Article published Aug 23, 2007

Violations raise questions on coal-fired plants

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

Montana's two newest coal-fired power plants have displayed "a disturbing pattern" of violating Montana's air quality standards, said Patrick Judge, energy program director for the Montana Environmental Information Center in Helena.

State officials are cracking down on a 116-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Hardin for continuing to pollute the air. Montana's Department of Environmental Quality is seeking $484,800 in penalties from Hardin Generating Station.

In addition, Judge noted a tiny 16-megawatt coal-fired plant at Thompson Falls operated for about six months and then shut down after an "endless stream" of air quality violations. He said it is idle today.

Judge contended Montanans should be skeptical about proposed new coal-fired power plants in Montana when the two newest ones have violated state standards.

"Both have made bold claims about their commitment to the environment," Judge said Wednesday. "'Trust us' just isn't good enough."

Judge said people should be skeptical as well about the Highwood Generating Station proposed for east of Great Falls.

That view is not shared by engineer Jeff Chaffee, a consultant for the Highwood project, who said the Hardin and Great Falls plants would be vastly different.

"They are two different facilities in terms of their design," said Chaffee, executive vice president of Bison Engineering in Helena. "(Hardin) is a pulverized coal facility."

To reduce pollution from the plant, the Highwood station would use circulating fluidized bed technology, which runs coal repeatedly through limestone filtering to cut emissions. Chaffee said Alstom, the boiler manufacturer, will guarantee its boiler's performance.

"It has very advanced controls," Chaffee said. Highwood backers say the plant will be one of the cleanest coal-fired plants in the nation.

Critics say the Highwood plant still will release small pollution particles, mercury and carbon dioxide. Cheryl Reichert of Great Falls, a leader of Citizens for Clean Energy, mentioned problems the Thompson Falls plant has encountered.

"It has almost never been able to operate under its air quality permit," Reichert said. She added it's difficult to try to get a plant to meet state standards after the fact. Her group is trying to derail plans for the Highwood station before it can be constructed.

Highwood's supporters and critics have clashed over whether fluidized-bed technology is up to date or old fashioned.

Reichert said a number of opponents would prefer the plant to use Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle technology, or IGCC. Highwood developers contend IGCC technology is unproven, and lenders would be reluctant to finance it.

In the Hardin matter, the state Department of Environmental Quality sent company officials an enforcement letter Aug. 17 seeking penalties for four violations. The penalty letter followed three violation notices the DEQ sent earlier.

"It's a significant penalty," said Larry Alheim, DEQ enforcement specialist. The penalty is among the largest the state has requested.

The company has 30 days to respond. The DEQ could adjust the penalty amount if the company provides new or mitigating information.

"They have to give us a good reason" why the agency's penalty should be adjusted, Alheim said.

Mark Hanson, a spokesman for MDU Resources Group, said Tuesday the company has received the penalty letter. An MDU subsidiary, Rocky Mountain Power Inc., built the plant.

"We're reviewing what they sent us carefully,'' he said. "It's going to take some time to sort through and to make sure everything is in order.''

Three of the penalties are for violations of sulfur dioxide emission limits at the plant's boiler stack. The state agency said the plant violated the hourly limit 93 times in the third quarter of 2006, 100 times in the fourth quarter of 2006 and 98 times in the first quarter of 2007, for a total of 291 sulfur dioxide violations.

The fourth penalty is for violations of opacity limits. Opacity refers to the visible stack emissions and is measured in six-minute intervals.

"Rocky Mountain Power failed to operate the facility in a manner consistent with good pollution control practices for minimizing emissions," said Jenny Chambers, the DEQ's acting enforcement division administrator.

The penalty was calculated to be $4,800 per violation multiplied by the number of days, 101. The maximum civil penalty under state law is $10,000 a day for each violation.

The 116-megawatt plant near Hardin began operating in April 2006, becoming the state's first new coal-fired plant in 20 years. The plant is operated by Colorado Energy Management LLC. Other coal-fired plants in Montana include four in Colstrip, plus a small Corette plant in Billings. Colstrip boasts the second-largest coal-fired facility west of the Mississippi, according to part-owner PPL Montana.

Highwood Generating Station would go online in about 2012, though it has attracted opposition in Great Falls and elsewhere. A lawsuit by three conservation groups filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., this summer seeks to short-circuit the project, and opponents have appealed the DEQ's decision to grant the plant an air quality permit.

The federal Rural Utilities Service approved a record of decision in favor of the Highwood project in May, but has yet to formally approve more than $600 million in loans to the Highwood plant developer, the Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative. Five rural electric co-ops and the city of Great Falls make up SME. The city hopes to own 15 percent of the plant.

Great Falls officials have until Oct. 1 to sign up customers for the city's share of power from the plant.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.