American Municipal Power, an Ohio non-profit utility, announced it will permanently retire its Richard H. Gorsuch Station coal-fired power plant near Marietta under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, the EPA and Justice Department announced on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. As part of the settlement, the utility must also spend $15 million on an environmental mitigation project and pay a civil penalty of $850,000.

The agreement resolves violations of the Clean Air Act's new source review requirements at the company's Gorsuch Station, which has an SO₂ emission rate in the highest three percent of coal-fired utility sources in the country according to the agency.

Rather than invest in equipment to retrofit the facility, the utility decided it will permanently retire the Gorsuch Station by Dec.31, 2012, and implement interim SO₂ and NO_X emission limits until that date. The utility decided that shutting down the plant and providing for replacement energy was its preferred option for bringing the plant into compliance.

The utility, as part of its settlement, will also enhance pollution controls to reduce particulate matter emissions. The settlement requires the utility to spend $15 million on an energy efficiency project to benefit the environment and mitigate the adverse effects of the alleged violations.

The proposed settlement was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

More information on the case and settlement is available at  www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/americanmunicipalpower.html

SOURCE: EPA press release