MD Activists Charge Operators Of Power Plant With 14,200 Violations In Four Years - Baltimore Sun

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Four environmental groups argued in federal court yesterday that Maryland has given a "free pass" to the state's largest power plant to emit air pollution, allowing it to violate its permit more than 14,200 times over four years. But Atlanta-based Mirant Corp., which owns the Chalk Point power plant in Prince George's County, told Judge J. Frederick Motz in U.S. District Court in Baltimore that the Maryland Department of the Environment diligently enforced air pollution laws by imposing a $75,000 fine this summer.

In addition, Mirant attorney Deborah Jennings said, a consent agreement signed by state environmental officials and the company Aug. 29 requires Chalk Point's two oil-burning electricity generators to switch to cleaner-burning natural gas during the summer. "It's not a sweetheart deal," Jennings said of the agreement. "It is very onerous for Mirant to be compelled to burn natural gas, because it's very expensive."

Barry Neuman, lawyer for the the Environmental Integrity Project and three other advocacy groups, said the state's consent agreement should be tougher because it does not require the cleaner fuel in the winter, and the "paltry" fine will allow thousands of more violations. The more than 14,000 permit violations alleged by the organization between January 2002 and June 2006 were for excessive "opacity," or darkness of the smoke pouring out of plant's stacks. "The consent agreement does not require compliance with the opacity standards," said Neuman, who used the words "free pass" to describe the state's lax approach. "Without enforcement of the opacity limits, a facility is under no day-to-day requirement to control particulate emissions ... and these are essential to the Clean Air Act and the health of the people of Prince George's County."

An investigation by The Sun published in May found 8,833 opacity violations at Chalk Point from January 2003 through December 2005, without any penalties from the state.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.air22dec22,0,3045645.story?coll=bal-local-headlines