COLUMBUS Pollution-case ruling goes against FirstEnergy

Prosecutors said some plant improvements increased harmful emissions.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Government lawyers won the first round in their pursuit of utilities that updated older power plants in the South and Midwest but did not install technology to reduce pollution.
U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus ruled Thursday that Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. should have determined that upgrades to one of its plants would increase emissions.
The decision came in the first trial to arise from a joint federal-state effort to enforce the Clean Air Act. The dispute centers on whether the utilities have merely repaired and upgraded operations or if they have virtually rebuilt the generating plants.
The government accuses utilities of rebuilding 36 power plants in violation of the law and that pollution from the plants winds up in the Northeast, where it causes acid rain and health problems.
The Justice Department says FirstEnergy was required to install the best available pollution control technology when work was done between 1984 and 1998 on the W.H. Sammis plant near Steubenville, in eastern Ohio.
Arguments
Prosecutors argued that the additional controls were necessary because the improvements were major modifications that extended the plant's life and allowed it to generate more electricity.
The company said the work was routine maintenance that did not require additional smog controls or increase generating capacity or emissions.
FirstEnergy says parts, such as tubes and heat transfers, were replaced in the plant's coal-burning equipment to minimize risks to workers. The government claims entire burning units were replaced.
FirstEnergy Corp. spokesman Ralph DiNicola said company officials were still going through the 109-page ruling. He said emissions at the Sammis plant had been reduced since 1990.
Sargus, who conducted a three-week trial in February, will have a second trial in March to determine what the company should do to correct the violations.
Lawsuits
The Justice Department continued with the Clinton-era lawsuits against FirstEnergy and other utilities even though the Bush administration is considering easing clean air rules to allow utilities to avoid having to install expensive new anti-pollution equipment when modernizing plants.
The government's second case is proceeding in Indiana against Southern Indiana Gas & amp; Electric, but the two sides are trying to negotiate a settlement. The case against Columbus-based American Electric Power, one of the nation's largest power generators, is expected to go before Sargus in January 2005.
The other utilities awaiting trial are Illinois Power Co., Duke Energy Corp. and Southern Co.
Cinergy Corp., based in Cincinnati, agreed in 2000 to a $1.4 billion settlement that included an $8.5 million fine. Most of the money was to be spent on environmental improvements at its plants in Indiana and Ohio.
A separate administrative action was taken against the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority. Since then, TVA has filed a countersuit against the Environmental Protection Agency after voluntarily adopting a $5 billion program to reduce nitrogen and sulfur emissions from its smokestacks.
A federal appeals court found that the EPA must prove in court that the TVA violated the federal Clean Air Act.