TVA should comply, not appeal

TVA should comply, not appeal

TVA should quit fighting enforcement of federal clean air laws and devote its energies, instead, to cleaning up or phasing out its oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plants.

For years TVA evaded federal clean-air requirements by reinvesting heavily in old, dirty plants rather than building new, clean ones. The old plants were exempt from new standards under "grandfather" clauses in the law, but only so long as they received no more than "routine maintenance." The idea was that with only basic maintenance these problem plants would soon outlive their usefulness and be replaced with modern and tightly controlled plants.

But TVA undertook major reconstruction of old plants and simply called it "routine maintenance." The subterfuge boosted the plants' generating capacity — and pollution — and kept them running indefinitely without the expense of installing up-to-date emission controls.

TVA was not alone in this. Other utilities followed the same strategy of evasion, and it worked for awhile. Then the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency got wise.

Late last year EPA ordered TVA and eight private utilities to clean up their old coal-fired plants. TVA appealed to higher powers within EPA and lost. Last week, the administrative appeals board upheld the EPA order for eight of the nine TVA plants in question. That showed the profound weakness of TVA's defense. But weak arguments don't preclude long, drawn-out legal battles.

TVA has also appealed the EPA decree in federal court, where oral arguments are scheduled in November, almost a full year after the original clean-up order. At this rate the lawsuit could take years, and the court has blocked enforcement until the case is decided. Litigation may be effective in postponing compliance, but it is extremely expensive in time and money — and in continued pollution of the air.

Emissions from coal-fired power plants are a huge part of pollution problems in this part of the country. Chattanooga, East Tennessee, North Georgia and the Great Smoky Mountains all suffer the effects of poorly controlled plants run by TVA and other utilities targeted by EPA. These plants are dominant sources of small particulate, which easily lodges in the lungs, as well as sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which produce smog and acid rain, and carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming.

Human health is directly affected. So are our forests and the soil in which we grow crops. So are our rivers and lakes and the beauty of our natural surroundings. Smog-laden air that is unhealthy to breathe and impairs visibility in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a growing problem directly related to power-plant pollution.

TVA Chairman Craven Crowell justifies the fight against EPA's order on grounds that compliance would raise electric rates. But failure to comply has simply externalized costs, shifting them to the lungs of humans and to the natural systems of the Earth.

Again, TVA is not alone in this. Other utilities also saved themselves millions by externalizing the costs of excessive pollution. All should give up the fight and come into compliance with the EPA order.

In our view, TVA has a special duty to do the right thing because it is a federal utility and correctly argues that part of its value to the nation is as a model of responsible stewardship for private operators. But none of the utilities which have evaded compliance by essentially rebuilding their oldest and dirtiest plants should be allowed to get away with it.

Congress should short-circuit long-term litigation on this question by requiring that all power plants, regardless of age, come into compliance with clean-air standards by a certain date. From that point on, money and energy would be spent on cleaning up the air, not paying the lawyers.