STATEOFMICHIGANDEPARTMENTOFENVIRONMENTALQUALITYRICKSNYDERGOVERNORMr.JohnMooneyLANSINGNovember13,2015UnitedStatesEnvironmentalProtectionAgency77WestJacksonBoulevard(AR-18J)Chicago,Illinois60604-3507DearMr.Mooney:DANWYANTDIRECTORIamrespondingtoyourOctober20,2015,letterseekinginputregardingarequestfromtheSierraClubtodesignatetheareasurroundingtheDTEMonroePowerPlantasnonattainmentforthe1-hoursulfurdioxide(S02)NationalAmbientAirQualityStandard(NAAQS).TheMichiganDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality(MDEQ)doesnotagreethattheareaaroundtheDTEMonroefacilityshouldberedesignatedasnonattainment,aswedetailedinourSeptember18,2015,submittaltoyourofficerequestingtheareabedesignatedattainment.ThemodelinganalysissubmittedbyDTEtotheMDEQusedthesameallowableemissionratesasprovidedintheirpermitanddemonstratedattainmentwithscrubbersinstalledonallunits.AsofJune2014,scrubberswereoperatingonallfourunits.DTE'scontinuousemissionsmonitoringdata,submittedtotheCleanAirMarketsDivision,demonstratestheMonroeplantismeetingtheirallowablelimits.IntheSierraClub'srequestletter,theirinternalmodelingincludesemissionsfromDTEMonroe,Ohio'sBayShorePlant,DTERiverRouge,DTETrentonChannel,WyandotteMunicipalPowerPlant,andConsumersEnergy'sJRWhitingplants.Usingtheirlistedemissioninputs,theSierraClubpredictedapre-backgroundcombinedimpactof551.6ug/m3usingallowableemissionsand289.9ug/m3usingactualemissions.WiththeexceptionofDTEMonroeandConsumersEnergy'sJRWhitingfacility,themodeledfacilitiesareoutsidetheDTEMonroearea'ssignificantconcentrationgradientanddonotdirectlyimpacttheareaotherthanwithintheregion'sbackgroundconcentration.TheSierraClub'sownmodelingresultsalsodemonstratevirtuallyallcontributionstomaximumimpactsarefromDTEMonroeandConsumersEnergy'sJRWhitingplant.TheSierraClub'sanalysishasseriousflawsbecausethemodeledemissionratesareantiquatedandnolongerrepresentative.Themodeledemissionsfromallfacilitiesdonotreflectmostrecentpermits,fuelswitches,andshutdowns.TheSierraClub'sanalysisforthefacilitiesthatdirectlycontributetotheMonroearea,i.e.,DTEMonroeandConsumersEnergy'sJRWhitingplant,containedthefollowingflaws:DTEMonroe:TheSierraClubmodeled2462.6poundsperhour(pph)perunit(i.e.,Unit1-Unit4).Theseemissionsdonotaccountforthescrubbersrecentlyinstalledonallfourunits.AllscrubberswereinplacebyJune2014.Thenewpermittedallowableemissionratesare815.8pphperunit.NewSourceReviewmodelingshowedcompliancewiththe1-hourS02NAAQSusingtheseallowableemissionrates.CONSTITUTIONHALL•525WESTALLEGANSTREET•P.O.BOX30473•LANSING,MICHIGAN48909-7973www.michigan.gov/deq•(800)662-9278

# Mr

. John Mooney Page

2 November 13

, 2015 

# Consumers

Energy

- JR Whiting

: The

JR Whiting

plant

is located approximately 14 kilometers southwest

of DTE Monroe

. Along

with DTE Monroe,

JR Whiting

was investigated

as

a contributing

source

to the current nonatta

i nment

area

. Consumers Energy announced

publicly

on February

13, 2014,

that

the
JR Whit

i ng

p

l ant

is bei

n g decommissioned

and

will

be completely

shut down

by April, 2016

. The Sierra

Cl

u b modeled

6,400

pph (i.e.,

28

, 032 tons

per year (tpy)), which

will

be entirely eliminated

. The 2014 emissions inventory indicates

total

f acility emissions

have

a

l ready
been reduced

to 6,439

tpy

. In summary

, each facility included

in the Sierra

Club

' s analysis

has either installed controls

, reduced emissions,
switched

fuels,

has

or will shut down

, or

is approp

ri ately included

in the area

' s background concentration

. This leads

to the obvious conclus

i on that the pred

i cted impacts supporting

the
Sie

rr a Club

' s Mon

r oe

a

r ea desig

n ation

pet

iti on are severely over-estimated.

Further

, the

air monitor installed

in the
pro

x imity

of the predicted DTE Monroe hotspot

at Sterling

State
Park

, shows ambient concentrations

well below

t he 75 parts

per billion (ppb) threshold

. The 2013-2015

(to date) monitor

data show

a design value

of 17.5

ppb

. If you have

any questions regarding

this issue,

you may contact

Mr. Robert
Irvine, AQD,

at 517-284-6749; irviner@michigan

. gov; MDEQ
AQD,

P.O.
Box 30260,

Lans

i ng, Michigan, 48909-7760;

or you may contact

me. Sincerely, cc

: Mr

. Robert

Irvine

, MDEQ CO

N ST

I TUTIO

N

H A LL

• 525
WE

S T

A LLE GA

N

S TR

E ET

•

P

. O

. B OX

3 0 473

• LAN

S IN G,

MI CH

I G AN 48909-7973 www.

mi

c hi

9 an.g ov/deq

• (800)

662

- 9278