WildEarth Guardians

Monday, November 22, 2010
WildEarth Guardians Takes Aim at Air Pollution Permit for PNM's San Juan Generating Station

State-issued Permit Fails to Protect Clean Air from Coal-fired Power Plant
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x1303

San Juan County, New Mexico—In a petition filed late last week, WildEarth Guardians called on the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to overturn a state-issued permit allowing the San Juan Generating Station to operate.

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

The San Juan Generation Station is an 1,800 megawatt power plant located in northwestern New Mexico that every year releases thousands of tons of toxic air pollution from its smokestacks.  Consisting of four boilers, the plant releases more than 18,000 tons of smog forming nitrogen oxide gases, 51 pounds of mercury, and more than 13,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide—as much as is released by more than 2.3 million passenger vehicles.

It is estimated that every year the plant causes 33 premature deaths, 50 heart attacks, 600 asthma attacks, 21 cases of chronic bronchitis, and 31 asthma-related emergency room visits every year at a cost of more than $250 million (see Clean Air Task Force, http://www.catf.us/coal/problems/power_plants/existing/map.php?state=New_Mexico).

Filed with the Administrator of the EPA in Washington, D.C., WildEarth Guardians’ petition calls on the agency to object to the New Mexico Environment Department’s proposal to renew the operating permit for the San Juan Generating Station.  The petition cites the failure of New Mexico to hold PNM accountable to installing up-to-date pollution controls at the plant, to ensuring accurate pollution monitoring, to reporting violations to the public, and to protecting ambient air quality in the region as required by the Clean Air Act.

“Plain and simple, the San Juan Generating Station is illegally spewing poisons into the air we breathe and worse, New Mexico’s proposed permit condones this,” said Nichols.  “Since the New Mexico Environment Department won’t protect people from the San Juan Generating Station, we will.”

The permit was proposed under Title V of the Clean Air Act.  Under Title V, air pollution operating permits must be written to ensure that sources of air pollution comply with all Clean Air Act requirements, including best available pollution control requirements under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program.  Under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program, best pollution controls are required whenever a major source of air pollution is constructed or modified.

In the case of the San Juan Generating Station, evidence shows that PNM constructed the facility, yet never complied with Prevention of Significant Deterioration.  Since then, the plant has been modified, yet PNM continues to operate the San Juan Generating Station without up-to-date pollution controls.

Under Title V, citizens can petition the EPA Administrator to object to the issuance of state-issued permits.  If the petition is granted, New Mexico will have 90 days to prepare a new permit that brings the San Juan Generating Station into compliance.  If it fails to do so, the permit could be denied by EPA, meaning the San Juan Generating Station could not legally operate.

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