Cinergy's Clean Air Act dispute with the US
Environmental Protection Agency remains unresolved, more than three years after
a tentative settlement was reached, because the agency wanted the
Cincinnati-based company to spend an additional $400-mil on air pollution
controls, according to Cinergy spokesman Steve Brash. He said in an interview
this week that the parent company of Cincinnati Gas & Electric and PSI
Energy already has spent $1-bil on equipment to reduce emissions of nitrogen
oxide and other pollutants and to repower its aging 99-MW Noblesville coal-fired
plant to natural gas, and in the process, boosting the plant's output to 300 MW.
While Cinergy remains in negotiations with EPA, Brash said it's "highly
unlikely" his company would agree to the additional expenditures.
The December 2000 preliminary accord, reached during the waning days of the
Clinton administration, was aimed at settling the Clean Air Act lawsuit filed
against Cinergy by EPA, the US Department of Justice, several Northeast states
and two environmental groups. A DOJ spokesman Tuesday evening declined to
comment on the Cinergy negotiations. He said a trial had been scheduled for June
2005 and "liability discovery" is ongoing. He did not elaborate.