Trans Alta's Centralia coal plant. (AP photo)
Three environmental organizations have appealed an air quality permit given to TransAlta's Centralia power plant, Washington's one and only coal-fired generating facility.
The groups filed the appeal September 28 with Washington's Pollution Control Hearings Board, stating that the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency's permit failed to impose mercury and greenhouse gas emissions limits, and that it failed to require the best available controls for nitrogen oxides (NOx), which cause several types of air pollution, including unhealthy particulates and unsightly hazes.
The groups that filed the appeal include the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center. Earthjustice filed the appeal on behalf of the three groups. The parks association is concerned about the impacts of plant haze on three national parks, Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades.
The Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency is responsible for enforcing state and federal air quality laws in five counties.
The 1,376-megawatt Centralia plant is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington, emitting an estimated 10.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. On May 21, Governor Christine Gregoire signed an executive order on climate change that, among other things, directs the state Department of Ecology to work with TransAlta to develop greenhouse gas emissions limits to be imposed by December 31, 2025.
Also, in a proposed agreement with the state, TransAlta has agreed to reduce NOx emissions 20 percent and to voluntarily cut mercury emissions in half by 2012. The deal drew protests from the National Park Service.
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