Westar Energy to Spend Approximately $500 Million to Settle Clean Air Act Violations

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Jan 25, 2010, 10:59 ET

Emissions to be Cut by more than 75,000 Tons Annually

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Westar Energy has agreed to spend approximately $500 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution from a Kansas power plant and pay a $3 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. As part of the settlement, Westar will also spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects.

The agreement, filed in federal court in Kansas, resolves violations of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review requirements at the company's Jeffrey Energy Center, a coal-fired power plant near St. Mary's, Kan.

"This settlement will lower harmful sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by thousands of tons each year, and will benefit air quality in Kansas and downwind areas," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce violations of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review provisions at coal-fired power plants and other sources of excess emissions across the country."

"Today's settlement sets the most stringent limit for sulfur dioxide emissions ever imposed on a coal-fired power plant in a federal settlement," said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "EPA is committed to protecting clean air for communities by making sure coal-fired power plants comply with the law."

Under the settlement, Westar will install and operate pollution control equipment at the Jeffrey Energy Center that is expected to reduce combined emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by roughly 78,600 tons per year, which is 85 percent below 2007 emissions. In addition, Westar will surrender surplus sulfur dioxide allowances. These allowances cannot be used again resulting in their permanent removal from the environment. Westar will also rebuild and optimize controls to reduce particulate matter emissions.

The settlement also requires Westar to spend $6 million on projects to benefit the environment and mitigate the adverse effects of the alleged violations including:

Retrofitting diesel engines on vehicles owned by or operated for public entities in Kansas with emission control equipment;
Installing new wind turbines that will result in the reduction of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases, and provide electricity for the benefit of a school or nonprofit;
Installing advanced truck stop electrification to reduce harmful emissions from idling trucks;
Installing plug-in hybrid infrastructure to facilitate the use of plug-in hybrid vehicles; and
Converting vehicles in Westar's fleet to reduce pollution by retrofitting diesel vehicles and purchasing hybrid vehicles.

In the complaint filed in February 2009, the government alleged that Westar modified all three units at the Jeffrey Energy Center, its largest coal-fired electric generating station, without installing required pollution control equipment or complying with applicable emission limits in violation of the Clean Air Act. The government discovered the violations through an information request submitted to Westar.

The settlement is part of the EPA's enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act's New Source Review requirements. The total combined sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission reductions secured from these settlements is more than 2 million tons each year once all the required pollution controls are installed and implemented.

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause severe harm to human health and the environment. After being emitted from power plants, they are converted to fine particles of particulate matter that can lodge deep in the lungs, causing a variety of health impacts including premature death. Sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides are also significant contributors to acid rain, smog, and haze. Air pollution from power plants can drift significant distances downwind and degrade air quality in nearby areas.

Westar Energy, based in Topeka, Kan., generates and distributes electricity to more than 684,000 customers in Kansas. It owns and operates three coal-fired electrical generating stations in Kansas. This settlement applies to all three units at the Jeffrey Energy Center, which comprise 2,160 mega-watts, or 73 percent, of Westar's coal fleet.

The state of Kansas recently intervened in the case and joined the federal government in the settlement.

The proposed settlement was lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. A copy of the consent decree will be available on the Department of Justice Web site at http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/coal/index.html

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice