Ohio coal burners lead U.S. polluters

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http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/2912318.htm

Posted on Fri, Mar. 22, 2002

Ohio coal burners lead U.S. polluters

State utilities at or near top of air pollution lists

By Bob Downing

Beacon Journal staff writer

Ohio's coal-burning utilities are ranked among the biggest air polluters in

the United States in a recent study.

Columbus-based American Electric Power Co. was ranked the No. 1 utility in

the country for emissions of four key power-plant pollutants: sulfur

dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and mercury.

Akron's FirstEnergy Corp. and the Cinergy Corp. of Cincinnati also ranked

high in the report released yesterday by two environmental groups, the

Natural Resources Defense Council and the Coalition for Environmentally

Responsible Economics, and a New Jersey utility, Public Service Enterprise

Group.

FirstEnergy was eighth in the country in emissions of sulfur dioxide, which

causes acid rain, and 11th in nitrogen oxide, which contributes to acid rain

and smog. It was 16th in carbon dioxide, a global warming gas, and seventh

in mercury, which can cause physical and developmental problems for children

and pregnant women.

Cinergy was fourth in sulfur dioxide, fifth in nitrogen oxide, sixth in

carbon dioxide and eighth in mercury.

AEP would expect to be atop the national rankings because it produces more

electricity than any other utility and relies heavily on coal, said

spokesman Tom Ayers.

The report looking at 2000 federal data is ``a snapshot of AEP's

operations,'' not what's been happening over the years, he said.

The No. 1 rankings reflect the fact the utility typically burns 75 million

tons of coal a year at 19 plants in Ohio and other states, he said.

Overall, the company's emissions have been shrinking. That is expected to be

reflected further in 2001 data because of the installation of new

anti-pollution equipment to cut nitrogen oxide at the company's Gavin Plant.

That plant in Gallia County is the largest coal-burning plant in Ohio.

FirstEnergy has reduced its sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by

60 percent since 1990 and is continuing to make improvements, said spokesman

Ralph DiNicola.

The company is also shifting away from coal, relying more on nuclear, oil,

natural gas and hydro pump storage, he said.

FirstEnergy gets 56 percent of its power from coal and that will drop to 47

percent in June with the completion of the sale of four coal-fired plants,

he said.

The company was a little surprised by its high rankings in light of the fact

that it has diverse sources of energy, not just coal, he said.

Kurt Waltzer of the Ohio Environmental Council said, ``The numbers

demonstrate that Ohio continues to lead the country in power-plant

pollution.

``The report underscores the fact that Ohio policymakers need to help

develop a comprehensive solution to this problem... and that Ohio needs to

be a key part of any solution,'' he said.

Segal of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council accused the

report of distorting the environmental record of utilities. ``The truth is

air quality trends are improving, even as energy consumption rises,'' he

said.

The report concludes that fewer than 20 utilities produce half or more of

each of the four power-plant pollutants.

In addition to AEP, the biggest offenders were the federal Tennessee Valley

Authority and the Southern Co.

Together those three utilities produced between 17 percent and 24 percent of

total industry emissions for each of the four pollutants.

Power plants in 2000 produced 37 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 23

percent of nitrogen oxide, 67 percent of carbon dioxide and 33 percent of

mercury, the report said.

The report is proof that the United States needs ``comprehensive power plant

pollution cleanup legislation,'' said Dan Lashof, spokesman for the Natural

Resources Defense Council.

The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics said it intends to

send the report to utilities and to invite them to kick off discussion of

the best ways to cut pollution that would be fair to utilities.

At present, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide are controlled under the Clean

Air Act. Limits for mercury have been proposed but not adopted. There are no

limits on carbon dioxide.

Congress is looking at overhauling power-plant legislation and President

W. Bush has unveiled his own plan.

The Bush administration is also expected to determine soon whether 51

coal-fired power plants -- including plants owned by FirstEnergy, AEP and

Cinergy -- will be forced to cut their emissions.

The U.S. Justice Department sued those plants in 1999 and 2000, alleging the

utilities made major improvements without installing anti-pollution

equipment. The utilities have denied wrongdoing, saying they were only

making minor repairs.

The report is available at www.ceres.org on the Web.

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Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@...