Article published Jan 23, 2008

Appeal of coal-fired power plant's air-quality permit moves into round two

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

HELENA — Emissions of microscopic particulate are under the microscope in the second round of an appeal of the air-quality permit the state previously issued to the coal-fired Highwood Generating Station.

The $720 million, 250-megawatt power plant is proposed to be built about eight miles east of Great Falls.

Power plant opponents Citizens for Clean Energy and the Montana Environmental Information Center on Tuesday argued before the Montana Board of Environmental Review that additional research of tiny particulate emissions, as well as technology to control it, is needed.

"Let's do this right," said Abigail Dillen, an attorney for CCE and MEIC.

The quality of fine particulate emission controls will impact the public's health for the life of the plant, which will be decades, Dillen told board members.

Officials with the state Department of Environmental Quality and the plant's developer, Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission, said the study of fine particulate emissions before the permit was issued was thorough and in compliance with the law.

"The department imposed substantially more stringent limits on SME than SME proposed," said DEQ attorney David Rusoff, who described the emissions restrictions as some of the toughest in the country.

On Jan. 11, The Board of Environmental Review rejected arguments by CCE and MEIC that carbon controls should be required at the power plant. The second half of the appeal focuses on particulate matter.

Board members heard opening arguments from attorneys and testimony from expert witnesses on that issue Tuesday.

The case is expected to continue at least through today, said board Chairman Joe Russell. A decision from the board is expected following deliberations, which Russell said could continue into the evening.

"(The state is) not asking them to do the very best to reduce their emissions of PM2.5," Dillen said in her opening argument, referring to particulate matter. "(The permit is) looking strictly at PM10."

In reviewing Highwood's permit, the DEQ studied particulate matter that's 10 microns or less — PM10. A particle 10 microns in diameter is one-seventh the size of a human hair, according to the DEQ.

The maximum allowable PM10 emissions a year under Highwood's permit is 215 tons.

CCE and MEIC are arguing that DEQ is legally required to specifically study matter smaller than 2.5 microns — PM2.5 — and install the best available technology to control it.

Dillen said there's no dispute that PM2.5 is a pollutant, which makes the case different from the arguments over carbon dioxide.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency says the fine particles are the most closely associated with serious health effects such as respiratory disease, as opposed to PM10. And the people who are most vulnerable to it are children, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, she said.

Technologies are available to control PM2.5 emissions, she said.

"It's vital we go back and consider those," she said.

Rusoff, the DEQ attorney, said the agency followed the guidance of EPA policy in the study of particulate emissions for the Highwood plant.

No other state permitting agency in the nation, has set emissions limits specifically for PM2.5 at a coal-fired power plant, he added.

The study of PM10 particulate can be used as a "surrogate" for PM2.5, he said.

Particulate emissions limits the power plant "can reasonably be expected to consistently achieve" are in place in the permit, Rusoff said.

"All of these elements were analyzed in the permit," said SME attorney Kenneth Reich, describing PM2.5 as a "subset" of PM10.

The main problem with requiring technology specifically for controlling the finer particulate is there's currently no data showing how much PM2.5 emissions occur at power plants, he said.

"If you don't know the emissions, you can't evaluate the efficiency of a control device," he said.