The
Toledo Blade
www.toledoblade.com
EPA claims 2 area firms broke law on clean
air
BY TOM HENRY
July 26, 2000
Two
major industries with ties to the Toledo area have been
cited for violating air pollution laws.
Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. has been accused
of violating the federal Clean Air Act by failing to turn
over documents about eight coal-fired power plants it
owns in Ohio, while BP Plc. settled a longstanding dispute
over emissions-monitoring by agreeing to pay a $50,000
fine.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
regional office in Chicago is at odds with FirstEnergy,
because of the utility's response to its demand for information.
The utility claims that it would have to copy nearly a
half-million pages of paper at a cost of about $100,000,
and it refuses to do so unless the government agrees to
compensate it.
The EPA wants nearly every document pertaining
to emissions over the last 20 years at Toledo Edison's
Bay Shore Station on Bay Shore Road in Oregon, Edison's
dormant Acme Station on Front Street in East Toledo, and
six other FirstEnergy coal plants.
Thor Ketzback, U.S. EPA associate legal counsel,
said the agency feels it has the authority to demand the
documents. He said the documents are vital to an investigation
into whether a number of utilities were able to conceal
plant modifications in years past, thereby discharging
more than what has been allowed.
Ellen Raines, FirstEnergy spokeswoman, said
the utility feels it has made a reasonable effort to provide
government regulators with what they need.
The utility spent about $50,000 to gather
the information and make copies of some of it when regulators
inspected the documents at the company's Akron headquarters
in April, she said. Much of the material was archived
by a number of companies that have since been acquired
and merged with others, she said.
She estimated 2,500 to 5,000 pages are in
each box, and there are about 100 boxes. The utility refuses
to copy everything without a court order or compensation,
because that would cost another $50,000, Ms. Raines said.
"We feel we've made what is a reasonable
effort to assist them," she said.
Ms. Raines said the utility would be willing
to fight the EPA in court over the matter.
Mr. Ketzback said the agency likely will ask
a U.S. District Court judge to issue an order that compels
the utility to comply with its order. The utility could
be subject to a fine as high as $27,500 a day, he said.
"We feel we have the authority to order
them to provide us with these documents at no cost to
the agency. If we had to pay for every request, that would
not allow us to conduct inspections at other companies,
because of limited resources," he said.
BP's decision to pay a $50,000 fine stems
from a dispute it has had with the Ohio EPA over monitoring
equipment at the Oregon refinery. Two monitors used to
track emissions 24 hours a day were taken out of service
for extended periods in the 1990s for maintenance with
no replacements on hand.
One device failed to meet the standard during
two quarters in 1998 and 1999. The other failed to meet
the standard during five quarters between 1992 and 1999,
according to the Ohio EPA.
Dan Waterfield, BP spokesman, said backups
provided some monitoring during those periods, but not
the required amount. The agreement calls for BP to upgrade
its monitoring system by Sept. 21.
The Ohio EPA agreed to set aside $20,000 of
the money it collects from the fine for an environmental
education fund operated by the state, and another $20,000
for air pollution control programs. The remaining $10,000
is to go to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and
be used to plant trees.
In a related matter, BP and Kansas City-based
Koch Petroleum Group yesterday struck a major deal with
the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Justice Department to cut air
pollution and pay outstanding fines. The two companies,
which together account for 15 per cent of the nation's
refining capacity, agreed to spend nearly $600 million
on pollution-control equipment, plus $14.5 million in
fines.
The equipment is to further reduce a mixture
of emissions that refineries typically spew into the air.
They include nitrogen oxide, which creates smog; sulfur,
which creates acid rain, and a variety of toxic chemicals,
such as cancer-causing benzene.
BP is spending more than $500 million on improvements
at nine of its refineries, plus paying $10 million in
fines.
The Oregon refinery is slated to receive some
of the money BP is spending, but Mr. Waterfield said he
was not sure how much because of other improvements made
in recent months.
Other BP refineries scheduled to be upgraded,
as part of the agreement, are near Belle Chase, La.; Los
Angeles; Bellingham, Wash.; Mandan, N.D.; Salt Lake City;
Texas City, Tex.; Whiting, Ind.; and Yorktown, Va.
Koch is spending $80 million in improvements,
and $4.5 million in fines. It plans to upgrade a refinery
in Rosemont, Minn., and two at Corpus Christi, Tex., officials
said.
