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Petition Filed with EPA to Overturn Air Pollution Permit for Xcel to Operate Valmont Coal-fired Power Plant in Boulder, Accelerate Plant Retirement Denver-WildEarth Guardians has petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to overturn an air pollution permit that allows Xcel Energy to jeopardize clean air and a safe climate while operating the Valmont coal-fired power plant in Boulder. The move bolsters calls for retiring the Valmont coal-fired power plant. “Clean air and a healthy climate go hand in hand,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “The Valmont plant spews massive amounts of air pollution that needs to be kept in check, not ignored.” Filed late last week 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. Specifically, the permit fails to limit global warming pollution, to ensure accurate pollution monitoring, to ensure compliance with particulate matter limits, and to keep toxic air contaminants in check, all as required by the Clean Air Act and Colorado’s air quality laws. The petition ups the ante in favor of retiring the Valmont coal-fired power plant under recently proposed House Bill 1365. That bill would force Xcel Energy to cut smog forming pollution from coal-fired power plants along the Front Range, including Valmont, 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 genuinely power past coal at Valmont." The Valmont coal plant, located in Boulder, 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: 4,747,440 pounds of nitrogen oxide pollution-which forms smog and haze-as much as is released by nearly 407,000 cars (according to the EPA, a car releases 38.2 pounds of nitrogen oxides). 110,980 pounds of particulate pollution, which scars scenic landscapes and can trigger asthma attacks. 4,9340 pounds of hydrochloric acid, a toxic chemical. 33 pounds of mercury-a potent neurotoxin. 1,387,144 tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is fueling global warming, more than 1% of Colorado’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The air pollution permit was issued to Xcel Energy under Title V of the Clean Air Act. Under Title V, permits are issued by states, but citizens can petition the EPA to veto them if they fail to comply with the law. 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 Valmont 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. “This is an oversight of monumental proportions,” said Nichols. “With our climate, our health, and our safety at stake, this is one legal duty Colorado should not have turned its back on.” Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator of the EPA has 60 days to grant or deny the petition. View the Valmont petition (PDF) |
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