LCRA Faces Lawsuit for Thousands of Clean Air Act Violations at Coal-Fired Power Plant Between Austin and Houston

AUSTIN, TX – July 15, 2010 – Three anti-pollution groups today notified the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) of their intent to sue the electric power supplier for more than 10,000 violations of the federal Clean Air Act at LCRA’s coal-fired power plant near LaGrange in Fayette County. The notice of intent was served today by the Environmental Integrity Project, Texas Campaign for the Environment and Environment Texas.

Located midway between Austin and Houston, the coal-fired Fayette Power Project (FPP) has been operating under a so-called “Flexible Air Permit,” granted to it by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). On June 30, 2010, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informed the State of Texas that the state’s much touted Flexible Air Permit rules illegally weaken Clean Air Act protections and would have to be overhauled. The violations at the Fayette Power Project help explain why EPA felt compelled to act.

Robin Schneider, director, Texas Campaign for the Environment, said: “For far too long, Texans have been cheated out of clean air due to lax oversight by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Fayette power plant is a prime example of an air pollution program that puts polluters ahead of public health.”

Ilan Levin, director, Environmental Integrity’s Texas office said: “In Texas, air pollution permits are flexible alright – flexible enough to allow coal-fired power plants like the Fayette plant avoid tougher federal emission limits, violate the weaker substitute standards offered by the Texas regulators, and short-change Texas taxpayers by failing to pay fees that are supposed to be used to improve air quality. These illegal emissions mean higher levels of fine particles for people who live near the plant and just downwind in the Austin area. The EPA and scientists have repeatedly said there is no safe level of exposure to fine particle pollution.”

Luke Metzger, director, Environment Texas, said: “The Fayette power plant provides electricity that powers our homes and businesses here in Austin, where we have a national reputation of being environmentally aware. The dirty little secret is that this power plant is operating under an air pollution permit that EPA says is illegal. Amazingly, LCRA’s Fayette power plant is not even meeting the weak emission levels in their Flexible Air Permit.”

The groups’ notice of intent to sue — which is required as a first step under the Clean Air Act — states that the coal-fired power plant violated one of the most important federal clean air protections, called New Source Review, by ramping up capacity and increasing levels of dangerous particle pollution without making required pollution control upgrades. Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is not always visible to the eye, and is linked to asthma and to heart and lung disease.

The notice also details thousands of ongoing violations of air pollution limits found in the power plant’s air pollution permits. In addition, the groups claim that LCRA deprived the State of Texas more than $500,000 in annual air pollution fees that are used to pay for the cost of clean air programs, by underreporting particulate matter emissions in annual reports filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

For the full text of the notice of intent to sue, go to http://www.enviromentalintegrity.org on the Web.

The Lower Colorado River Authority’s Fayette Power Project facility consists of three coal-fired boilers, designated as Units 1, 2, and 3, and associated facilities and material handling. Units 1 and 2, jointly owned by LCRA and Austin Energy, each have an electric generation capacity of approximately 600-megawatts. Unit 3 is owned solely by LCRA and has an electric generation capacity of approximately 450 megawatts. 

ABOUT THE GROUPS

The Environmental Integrity Project (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in March of 2002 by former EPA enforcement attorneys to advocate for effective enforcement of environmental laws. EIP has three goals: 1) to provide objective analyses of how the failure to enforce or implement environmental laws increases pollution and affects public health; 2) to hold federal and state agencies, as well as industries , accountable for failing to enforce or comply with environmental laws; and 3) to help local communities obtain the protection of environmental laws.

Environment Texas is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Our professionalstaff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for Texas’ environment. Environment Texas draws on over a decade of success in tackling our state’s top environmental problems. 

TCE is dedicated to informing and mobilizing Texans to protect the quality of their lives, their health, their communities and the environment. TCE is a non-partisan, non-profit citizens’ organization that focuses on local and state issues. TCE has organized award-winning campaigns to protect our public health in Texas. Polls consistently show Texans support policies to protect the environment and our quality of life; TCE works to give Texans the opportunity to channel that support into action.