EPA withdraws portion of Desert Rock permit

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s appeals board has withdrawn a portion of the air permit for the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant and sent it back to EPA Region 9 for reconsideration.

The appeals board order issued Thursday states that the Desert Rock permit was partly based on reasoning rejected in a recent decision issued in the Deseret Power Electric Cooperative case, which found that carbon dioxide levels had to be considered.

Region 9 intends to prepare a new statement addressing the issue of whether the permit should contain an emissions limit for carbon dioxide. The remaining issues in the matter will not be affected by the withdrawal.

The Navajo Nation Office of the President/Vice President referred comments to Frank Maisano, media liaison for Sithe Global Power LLC, partner in the Desert Rock project with the Navajo Nation’s Diné Power Authority.

Maisano said the order from the Environmental Appeals Board is “par for the course.”

“This was going to happen. In fact, what they have done is they have expedited the procedure. That, in my mind, is helpful. If anybody thought the EAB wasn’t going to take this case on, then they probably don’t know much about what’s going on right now.

“The bottom line is the EPA has remanded the CO2 (carbon dioxide) portion of the permit based on the Deseret decision, so they are moving forward. There are like 13 issues that were presented in the appeal. They are moving forward with the issues that are not related to CO2 and expediting that procedure as they open up the comment period on CO2, which I think will be 30 days.”

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry hailed the boards’ decision to grant a review of all petitioners’ issues on the air quality permit as a major victory for New Mexico and clean air.

“The federal Environmental Appeals Board recognized the negative effect this facility would have on air quality in the region. This decision is great news for our state and for the process.

“It means the EAB will be examining EPA’s permitting process for the Desert Rock permit in detail. This would not have happened unless the EAB recognized there are significant problems with this permit,” Curry said.

The proposed 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant near Farmington is designed without carbon capture or carbon sequestration technology. If put into operation it would completely negate efforts the state has made to meet Gov. Bill Richardson’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, according to the state.

Other concerns raised by the state of New Mexico include, mercury in waterways, high ozone concentrations and worsening regional haze.