Judge halts AEP air pollution trial in hopes of settlement

Judge halts AEP air pollution trial in hopes of settlement

Washington (Platts)--25Sep2006

A federal judge on Friday halted an air pollution trial centering around
American Electric Power's 2,600-MW Gavin coal-fired power plant at Cheshire,
Ohio.

Judge Gregory Frost in US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
said the trial, which began September 18, was placed on hold to give attorneys
forAEP andCitizens Against Pollution more time to work out a possible
out-of-court settlement.

Pat Hemlepp, spokesman for Columbus, Ohio-based AEP, confirmed forPlatts late
Friday that "settlement discussions" are under way. He declined to elaborate,
however, saying, "we're not going to characterize what's going on" in the
talks.

There was no immediate indication as to when a settlement might be reached.

CAP, formed by agroup ofresidents,contends emissions of sulfur trioxide at
Gavin producedan unhealthy, blue haze that permeated the area around the plant
for several summers. The pollution has abated in the past year or so.

CAP wants data access as part of suit
According to the suit filed in 2003, AEP had written in 2001 that the two
selective catalytic reduction systems would be operated only during the ozone
season, and for the rest of the year, "releases will be similar to the
previously reported range." CAP, in the suit, disputes that claim. "Since the
SCR began operating, releases of sulfuric acid aerosol from the Gavin plant
have not been stable in quantity or rate," the organization said.

The 80-member organization wants the court to order AEP to "take all such
actions as may be necessary to eliminate" any dangers from emissions of
sulfuric acid aerosol from the Gavin plant.

Those actions would include requiring AEP to install continuous monitoring
systems, provide CAP with notification and access to all data generated by
that system, fund a comprehensive study to determine the extent of any
endangerment and ways to eliminate it, operate its plant to meet federal
environmental laws and assess appropriate civil penalties of up to $27,000/day
for each day of violations.

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