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Lawsuit Seeks to Overturn Air Pollution Permit for Coal-fired Power Plant
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

San Juan County, New Mexico—WildEarth Guardians today filed suit againstthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to overturn the air pollutionpermit allowing Public Service Company of New Mexico, or PNM, to operate the coal-firedSan Juan Generating Station.

“This is about protecting our clean air from one of the largest and dirtiestsources of air pollution in the State,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and EnergyProgram Director for WildEarth Guardians. “Importantly, this is aboutholding PNM accountable to keeping its air pollution in check.”

The San JuanGeneration Station is a 1,800 megawatt power plant located in northwestern NewMexico that every year releases thousands of tons of toxic air pollution fromits smokestacks. Consisting offour boilers, the plant releases more than 18,000 tons of smog forming nitrogenoxide gases, 51 pounds of mercury, and more than 13,000,000 tons of carbondioxide—as much as is released by more than 2.3 million passenger vehicles.

It is estimated that every year the plant causes 33premature deaths, 50 heart attacks, 600 asthma attacks, 21 cases of chronicbronchitis, and 31 asthma-related emergency room visits every year at a cost ofmore than $250 million (see Clean AirTask Force).

In November of 2010, WildEarth Guardians filed a petitionwith the Administrator of the EPA, calling on the agency to object to the NewMexico Environment Department’s proposal to renew the air pollution permit forthe San Juan Generating Station. The petition challenged the failure of New Mexico to hold PNMaccountable to installing up-to-date pollution controls at the plant, toensuring accurate pollution monitoring, to reporting violations to the public, andto protecting ambient air quality in the region as required by the Clean AirAct.

“Plain and simple, the San Juan Generating Station isillegally spewing poisons into the air we breathe and worse, New Mexico’s permitcondones this,” said Nichols. “Sincethe New Mexico Environment Department won’t protect people from the San JuanGenerating Station, we will.”

The suit comes as the Environment Department is advancing aPNM proposal to retrofit the San Juan Generating Station with second-tier airpollution controls. On June 1stand 2nd, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board will hearthe proposal and likely adopt it. The PNM proposal would reject an EPA plan to reduce emissions by morethan 80%, instead opting to reduce harmful air pollution by only 20% from thepower plant. Although allindications are that the PNM proposal would be rejected by EPA, the EnvironmentDepartment is continuing to push for a weaker clean air plan.

The air pollution permit for the San Juan Generating Station was proposed underTitle V of the Clean Air Act. UnderTitle V, permits must be written to ensure that sources of air pollution complywith all Clean Air Act requirements, including best available pollution controlrequirements. Under the Clean Air Act, best pollution controls arerequired whenever a major source of air pollution is constructed or modified.

In the case of the San Juan Generating Station, evidence shows that PNMconstructed the facility, yet never installed the best pollution controls. Since then, the plant has beenmodified, yet PNM continues to operate without up-to-date pollution controls.

Under Title V, citizens can petition the EPA Administrator to veto state-issuedpermits. The Clean Air Actrequires the EPA to respond within 60 days to a petition. In this case, EPA’s response is longoverdue, prompting WildEarth Guardians to file suit today in federal court inNew Mexico.

If the petition is granted, New Mexico will have 90days to prepare a new permit that brings the San Juan Generating Station intocompliance. If it fails to do so, theSan Juan Generating Station could not legally operate.