EPA Seeks to Approve Pollution-Causing Regional Haze Plan
Utahns Call on EPA to Ensure State Coal Plants Have Appropriate Pollution Controls
Price, UT — Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a public comment session on the state of Utah’s do-nothing regional haze plan. In Abril 2019, Utah submitted a regional haze proposal to the EPA for the third time in eight years to continue operation of the Hunter and Huntington coal plants without pollution controls.
While the EPA rejected the last two plans submitted by Utah, the agency is now seeking to approve the third, repurposed regional haze plan that would allow the coal-plants to operate without Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) retrofits. The state plan would replace a federal plan approved by EPA in 2016 that required installation of SCRs that would have reduced pollution from the state’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants, which degrades visibility across Utah and in the state’s national parks.
“The reality is that more and more people are recognizing how harmful coal plants are to our environment and health,” said Lindsay Beebe, Senior Organizing Representative at the Sierra Club. “By approving the operation of Hunter and Huntington coal plants without pollution controls, the EPA and the state of Utah will be pandering to corporate polluters who are trying to save money by violating federal protections instead of retiring the coal plants and tapping into affordable and clean renewable energy sources.”
“This plan, that the EPA is likely to approve, despite public comment, turns a blind eye to the negative health and tourism effects of air pollution in Utah’s rural areas and national parks,” said Dr. Scott Williams, Executive Director for the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah. “Rather than using this regulatory loophole to continue polluting these communities with their outdated smokestacks, industry needs to adopt proven, 21st century technologies, like selective catalytic retrofits, and start protecting the public’s health today.”
“It’s unconscionable that the EPA and the state of Utah continue to put the health of our people and national parks at risk,” said Cory MacNulty, Southwest Associate Director for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). “Utah had a win-win plan that would have benefited our outdoor recreation economy, human health and the environment, but the Trump administration’s EPA is rolling back these protections, allowing two of our biggest polluters to continue to obscure our tremendous park landscapes with haze and taint the air we breathe with preventable pollution. Utahans, our parks and all who visit them deserve better.”
About National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its nearly 1.4 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.
Acerca de Sierra Club: El Sierra Club es la organización ecologista de base más grande e influyente de Estados Unidos, con más de 3,5 millones de socios y simpatizantes. Además de proteger el derecho de todas las personas a salir al aire libre y acceder al poder curativo de la naturaleza, el Sierra Club trabaja para promover la energía limpia, salvaguardar la salud de nuestras comunidades, proteger la vida silvestre y preservar los lugares salvajes que nos quedan a través del activismo de base, la educación pública, los grupos de presión y la acción legal. Para más información, visite www.sierraclub.org.
Acerca de la Alianza para un Medio Ambiente Sano de Utah: La Alianza para un Medio Ambiente Saludable de Utah (HEAL Utah) es una organización de defensa del medio ambiente, un organismo de control y una influencia estratégica en Utah desde 1999. Mediante el empoderamiento de los defensores de base, el uso de soluciones basadas en la ciencia y el desarrollo de políticas de sentido común, HEAL tiene un historial de hacer frente a algunas de las mayores amenazas para el medio ambiente y la salud pública de Utah - y tener éxito. La organización se centra en el aire limpio, la energía y el clima, y los residuos radiactivos. HEAL utiliza enfoques legislativos, normativos y de responsabilidad individual bien documentados para crear un cambio tangible, y luego utiliza la acción popular para hacerlo realidad. www.healutah.org.
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