Nov 23 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Bruce Henderson The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Duke Energy might have to curb toxic emissions from four of its coal-fired power plants under rule changes a state environmental panel is considering.

The new rules would modify an old exemption from state toxic-air standards for about 480 facilities, including power plants, paper mills and furniture factories. Environmentalists say the changes don't go far enough to protect public health.

The state sets acceptable limits for concentrations of 97 toxic pollutants ranging from metals such as lead, which can poison children, to cancer-causing dioxins.

But some industries -- called combustion sources because they burn wood or fossil fuels such as coal -- have gotten a pass from those limits since 1990.

The state exemptions were in place partly because the federal government was expected to adopt toxicity rules to control those industries. That didn't happen until 2004, but a court threw out the rules three years later. Last year the state decided to act on its own.

The N.C. Environmental Management Commission is taking public comment on a proposal to increase scrutiny of combustion sources. The commission is set to vote on the changes early next year.

Emissions of existing sources would be analyzed every five years to find health risks. Those that spout too much toxic pollution would have to do more detailed analyses, install pollution controls or cut back on their output.

New or modified sources would have to analyze their toxic emissions at startup.

The state's initial screening found 37 facilities whose emissions may cause more than one cancer in 1 million people over a lifetime of exposure.

Among them: Duke's Allen power plant in Gaston County, Marshall in Catawba County, Belews Creek in Stokes County and Cliffside in Rutherford County. Also on the list in the Charlotte region is Hickory's Frye Regional Medical Center.

Cliffside

Toxic emissions, including mercury that can contaminate water and fish, are the focus of state and federal lawsuits aimed at stopping a $2.4 billion expansion of Cliffside, about 50 miles west of Charlotte. Because of their size, coal-fired power plants are major sources of pollution.

Yet when the N.C. Division of Air Quality issued a permit for the expansion in January, no rules required an analysis of its toxic air emissions other than mercury.

Duke says Cliffside, where a new boiler will be built and four old ones retired, will be one of the cleanest anywhere. Environmental groups challenged that claim, saying Duke won't install the most stringent pollution controls available.

Despite its toxic-air exemption, the state in June asked Duke to assess whether its pollution controls for the new boiler would be adequate to capture its emissions.

Toxic emissions from the new boiler, Duke says, will total 16.6 tons a year -- a "minor" source in clean-air jargon. The state has not yet said whether it agrees with Duke's assessment.

Duke is analyzing emissions now at Allen, Marshall and Belews Creek. George Everett, director of environmental and legislative affairs, said there is only a "remote possibility" the plants will have to install additional pollution controls.

A report to Congress in the late 1990s concluded that electric utilities are minor sources of toxic pollutants, Everett said. The four plants being studied have, or will soon have, pollution "scrubbers" that will capture most emissions, he said.

Calls to go further

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, which is leading opposition to the rules, says the state isn't as proactive in protecting public health as it should be.

"The straight-forward and easy course," said Blue Ridge's Louis Zeller, "would be to simply eliminate" the exemptions.

The state hasn't accurately depicted health risks from combustion sources, Blue Ridge says. By relying on health analyses that consider only the effects of inhaling emissions, it said, air-quality officials ignored other ways people could be exposed to toxic pollutants, such as by drinking contaminated water.

Other advocates echo Blue Ridge. "I just personally feel that it's outrageous a state agency would consider special interests over that of public health," said June Blotnick of the Charlotte-based Carolinas Clean Air Coalition.

The N.C. Division of Air Quality argues it is strengthening its oversight of the plants. In light of the 18-year-old exemptions, said spokesman Tom Mather, "there was no rule to weaken."

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