Under the Clinton Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched an initiative to clean up dirty coal fired power plants. The government asserts that Duke Energy made major modifications to its plants in order to extend their lives and avoid the cost of building new plants. Coal fired power plants produce more pollution than any other industry in the United States. They account for almost 70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions each year and 30 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions. In addition to their detrimental health effects on asthma sufferers, the elderly and children, power plant emissions have been linked to forest degradation, waterway damage, reservoir contamination and deterioration of stone and copper in buildings.
Power plants burn mountains of coal each year.
To combat these environmental effects, the EPA and the Justice Department in November 1999 launched a national initiative, targeting electric utilities throughout the Midwest and Southeast whose coal fired power plants allegedly violated the law. The EPA has brought a related administrative action against the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal agency that owns and operates many coal fired power plants. Under the terms of the agreement, Cinergy will upgrade pollution control technology at 10 of its power plants in Ohio and Indiana. In February 2000, the government reached a similar settlement with the Tampa Electric Company, which will address pollution generated by two Florida power plants. Last month, the government reached an agreement in principle with Virginia Electric Power Company, which calls for the Richmond based utility to undertake major environmental improvements at eight plants in Virginia and West Virginia.