Congressmen seek to block pollution controls on Navajo coal plant

The massive coal-powered Navajo generating station in Page, Ariz., spews tens of thousands of tons of nitrogen oxide a year into Western skies, spreading haze across the Grand Canyon and other national parks. By law, the 40-year-old plant is supposed to install the "best available retrofit technology" to scrub emissions from its smokestacks.

But two Arizona Republicans have called a congressional hearing for Tuesday in an effort to block the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring the retrofits, which they say would cost $1.1 billion and could force the plant, which employs 1,000 people at the power station and a nearby coal mine, to close.

In a letter to the chairmen of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power and the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, Reps. Paul Gosar and Trent Franks said the electricity generated by the plant, which pumps water from the Colorado River to Tucson and Phoenix, "is essential to supplying water to 80% of the state’s population. We must carefully examine regulations that could threaten the state of Arizona’s water and power supply.”

The EPA is scheduled to decide this summer whether to require pollution controls for the plant, which is one of the biggest sources of nitrogen oxide emissions in the country. "Our job is to decide, 'Are the parks adequately protected?' " said Colleen McKaughan, associate director of the EPA's air division in San Francisco. "And if they're not, does the facility need additional pollution controls?"

Environmentalists say the plant, besides obscuring the views in parks, is also a health hazard, responsible for high levels of asthma and respiratory disease on the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations. It is also a major source of toxic mercury emissions into the air and rivers. With Arizona in the midst of building several large solar-powered plants, conservationists say the coal generator could be replaced by clean, renewable energy.

The coal plant operators, however, have intimated they might shut it down if EPA requires state-of-the-art scrubbers."We're being asked to make a significant investment with a lot of uncertainty over whether the plant would be able to operate long enough to recover that investment," said Glen Reeves, manager of power generation for the Salt River Project, a major stakeholder in the plant.

The plant's owners contend that a lesser $45-million upgrade of the three 750-megawatt units at the plant -- which will include burners that reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 40%, or 14,000 tons per year -- should be sufficient to help clear up the haze at the Grand Canyon.

At least one Navajo environmental group pulled out of discussions over the plant's future because it said the talks were a tactic to keep the power plant running and stall the EPA's actions. Others are pushing a 10-year transition to renewable energy.

RELATED:

National Parks: A missed deadline to curb haze

Colorado River parks threatened by dams, new report says 

Coal mine near Bryce Canyon?

-- Margot Roosevelt

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Photo: The Navajo generating station in Page, Ariz. Credit: Grand Canyon Trust

 

Comments

[hire a web programmer]

Nice ideas. I hope all the world will be pollution free if this strategy will be implemented at a sure shot.

[asdza j]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/05/25/business-us-navajo-generating-station-arizona_8484007.html

[asdza j]

Aside from the cancers and respiratory diseases we're experiencing from NGS pollution and Peabody coal mining activities, our only water source has been depleted and contaminated by Peabody. Plus, the majority of the Black Mesa residents and over 20K homes still do not have basic human needs. They haul water in 55 gallon barrels and have no electricity. Yet, DESERT metros have lush green yards and pools! The US county with highest number of golf courses is Maricopa County! This is severe oppression by GOP, feds, and SW utility tycoons.

[Tsosie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, blame it all on Page power plant, just letting you all know there are: Moapa, Cholla, Springerville, Coronado, San Juan, and Four Corners Power Plants in the vicinity. Shut one down and it solves the pollution problems? Factor in auto emissions, chimneys with wood smoke, and forest fires which makes the visibility issue moot. Afterall it's EPA's contention the whole point is to make the Grand Canyon clear - good luck!

[Dr Barry Glickman]

What obnoxious nonsense. Spend the $1.1 billion to build a renewable energy plant and employ people, pump water, and clean the air. The congressman should truly be ashamed of themselves. Selfish and short sighted.

[affableman]

Can you say "extortion"?

[salem]

Repubs know poor people don't vote for them. So, any time they can make more poor people in the US die, they do so, whether the issue is pollution, health care, the war on drugs, or jobs that pay decently. Even sadder, most Dems are the same.

[Mike Roddy]

Hmm, a little California bashing in the comments today.

It appears that Phoenix residents are OK with thousands of people dying from respiratory diseases and cancer from the Page coal plant, since it's more important that Arizonans continue to get water for their swimming pools and electricity for their air conditioners.

And since Arizona is so rabidly right wing, talk of action to slow climate change is just radical environmentalist propaganda.

In a few decades, Phoenix will be abandoned, because people won't be able to live in a climate a few degrees hotter than it is today. Its residents will migrate to California. Before they come over here, they should be required to acknowledge that giant coal plants- as in Page and Black Mesa- contributed to their disaster.

[Andrea Carrazana]

It would be so much better if this problem could solved peacably, but I know that's hard. Especially when peoples' health is at stake here...Hopefully this will be taken into account and action will be taken quickly. It's so sad that when it comes down to it, it's all a money game.

They do make an interesting arguet though: if the owners invest in the newest form of renewable energy, they will probably lose out on their investments and have to shut down. Thereby cutting a thousand jobs and the water supply -- another big problem. What would you suggest they do? I'd love to hear opinions...

[Harry Jones]

The Palo Verde nuclear plant is much more dangerous to the millions in the Phoenix area . But 60% of the power goes to California so the enviromentalists don't care. In fact you seldon see any complaints about the many coal fired plants in various parts of the West outside California that serve California. California is the king of not in my back yard but it is OK in yours if it serves California.

[desertgardens]

Since much of California wants to boycott Arizona already, maybe we should pull the power plug from the Palo Verde Nuclear station to California and use that electricity to drive the water pumps instead of the electricity from the Page coal station. Problem solved. No more haze in northern Arizona and you Californians wouldn't be dependent on "racist" Arizona (as I've seen so many comments on our SB-1070 law). Sound like a deal?

[Robin Ferruggia]

The Republicans worship money for the sake of money and don't care about the health of people. The rich, such as the Koch brothers who control the Republican party, don't want to pay taxes and the operators of this polluting plant don't want to have to bother about making people sick. There's a lot of cancer now in the Four Corners area because of the plant too. The Republicans operate with blinders on, so they tell themselves and their constituents that the problems from this pollution aren't real and aren't serious, but they are. They don't care if you get sick, they just don't want their rich friends to be inconvenienced by having to care about other people. For them it's all about money - rich people's money. Those who made the foolhardy mistake of believing their lies and voting them into office in 2010 hopefully will wise up by 2012 - if they don't die of pollution-related cancers or other pollution-related problems first.

[Concerned about our country]

Why would republican$ want to thwart regulation that $ave$ live$ and promote$ health? Who'$ go their hand$ in the cookie jar?? Republican$ should move to China where they do thing$ just the way republican$ like thing$ done!

[Mike Roddy]

Thanks for this, but maybe we should look at the Page coal plant's CO2 emissions- roughly 21 million tons per year. This is about what the countries of Jordan or the Dominican Republic emit for all purposes every year. If the Page plant is shuttered, lives will be saved, and a significant switch to clean solar power from local plants would be enabled.

[Jim Kalember]

How can this be? After successfully dealing with the egregious pollution of the Mohave PGE plant, what drives the insanity of the Arizona Republicans? Have they no sense of how the poison haze of the Navajo plant affects the Grand Canyon all the all the majestic scenery of this glorious area? And what about the health of the people who live, work, and visit this sublime handiwork of God and/or Great Spirit? Is this another sacrifice of Native lives for the profit of a few white men? This is Republican reactionary greed politics--profit over people. I hope the people of Arizona can save their great heritage from the greed of out-of-state DC lobbyists and Wall Street money people. May Republicans at some point in their live taste their "hozho".