DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Settlement improves air quality for millions of people
A comprehensive agreement reached in September regarding alleged air quality violations will bring much cleaner air to Alexandria and Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. It is one of the most far-reaching cases DEQ has handled in years.
The settlement stems from a notice of violation that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality issued against the Mirant Potomac River plant in September 2003 for allegedly exceeding the permit limit for nitrogen oxide emissions at the Alexandria facility.
The settlement will require improved pollution control technology and reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions, which contribute to ozone pollution, at the coal-fired Potomac River plant beginning this year. In addition, the settlement requires Mirant to make similar improvements at three larger coal-fired plants in Maryland.
In reaching this settlement, Virginia concluded that achieving significant pollution reductions from all four Mirant facilities was more beneficial than the smaller improvements that could be made at the Potomac River plant alone. The settlement will bring a total reduction of 29,000 tons per year of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides by 2010. That is 23,000 tons more than the entire amount emitted by the Potomac River plant in 2003.
Other highlights of the settlement - reached through the joint efforts of DEQ, the Office of the Attorney General in Virginia, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the US Justice Department and the Maryland Department of the Environment - include:
- By 2010, nitrogen oxide emissions during the May-through-September ozone season will decline from recent levels of 2,100 tons to 1,475 tons at the Potomac River plant in Alexandria and will drop from the 2002 level of 19,249 tons per year to 5,200 tons from the four Mirant plants combined. Year-round nitrogen oxide emissions will decline from 45,000 tons to 16,000 tons.
- The three Maryland plants (in Charles County, Montgomery County and Prince George's County) currently have no nitrogen oxide emission limits. The settlement imposes limits on these plants and the Alexandria plant during ozone season and on an annual basis.
- The air quality improvements must be made at the Mirant facilities, not through trading of emission credits. This will ensure that these air quality improvements focus specifically on the Northern Virginia-Maryland-D.C. region.
- Mirant will pay a civil penalty of $500,000 to be divided evenly between Virginia and the United States.
The large reductions in nitrogen oxide emissions will also help improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. New pollution control technologies at the plants will allow less nitrogen in the air that could deposit or settle into the Bay, reducing nutrient pollution in the water.
In addition, Mirant will complete several environmental projects at the Potomac River plant, at a total cost of at least $1 million, to reduce pollution from airborne particles. These projects are expected to reduce particle pollution by more than 47 tons annually from the Alexandria plant's ash silos, trucks, coal piles and other equipment. The projects were developed in collaboration with the city of Alexandria.
In a separate agreement with DEQ and in cooperation with the local community, Mirant has agreed to conduct a study of the Potomac River plant's emissions. The study will use computer modeling to determine whether key pollutants such as ozone and mercury exceed air quality standards. If they do, Mirant will be required to reduce the pollution.
The settlement and the additional studies scheduled at the Potomac River plant demonstrate DEQ's strong commitment to protecting the environment for the well being of all Virginians. I am very proud of the work DEQ has done to make Virginia the leader in improving air quality to the benefit of millions of people.