# SIERRA G
. LUB FOUNDED 1892 SW Regional Office • 202 E. McDowell Rd. Ste 277 • Phoenix, Arizona 85004 

### Phone: (602) 254-9330 Fax: (602) 258-6533 Email: rob.smith@sierraclub.org



## Statement of Rob Smith for the Sierra Club On EPA Air Quality Implementation Plans , for Arizona: Proposed rule for Apache, Cholla and.Coronado coal plants
. Phoenix, AZ- July 31, 2012

My name is Rob Smith. I am the Senior Organizing Manager forthe Sierra Club in Phoenix. It's against the law to pollute national parks and wilderness areas. It has been since 1977.

M ' The federal Cleari Air Act of 1977 says that "Congress hereby declares as a national goal the prevention ofany future, and the remedying ofany existing, impairmentofvisibility in mandatory Class I Federal areas which impairment results from man-made air pollution." That's pretty clear. But the air around these areas is not. These are places we all know- Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro national parks; the Superstition Wildernessjust east oftown; Chiricahua

· National Monument. There are a**do~en** such places in Arizona, and anotherfive in neighboring New

Mexico and Colorado which are within the range ofair pollution from these coal-burning power plants being discussed tonight
. In fact, each ofthese plants- Cholla, Coronado and Apache- is as close as 40 miles to at least one national park or monument. Two ofthese coal plants- Apache and Coronado- are on EPA's list as "high priorityviolators" ofthe Clean Air Act. Some mighttry to say that burning almost 9 million tons ofcoal annually at these three plants in the middle ofall ofthese special places would have no noticeable impact
. But aview across the ) backcountry ofour state too often shows adirty haze in the airthat should not naturally be there. Some might say that one individual stack alone is not much ofthe problem. That's like saying that ,- throwing a sack ofgarbage out acar window is not r:nuch ofa problem
.across the landscape. But if

Printed on 40% Postc<: msumer fiber with soy inkothers do it, too, and it happens every day for decades, then it begins to make a difference. Maybe instead it'stime we all did our partto clean up our messes as ifwe lived together and cared about Arizona and each other. And the air pollution you can see is also the stuffwe breathe in. These three plants pump out a million pounds oftaxies every year. They dump 23,000 tons ofsulfur dioxide and 26,000 tons of nitrogen oxide pollution annually intoArizona's skies
. That mix leads to more breathing problems, hospital and doctor visits, heart attacks and even deaths, according to the Clean AirTask Force. What's tragic is that it doesn't have to be this way. This pollution is optional. It's achoice. The pollution control being recommended by the EPA forthese three plants- selective catalytic reduction (SCR)- is already in l:JSe at 20
. 0 other power plants across the country. Some ofour own Arizona utilities are already operating, orare going to install, this same pollution control being asked for on plants they now own. APSis committingto SCR on their units at Four Corners. SRP is running SCR on their unit at Springerville and is already installing SCR on one ofthe units at"coronado right nextto the otherone which needs modern controls. Arizona Electric Power Cooperative could eitherdo the same, or switch theirtwo coal units to less polluting gas immediatelyto match their existing gas u-nit, something they have been able to do since the 1990s. So let's get on with it. This is affordable. Ifyou break down the annual**co~t** ofSCR controls by the customer base for each utility, each SRP customerwould pay an extra $1.60 month to clean up Coronado; each APS customer would pay an extra $1.93 per month to clean up Cholla. These are amounts oateven noticeable in the average utility bill. I am an APS customer, and they charge me more than**thi~** justto read my meter ($2.04) and to bill me ($2-:31). [July 16, 2012 APS bill] Co-op customers**co~ld** pay more, butthey have an easy alternative. Itwould average just $7.00 more per month to clean up Apache with SCR. That's the cost ofa milkshake and two orders forfries from McDonald's, and betterfor our health. Orthey could choose to immediately switch to less polluting gas ifthatwas cheaper. Arizona used to be a place where people would come for clean, clear air. That's difficultto imagine now on too many days. Dirty air is bad for business, and it hu'rts people to breathe it
. We can do better. The Clean AirAct requires thatthe "best available" pollution control technology be installed, notthe cheaper second-rate stuffthat won't do theja,b nearly as well. It calls forthe "best"
. I
. ' This pollution cleanup has been required by the Clean Air Act for 35 years, is needed to protect human health and the environment, is affordable and is the right thing to do. Thanks to the EPA for insisting on cleaning up the air for all Arizonans when ourown state Department of Environmental Quality won't do it.