Aug 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - J.B. Smith Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas

Waco and east Central Texas would bear the brunt of the smog-forming ozone pollution from the new generation of coal-fired power plants proposed in Texas, according to a state-funded air modeling study.

Meanwhile, parts of the smog-plagued Dallas-Fort Worth area could see a slight improvement because of emission reductions at TXU's Northeast Texas power plants, according to a preliminary report by the Environ firm.

The full report was to be released Friday but was delayed, leaving environmentalists and power companies with many unanswered questions. Officials with Environ and the study's sponsor, the Houston Advanced Research Center, were not available for comment Monday.

Eighteen coal-fired power units are being proposed in Texas, including 11 in Central Texas. That includes four units in eastern McLennan County and others in Robertson, Limestone, Freestone and Milam counties.

A map in the Environ study shows that the additional units could increase the Waco area's summer ozone levels by more than three parts per billion, based on historical conditions from 1999 and 2002.

Under federal ozone standards, regions can be subject to more regulation if their ozone levels exceed 80 parts per billion over an eight-hour period.

However, the state does not monitor ozone levels in Waco, so no one knows whether the added pollution will put the area at risk for exceeding federal standards, said Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen, an environmental group fighting the coal plants.

But he referred to the additional ozone depicted on the map around McLennan, Falls and Robertson counties as a "ring of fire."

"What it means is that studies show Waco will be hit heavily by pollution from these power plants," he said. He added that the study "confirms our worst fears" about the coal plants' impact on Dallas-Fort Worth and Waco.

By contrast, TXU officials touted the study as an endorsement of their plans to reduce their overall emissions by 20 percent even while adding the 11 new plants. Their strategy includes installing modern emissions controls in older power plants, especially in Northeast Texas.

They noted that the models predict an improvement in ozone levels in Northeast Texas, including the eastern part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

"It does confirm our plans are good for D-FW's air quality," said TXU spokesman Chris Schein. "The results should encourage other companies to reduce their emissions."

Many of TXU's competitors in the race to build coal-fired plants do not have existing power plants in Texas to upgrade. But Schein said they should be required to work out deals with existing Texas plants to achieve a net reduction in smog-forming pollutants.

Missouri-based LS Power, which has been granted a state permit to build a coal-fired power plant in Riesel, is one of the newcomers to Texas. Project manager Mike Vogt said TXU's suggestion would be unfair.

"I don't think people who come in to build a new facility should be required to go to another entity and pay to bring their plant up to modern standards," he said.

LS Power is planning to start building its Riesel plant early next year, but environmental groups last week filed an appeal in an Austin state district court contesting the company's permit.

Environmental groups argue that power companies using coal should be required to consider a gasification process that holds promise of reducing soot, smog-forming nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide.

Meanwhile, the Environ study suggests that TXU's new power plant construction will outweigh its emissions reductions in McLennan, Robertson, Freestone and Limestone counties. Even with pollution cuts at the Big Brown plant near Fairfield and the closure of gas-fired power plants in McLennan County, TXU plants would account for 60 percent of the net additional nitrogen oxide emitted in those four counties, according to the model.

TXU is planning another plant in Milam County, but the model assumes that it is already built. The company also is making significant reductions at an existing Milam County plant.

Reductions not counted

Wade Stansell, environmental strategy manager at TXU, said the Environ model does not adequately account for the nitrogen oxide reductions from closing TXU's gas-fired power plants.

"The map is a little off," he said. "It's based on very conservative assumptions."

Max Shauck, air monitoring expert and head of Baylor University's Air Science Institute, said the study is of limited use until someone does ground-level air monitoring in Central Texas.

He said he believes the Waco area has occasional ozone problems, but there is little hard data.

"There needs to be more information," he said. "The question is, where are we now?"