being hotly debated.

Jeffrey Holmstead, EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, said the review of EPA's actions against TVA and seven other utilities was extended to develop a more flexible and comprehensive approach to pollution and to limit environmental criticisms if the new source standards are changed.

"It has quickly become apparent that environmental groups will portray any changes in this program as changes that will kill people," Mr. Holmstead told The New York Times. "We want to lay out our vision for a multipollutant strategy and show that we will achieve better environmental protection at lower cost."

But already, some environmentalists are suspicious.

"We think that the administration's plan to postpone any decision and lump the promised changes into some new package is probably a way to cover up a weakening of the Clean Air Act," said Sandy Kurtz, a Chattanooga clean air activist for the Tennessee Environmental Council. "These old coal-fired plants have been violating the law, and now they are letting them off the hook. The result will be dirtier air and more health problems."

BIGGEST INDUSTRIAL POLLUTERS

The old coal plants are the nation's biggest industrial polluters, belching out millions of tons a year of smog-causing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. TVA's coal plants are the biggest source of air pollution across the Tennessee Valley, which includes the environmentally sensitive Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

EPA said bringing old coal plants up to new source standards would be equal to removing 26 million cars from the road.

But TVA officials insist that EPA's proposed rules are not cost-effective and could leave the Tennessee Valley short of

power

TVA derives 52 percent of its power from its 11 coal-fired power plants and is continuing to boost coal generation to meet rising electricity demand in the valley. TVA's average coal plant is already over 40 years old, and the utility has no current plans to phase out any of its coal units.

TVA has pledged to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by at least 75 percent by 2005 from their peak levels reached in the 1970s. The federal utility has already spent more than $2.5 billion switching to lower-sulfur coal and installing coal washers, scrubbers and low NOx (nitrogen oxide) burners to its coal plants. TVA is spending another $1 billion to install 18 selective catalytic reduction systems to remove most of the nitrogen oxides produced from burning coal.

"We are absolutely committed to reducing these emissions," said Joe Bynum, executive vice president of TVA's fossil power group. "But we think we can be more cost effective and accomplish far more if we target the plants where we have the greatest opportunities for improvement rather than just those

" With these losses, TVA might not be able to supply the power needs of the Tennessee Valley," Mr. Bynum said. "Because utilities throughout the country would suffer similar losses, we could all find ourselves facing energy shortages."

TVA has joined with other utilities in a coalition known as the National Electric Reliability Coordinating Council to urge the president to back off of EPA's new source review standards. The council has hired former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour to lobby the Bush administration and Congress.

"Even though the public overwhelmingly supports strong enforcement of the Clean Air Act and no pardon for the polluters, these insiders may have enough clout — and campaign cash — to get the polluters off the hook," said Frank O'Donnell, a spokesman for the nonprofit Clean Air Trust.

But TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough said TVA is using the council only for technical assistance, not lobbying.

"We'd like to resolve this in a way that would enable us to provide affordable, reliable power, cleaner air and a vibrant economy," he said. "We're intent on meeting all three of those goals and we want to work with EPA to accomplish that."

Congressional members sympathetic to TVA's objections to EPA's new source review still insist that TVA and other utilities must continue to cut their emissions.

"I do think a balance can be struck that does not use the heavy hand of federal regulation in an overly burdensome way for TVA but still continues to lower the pollution from these plants," said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Chattanooga. "I think with its new board, TVA can and will do better."

U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said TVA has made significant progress already in reducing pollution while raising electric rates only once in the past 13 years.

"Whether or not the Bush administration reverses the Clinton administration's interpretation of the Clean Air Act, TVA must continue its efforts to dramatically reduce emissions," said Margaret Camp, a spokeswoman for Sen. Frist.

E-mail Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com