Residents oppose power generating proposal

Mar 30 - El Paso Times, Texas

A growing El Paso needs more electricity, but people from the New Mexico towns of Sunland Park and Anapra think it is someone else's turn to breathe pollution expected from a proposed expansion of an El Paso Electric Co. generation plant in their area.

During an all-day hearing at the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino, residents testified about the high incidence of illness in their poor communities subjected to air and groundwater pollution generated by Asarco, the former smelter, and other industrial operations, including the existing power plant.

New Mexico Environment Department officials testified that the permit modification requested by the electric company meets federal and state requirements. "The department recommends that the (New Mexico) secretary of environment issue the draft permit," said Cember Hardison of the department's air quality bureau. A decision is expected later this year.

The company wants to build a new natural-gas-powered turbine that would generate 95.3 megawatts of electricity, boosting total output to an annual average of 340.3 megawatts for the entire facility at 3501 Doniphan .

Three turbines now supply power at the plant, which was started in 1957. El Paso Electric officials said the new turbine will allow them to retire two older ones over about a six-year period.

Meanwhile, they said, the use of one of the old boilers, which are not as efficient, will be cut back. Ultimately, they expect a cleaner operation.

Maximum air emissions

allowed in the new permit would increase a number of pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and ammonia. However, the generators are operated at full tilt only at times in the summer when people are using air conditioning, said Linda Barker, El Paso Electric's director of environmental health and safety. The total annual pollution limits remain the same, she said.

Glenn Landers, chairman of the Southern Group of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, said it appeared El Paso Electric was shuffling pollution numbers to avoid further federal regulations requiring cleaner operations. Some suggested the proposed expansion indicated a lack of commitment to alternative energies, such as solar and wind power.

Landers and Taylor Moore, a member of the Sunland Park Grassroots Environmental Group, pointed to an administrative order by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. That order required consideration of environmental justice, a focus on whether poor communities bear a unfair burden when it comes to industrial pollution.

"We couldn't find any regulation with the (Environmental Protection Agency) or the state that requires that," Hardison told a member of the public during a break in the hearing.

Chris Roberts may be reached at chrisr@elpasotimes.com; 546-6136.

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