The ? In TX - Why TXU Consulting Firm Also Does State Air Quality Tests? [View All]

[hatrack]

A watchdog group wants Dallas-Fort Worth legislators to investigate how an environmental company got to work on state-funded pollution studies while it also consulted for TXU on a planned new coal-burning power plant. Environ Corp. is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's chief consultant on air quality studies across East Texas, including studies on the possible impact of new coal plants for which several companies are seeking permits.

The company also provided expert testimony for TXU in a recent permit hearing for the power company's planned Oak Grove plant in Robertson County. TXU would own 11 of the 16 new coal-burning power units proposed statewide.

On Thursday, the environmental and consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, seeking an investigation by local legislators, called Environ's dual consulting role a "breathtaking conflict of interest with significant consequences" for air quality. "We shouldn't trust TXU's paid contractor to tell the state whether the pollution from ... proposed coal plants will make the air unsafe over the Dallas-Fort Worth area," said Public Citizen's Texas director, Tom "Smitty" Smith.

Ralph E. Morris, managing principal in Environ's office in Novato, Calif., said the firm's work involved no conflict of interest and was scientifically sound. He said Texas officials did not object to the firm's work for TXU. "We do technical analysis, not advocacy," said Mr. Morris, who analyzed TXU's Oak Grove plant for the energy company and testified for the company at a permit hearing on the plant. That permit, along with others requested by TXU and other companies, is pending. An executive order from Gov. Rick Perry has put those permits on a fast track that limits the public review process to six months instead of the usual year.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-pollution_10pro.ART0.North.Edition1.2c2e878.html