East Kentucky disagrees with EPA suit over two coal-fired units

East Kentucky disagrees with EPA suit over two coal-fired units

Washington (Platts)--6Jul2006

The East Kentucky Power Cooperative Thursday said it disagrees with a US
Environmental Protection Agency lawsuit charging the utility with violating
federal air pollution rules in operating its two smallest coal-fired units.

The co-op said the two units in question--Dale Power Station Units 1
and 2--were designed and built by General Electric as 24 MW coal-fired
units. At that size, the utility said the units would not fall under EPA
regulations for its Acid Rain program or a nitrogen oxide state implementation
program.

"We bought them and the manufacturer designed, built and supplied a
turbine generator set we understood was rated at 24 MW," an EKPC spokesman
said. "We stand by our environmental record. We disagree with the lawsuit and
we are working closely with EPA to resolve the issues."

In its suit, EPA said the co-op replaced the two 22-MW generators at the
Dale plant with 27-MW units in 1998 without participating in the emission
reduction programs that are mandatory for units with a nameplate
capacity greater than 25 MW.

As a result, EKPC's "emissions of SO2 and NOx from Dale Unit Nos. 1 and 2
have been and still are, unpermitted and illegal," the agency said in its suit
filed June 30 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

---Cathy Cash, cathy_cash@platts.com

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