Despite warnings from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that it would be held accountable for violating nitrous oxide emissions limits at its Alexandria plant, Mirant Corp. failed to upgrade the plant, believing that a proposed Environmental Protection Agency program would allow it to exceed its existing Virginia permit limits, a state environmental enforcement official told The Examiner.
Mirant expected the EPA to establish a national clean air credit trading program that would have allowed the company to avoid upgrading emissions controls at the plant by trading credits with other power companies.
The credit program would allow Mirant’s Alexandria plant to emit more than the 1,019 tons allowed by Virginia in the summer months of 2003. But legal challenges delayed the program, and Mirant emitted more than twice the amount it was allowed.
This violation led to negotiations and eventually a consent agreement last week with Virginia, Maryland and the federal government in which Mirant agreed to spend $130 million on emissions controls at three Maryland power plants. Under the agreement, emissions at the Alexandria plant will increase, though the total emissions from Mirant’s four regional plants will decrease by 29,000 tons during the next several years.
David Cramer, manager of air compliance and permitting at Mirant’s Alexandria power plant, told The Examiner the delay of the EPA program was to blame for the violation. But an official with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Air Enforcement Division who is familiar with the consent agreement negotiations said delay of the trading program was expected — but Mirant ignored the risk. Virginia, anticipating the delay, started discussions on lowering emissions with the company in 2000 when Mirant first took over the plant from Pepco, the official said.
“We told them far in advance, ‘If there’s no trading program in place, you can’t emit more than 1,019 [tons].’ And they didn’t believe us,” the official said. “We held Mirant’s feet to the fire.”
The official said consent agreement negotiations with Mirant have been ongoing since 2003, when the company realized the plant would violate its permit.
Alexandria is opposed to the plant and city officials said they would challenge the agreement.
Emission facts
» Mirant said emissions at its Alexandria plant decreased from 2,639 tons of nitrous oxide in 2001 to 1,162 tons in 2005.
» Under the consent agreement, Mirant can emit 1,600 tons each summer until 2010.
»Robert Driscoll, chief executive officer of Mirant’s mid-Atlantic business unit, said the plant meets critical power needs in the national capital region.
