newjerseynewsroom.com

Sierra Club applauds action against plant that pollutes Northwest Jersey

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has accepted a petition by the state Department of Environmental Protection that calls for an 81 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions over three years at the Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, PA.

The polluting plant sits on the Delaware River opposite Knowlton in Warren County.

Jeff Tittel, New Jersey Sierra Club director, Wednesday described the EPA’s action as an important step forward in improving New Jersey’s air quality.

“It is important for the EPA to force the clean up of these coal plants in Pennsylvania that pollute New Jersey‘s air,’’ Tittel said. “This is an important step forward in allowing the residents of New Jersey to breathe easier.”

Tittel said the action also underscores the EPA‘s commitment to reducing pollution from coal-fired power plants. In recent months the EPA has released a series of proposed rules to regulate coal ash, and reduce mercury, sulfur dioxide and NoX (CQ) emissions from the coal-fired plants. Sulfur dioxide exposure can be pose health risks especially to people with asthma, children, and the elderly.

One-third of New Jersey‘s air pollution comes from out-of-state and the Portland power plant is the largest source of air pollution in the state’s Northwest, Tittel said.

The DEP contends that sulfur dioxide pollution pouring out of the Portland plant is more damaging and widespread than previously believed, extending into a much larger area of Warren County and into portions of Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon counties.

Sulfur dioxide emissions are known to cause a variety of adverse health effects, including asthma and respiratory failure, and environmental impacts such as acid rain.

The DEP petition also cited a tougher new National Ambient Air Quality Standard for sulfur dioxide that was adopted in June. That new federal standard of 75 parts per billion was established to help protect public health, including the health of “sensitive” populations such as asthmatics, children and the elderly.

New Jersey petitioned to reduce the pollution coming from the plant under the federal Clean Air Act. State action against the Portland plant originally began under DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson during the Corzine administration and is part of a long-standing commitment by the state government to clean up pollution from coal-fired power plants. Corzine also had the Martins Creek coal plant in Pennsylvania closed through a lawsuit.

"We are glad the Christie administration has continued the fight against these coal plants despite other attempts to weaken and roll back New Jersey‘s environmental protections,” Tittel said. “While the administration has gone forward on this suite, Christie has also withdrawn from other important pollution litigation.

“The Christie administration dropped out of a lawsuit filed by ten states going after the coal plants for greenhouses gas emissions,” Tittel said. “This was the first time New Jersey ever pulled out of a lawsuit on air pollution. The governor has also come out as a climate change skeptic and is considering pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a ten state compact to reduce emissions from power plants causing climate change.”