On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 12:27 PM, James Kotcon
<jkotcon@wvu.edu> wrote:
>>> Oliver Bernstein <oliver.bernstein@SIERRACLUB.ORG> 4/14/2011 11:50
AM >>>
*HUGE news! Congrats to everyone who worked so hard on this.*
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=203101.0
For Immediate Release – April 14, 2011
Contacts:
Shannon Andrea, National Parks Conservation Association, 202.365.5912
Tiffany Schauer, Our Children's Earth Foundation, 415.596.5576
Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, 512.477.2152
*Blockbuster Agreement Takes 18 Dirty TVA Coal-Fired Power Plant Units
Offline;*
* *
*Southeastern U.S. Takes Huge Step to Slash Air Pollution Thanks to
Pressure
from Environmental Groups, State and Federal Officials*
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of
directors
approved a landmark agreement today with three citizen groups, four
states
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), marking one of the
largest pollution reduction agreements in the nation’s history. This
agreement requires TVA to phase out 18 units at dirty, coal-fired
power
plants and install modern pollution controls on three dozen additional
units, thanks to more than 11 years of pressure from environmental
groups,
Southeastern states and the EPA. The blockbuster agreement – which
includes
the affected states of Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee
–
represents the largest ever reduction in air pollution in the
Southeastern
United States. This agreement permanently retires an unprecedented
2,700
megawatts of dirty coal-fired electricity and will drastically reduce
TVA’s
emissions of dangerous sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and
carbon
pollution. Clean Air Task Force estimates that coal-fired power plants
in
the region cause more than 1,800 premature deaths and more than 2,400
heart
attacks each year in the four-state region, and are a major source of
area
air pollution woes.
TVA’s coal plants are also responsible for visibility problems and
acid rain
damage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the country's most
visited
national park.
"For decades, the Smoky Mountains has suffered from a slow motion
crisis,"
said *Don Barger, senior regional director for the National Parks
Conservation Association*. "Air pollution from TVA’s coal-fired power
plants
has degraded scenic vistas, damaged plant species, and impaired human
health. Today’s settlement halts that trend and sends us in the
right
direction."
The settlement, approved today in conjunction with TVA charting out a
new
course as laid out in its new 10-year Resource Plan, represents a
welcome
change in focus for the federally owned utility. Under the agreement,
TVA
will modernize its aging infrastructure, invest in clean energy and
slash
its pollution.
Specifically the settlement agreement requires TVA to reduce pollution
at
its 59 coal-fired power generating units, phasing out 18 of those units
no
later than 2018. This phase-out represents a major victory for clean
air and
public health, with 10 units at TVA’s Johnsonville Plant in middle
Tennessee
to be taken offline, along with two units at the John Sevier Fossil
Plant in
eastern Tennessee and six units at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant in
northern
Alabama. The John Sevier Fossil Plant and Widows Creek Fossil Plant are
some
of the oldest units in the TVA system, dating back to the early 1950's,
and
have never upgraded with modern pollution controls.
In addition, the agreement also requires TVA to invest $350 million in
the
four states of Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee on
additional
air pollution-reduction projects over the next five years, including
funds
to help consumers and business cut their energy bills, support local
businesses that are creating jobs in local clean energy projects and
cut
carbon pollution.
"There is a demonstrated link between pollution and asthma in
children,"
said *Tiffany Schauer, Executive Director of Our Children's Earth
Foundation
*. "Thanks to today's action, every family in Alabama, Kentucky, North
Carolina and Tennessee can breathe a little easier."
This agreement resolves a series of legal challenges against TVA
brought by
the environmental groups and the four states. The legal actions stemmed
from
allegations that TVA had unlawfully extended the life of its coal
plants
without installing modern pollution controls, otherwise known as the
New
Source Review program.
"Today's landmark agreement is a game changer for how we power our
homes and
businesses in the Southeast, said *Mary Anne Hitt, Director of the
Sierra
Club's Beyond Coal Campaign."* By phasing out the most dangerous coal
plants
and charting a course focused on less pollution and more clean energy,
TVA
is demonstrating that we don’t have to choose between clean air and
affordable energy – we can and must have both."
The plaintiff groups – National Parks Conservation Association, Our
Children's Earth Foundation and the Sierra Club – are represented by
George
Hays, William Moore, Wade Davies, Reed Zars, and Mike Costa.
For a copy of the settlement agreement please contact
Oliver.Bernstein@sierraclub.org.
###
--
Oliver Bernstein
National Communications Strategist
Sierra Club
Phone: 512.477.2152
Cell: 512.289.8618
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