Study Says Oregon
Power Plant Spreads Haze
May 24, 2006 — By Associated Press
BOARDMAN, Ore. — A new federal study
shows that a coal-burning power plant in Eastern Oregon causes pollution
in 10 protected parks and wilderness areas in three states.
Haze from the Portland General Electric plant near Boardman clouds views
from Hells Canyon on the Idaho border, at Mount Rainier in Washington
and Mount Jefferson in Central Oregon, according to the study.
Air in wilderness areas is supposed to be protected as the cleanest in
the nation.
The U.S. Forest Service commissioned the analysis and provided a copy to
PGE, the state's largest electric utility, but so far the federal agency
has taken no action on it. The Oregonian newspaper obtained it through
the Freedom of Information Act.
The findings raise the possibility that PGE will have to install
millions of dollars worth of pollution controls at the Boardman plant,
which was authorized in 1975 _ just in time to avoid overhauled
provisions of the federal Clean Air Act. Federal authorities later
acknowledged in a court case that the early authorization was a mistake.
Boardman is now one of only two major coal plants in the West without
modern pollution controls and no immediate commitment to add them, said
Patrick Cummins, air quality program manager for the Western Governors
Association.
PGE officials have acknowledged that the plant is probably contributing
to haze and said that they will address the problem if it's verified by
another analysis with newer data, which is planned by the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality.
"If this shows the controls are necessary and required, we will put them
on," Mark Fryburg, environmental policy specialist with the company,
told The Oregonian.
But an updated state study could take more than five years. The company
has committed to accelerating the DEQ study, but not to adding controls
on any speeded-up schedule.
Fitting the plant with scrubbers and other devices to capture compounds
that create haze and acid rain could cost $150 million, Fryburg said.
The plant, a major source of power and income for the Portland-based
utility, has been off line since October because of breakdowns.
It's expected to be back in service later this month.
The Boardman plant, along with a nearby giant dairy complex, have come
under increasing scrutiny as a source of worsening air pollution in the
Columbia River Gorge plus acid rain and fog that eats away ancient
Native American rock art.
Officials at the Forest Service, which manages the gorge, said they were
surprised at the wide effects of the plant's emissions.
"The number of wilderness areas affected is almost unprecedented," said
James Russell, manager of air resources and smoke management in the
agency's regional office in Portland.
Source: Associated Press
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