U.S. announces big Clean Air settlements amid controversy.(Dominion Virginia Power agrees to spend $1.2 billion to address emission problems at plants in Virginia, West Virginia)

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 21 announced the largest Clean Air Act enforcement settlement with a power utility. Dominion Virginia Power, formerly known as Virginia Electric Power Company (VEPCO), has agreed to spend $1.2 billion between now and 2013 to eliminate 237,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (S[O.sub.2]) and nitrogen oxides (N[O.sub.x]) emissions each year from eight coal-fired electricity generating plants in Virginia and West Virginia.

The settlement is the latest in a series of cases pursued to bring the coal-fired power plant industry into full compliance with the New Source Review (NSR) requirements of the Clean Air Act. Alcoa and Archer Daniels Midland agreed earlier in April to legal settlements in which the companies will spend about $700 million to drastically reduce air pollution at some facilities.

On April 29, We Energies, the principal utility business of Wisconsin Energy Corp., announced a $600 million agreement with the EPA and DOJ that will improve air quality by lowering emissions in southeast Wisconsin and across the entire We Energies generation system.

The irony is that the settlements came even as the EPA was moving ahead with plans to change NSR regulations, a move that critics say will weaken the Clean Air Act.

Proponents of the new regulations say clearer, better defined NSR program would avoid the need for time-consuming settlement negotiations and provide more emissions reductions sooner.

Routine Maintenance?

The Dominion settlement resolves charges that the company violated the laws by making major modifications to its power plants without installing equipment to control pollution that causes smog, acid rain, and soot. The company denies wrongdoing and says it acted in accordance with the regulations and conducted only routine maintenance on the units, according to a corporate news release announcing the settlement.