Enviros to Sue American Electric Power!

In Columbus, Ohio on October 27 charging American Electric Power Company (AEP) with major violations of federal air pollution laws, Midwest and national environ- mental organizations announced today that they intend to sue the company to force 11 of its coal-burning power plants to comply with the Clean Air Act.

"American Electric Power is one of America’s dirtiest utilities," said Kurt Waltzer of the Ohio Environmental Council. "Many of these plants have been in violation of the Clean Air Act for years."

"Hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners suffer asthma attacks each year, and thousands are admitted to hospital emergency rooms, when smog levels are high." said Chris Williams, Executive Director of Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. "We want to provide some relief to them by ensuring that the Clean Air Act is enforced."

These groups joined together today to send a letter to AEP alleging that 11 plants owned by the company in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia, violated the Clean Air Act by failing to install state-of-the-art pollution controls when they were rebuilt. The letter notifies the company that the groups intend to file a lawsuit to address these violations.

"When Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, it required new power plants to meet state-of-the-art performance standards to limit emissions of air pollutants," said David Hawkins, air and energy program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), another member of the environmental coalition. "The Act also requires modified plants, such as AEP’s older power plants, to meet these same modern performance standards when utility companies make new investments in them."

Under the Clean Air Act, when a power plant is modified and then significantly increases net emissions, the plant is required to meet he same emission standards that apply to new power plants. New and modified coal-fired power plants that are located in areas that meet federal air quality standards are required to install Best Available Control Technology (BACT). Plants located in areas that have not attained national air quality standards are required to install more stringent controls, to reduce emissions of "nonattainment" pollutants to the Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER), and to purchase emission offsets.

"AEP’s failure to install modern pollution controls when it rebuilt these 11 plants not only is a violation of federal law, it has worsened air pollution in the states where the plants are located and in downwind areas," said Denise Poole, of the West Virginia Environmental Council, which signed the AEP letter.

"For example, AEP failed to install required pollution controls for sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen when modifications were made at the Kanawha River coal plant in Glasgow, West Virginia between 1993 and 1995," noted Susan Hedman, an attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest, who helped prepare the letter to AEP. "Emissions of nitrogen oxides have more than doubled in the years since those modifications were made to the Kanawha River facility." The environmental groups reviewed federal and state utility records and emissions reports to identify the violations.

"The Kanawha River plant emits between 8 and 9 times more smog-forming nitrogen oxides than would be the case if AEP had installed the proper controls -- the same kind of controls that new power plants are required to use," said David Wooley, an attorney with the Clean Air Task Force, who is working with the environmental groups on their case. "It also emits about four times as much sulfur dioxide as a new plant."

Nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons bake in sunlight and humidity to form ozone or smog. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide are the main precursors to acid rain.

"Our letter invites AEP to contact us to discuss these problems before we file a complaint in federal district court," noted Nancy Marks, an NRDC attorney who signed the letter to AEP. "We hope that AEP will take immediate steps to correct these violations."

The groups announcing their intent to sue AEP include:

Ohio Environmental Council

Ohio Citizen Action

Hoosier Environmental Council

Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana

Ohio Public Interest Research Group

Buckeye Forest Council

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

West Virginia Environmental Council

Clean Air Council

Great Lakes Natural Resources Center/National Wildlife Federation

Izaak Walton League of America

Sierra Club

Valley Watch Inc.

Natural Resources Defense Council Inc.

Contact persons:

Kurt Waltzer, Ohio Environmental Council 614-487-7506

Maria Weidner, Ohio PIRG 216-791-1116 or 614-487-7506

Chris Williams, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana 317-205-3535 Denise Poole, West Virginia Environmental Council; Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition 304-522-0246

Susan Hedman, Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest 312-759-3400

David Hawkins or Elliott Negin, Natural Resources Defense Council 202-289-6868

Nancy Marks, Natural Resources Defense Council 212-727-4414

David Wooley, Clean Air Task Force 518-472-1762 _