Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Guardians Appeals to Hold Xcel Accountable

Company Violated Clean Air Laws at Comanche Coal-fired Power Plant
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Denver—WildEarthGuardians today filed a legal appeal to hold Xcel Energy accountable to cleanair and public health over air quality violations at the company’s Comanche 3coal-fired power plant in Pueblo, Colorado. The appeal was filed in the 10th Circuit U.S.Court of Appeals on behalf of Guardians by the University of Denver SturmCollege of Law Environmental Law Clinic.

“Our position is straightforward—if you pollute, you shouldpay,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy ProgramDirector. “In this case, Xcelviolated the Clean Air Act, yet the District Court refused to hold the companyaccountable, setting a dangerous precedent that threatens to let polluterseverywhere off the hook for jeopardizing our clean air.”

Xcel Energy, the largest utility in Colorado and the largestburner of coal in the state, constructed the 750 megawatt Comanche 3 coal-firedboiler and began operating the unit without meeting legally required limits ontoxic air emissions under the Clean Air Act. In 2009, Guardians filed suit in federal court against Xcelto prevent the construction of Comanche 3 and force the company to meet thelegally required pollution limits.

On August 1, 2011, Colorado U.S. District Court Judge WalkerMiller dismissed Guardians’ lawsuit, holding that Xcel Energy did not deserveto be punished at all for violating the Clean Air Act.

“Judge Miller’sruling basically said, ‘yeah, Xcel violated, but they had good intentions, soI’m not going to punish them,’” said Nichols. “Well, all the good intentions in the world do not changethe fact that Xcel knowingly violated the Clean Air Act, putting people and theenvironment at risk. This appealis about simple accountability to clean air.”

If successful, the appeal will open the door for Xcel to beassessed penalties and to commit to an environmental clean up project to remedythe past violations.

The Comanche 3 unit is Colorado’s newest coal-fired powerplant and made Xcel Energy’s Comanche coal-fired power plant in Pueblo the largestin the state. In 2010, thesmokestacks of the Comanche power plant released more than 28,000 pounds oftoxic air pollution into the air, including 125 pounds of mercury, 77 pounds oflead, and more than 6,000 pounds of hydrochloric acid.

The University ofDenver, the oldest private university in the Rocky Mountain region, enrollsapproximately 11,409 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofitorganization dedicated to protecting and restoring the wildlife, wild places,and wild rivers of the American West.