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Petition Filed with EPA to Overturn Air Pollution Permit Allowing Xcel to Operate Cherokee Coal-fired Power Plant in Denver, Accelerate Plant Retirement
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x1303

Denver-WildEarth Guardians today petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to overturn an air pollution permit allowing Xcel Energy to jeopardize clean air and a safe climate while operating the Cherokee coal-fired power plant in North Denver. The move bolsters calls for retiring the power plant.

“This is no joke, the Cherokee coal-fired power plant is the number one threat to clean air and a safe climate in the Denver metro area,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “For the health of our communities and future generations, it’s time to stop fooling around with fossil fuels.”

Filed with the Administrator of the EPA in Washington, D.C., the petition calls on the agency to overturn a permit issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment over its failure to protect public health and the climate and comply with the Clean Air Act. WildEarth Guardians is challenging the failure of the permit to hold Xcel Energy accountable to thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act, to limit global warming pollution, to ensure accurate pollution monitoring, and to keep toxic air contaminants in check, all as required by the Clean Air Act and Colorado’s air quality law.

The petition ups the ante in favor of retiring the Cherokee coal-fired power plant under House Bill 1365, which is nearing passage in the Colorado Senate. That bill would force Xcel Energy to cut smog forming pollution from coal-fired power plants along the Front Range, including Cherokee, and places a high priority on coal plant retirement.

“The writing is on the wall: with Xcel’s environmental liability mounting by the day, the case for replacing coal-fired power plants with clean energy is growing ever stronger,” said Nichols. “It’s time to power past coal at Cherokee.”

The Cherokee coal-fired power plant, located in North Denver, is a major source of air pollution. According to Xcel’s own data on file with the State of Colorado, every year the coal burning plant releases:

10,295.60 tons of nitrogen oxide pollution-which forms smog and haze-as much as is released by nearly 540,000 cars (according to the EPA, a car releases 38.2 pounds of nitrogen oxides).

222.29 tons of particulate pollution, which scars scenic landscapes and can trigger asthma attacks.

12.31 tons of hydrochloric acid, a toxic chemical.

53.8 pounds of mercury-a potent neurotoxin.

5,614,719.7 tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is fueling global warming, nearly 5% of Colorado’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

The air pollution permit was issued to Xcel Energy under Title V of the Clean Air Act and authorizes Xcel to operate the Cherokee plant. Under Title V, permits are issued by states, but citizens can petition the EPA to veto them if they fail to comply with the Clean Air Act.

The latest petition is another challenge to the failure of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to regulate carbon dioxide under existing laws. Carbon dioxide is considered an air pollutant under both the Clean Air Act and Colorado state law. Under state law, an air pollutant is considered to be “any gas…which is emitted into or otherwise enters the atmosphere.”

State regulations require any stationary source of air pollution that spews more than 250 tons per year of any pollutant regulated under state law to use the best available controls. Although the Cherokee coal plant emits more than 250 tons per year of carbon dioxide, the permit fails to ensure Xcel Energy uses the best available pollution controls to keep global warming pollution in check.

“With our climate, our health, and our safety at stake, this is one legal duty Colorado should not have turned its back on,” said Nichols. “It’s time to take responsibility for our future generations and shut down the Cherokee coal-fired power plant.”

The latest petition is also the third filed against an Xcel coal-fired power plant in a month. In late February, WildEarth Guardians filed a petition challenging the Title V Permit for Xcel’s Pawnee coal-fired power plant and on March 18, filed a petition challenging the Title V Permit for Xcel’s Valmont coal-fired power plant.

Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator of the EPA has 60 days to grant or deny the petition.

View the Cherokee petition (PDF)