By Chris Baltimore 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Giant U.S. utility American Electric Power (AEP.N) will spend more than $4.6 billion to comply with a landmark settlement to reduce emissions from its coal plants that cause acid rain and haze, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday.
AEP disputed the figure, which the agency did not detail, and said that it had been spending billions to clean up for years before the deal. Wall Street barely reacted.
The EPA called the agreement the single biggest environmental enforcement settlement in U.S. history, as Ohio-based AEP agreed to end an eight-year lawsuit brought by the federal government.
"This is a landmark, an unprecedented case, in the annals of air pollution regulation in the United States," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator of enforcement at the EPA.
more10/09/2007
WASHINGTON D.C - John Kerry made the following statement today, after a federal court ruled that the Clean Air Act mandates American Electric Power to dramatically reduce emissions and clean up the damage caused by historical emissions from five power plants. Pollution from plants located in the Ohio River Valley and Appalachia impacted air, water and wildlife in northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. The court ruled that the company must cut emissions by more than two-thirds over the next decade.
“This historic ruling must begin a new era, where polluters pay for the damage they cause to our health and our environment; and we start reducing the emissions that threaten our air, water, wildlife and, because of global climate change, life as we know it itself. This decision should put the Bush Administration on notice that years of refusing to enforce our environmental protections are about to end, because citizens are fighting back against Washington’s abdication of responsibility,” said Kerry. “The court affirmed what we have known for years: that power plant emissions do not recognize state lines. I hope that this settlement will begin to repair the damage to our communities, our health and our natural resources, which have been seriously impacted by acid rain pollution over many years.”
The record settlement was announced today by the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. It stated that American Electric Power must cut 813,000 tons of air pollutants annually at an estimated cost of more than $4.6 billion, pay a $15 million penalty, and spend $60 million on projects to mitigate the damage they caused.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, along with eight other states, thirteen environmental groups and the EPA claimed victory today, after they sued American Electric Power in 1999.
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