An air emissions regulation approved by Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources last month is being appealed by NRG Energy Inc., the owner of the Indian River Power Plant — Delaware’s largest polluter.
In its appeal to the state’s environmental appeals board filed Dec. 6, NRG claims that the timeline DNREC allows in its regulation to install new technology to meet emission requirements — and the unnecessary cost involved, according to NRG officials — are unrealistic.
Compliance in the regulation is mandated by 2009 for Phase I — which would require installation of new technology — and 2012 for Phase II. A hearing date has not yet been set for the appeal.
“It’s humanly impossible at this point for any company to be able to procure and engineer and install the equipment by 2009,” said Ray Long, NRG’s Northeast region director. “We will begin to install that equipment as soon as we complete the appeal. We’ll move forward as expeditiously as possible.”
DNREC’s regulation calls for unit-specific oversight to reduce mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions and comply with federal standards. (IR’s coal-burning plant has four units.) Sulfur dioxide emissions, which are known to cause breathing problems and acid rain, would be reduced by 87 percent per the regulation, according to the department.
That regulation also calls for the removal of 80 percent of mercury emissions, which can accumulate in fish and can cause health problems for those that consume it. Nitrogen oxides emissions, which are large sources of air pollutants worldwide from cars and also cause respiratory problems, would be reduced by 76 percent.
Long said that a proposal brought forth by the power company earlier this year would reduce just as much emissions as the DNREC regulation, without economically burdening NRG. Long stood by the assertion, even though the unit-specific percentages are less, as stated in the company’s appeal.
Its plan would be to attack emissions plant-wide, rather than applying similar technology to each unit, no matter how much that unit operates, Long said. He added that technology to implement such a plan could be operational by 2011, instead of the existing 2009 target date.
Robert Clausen, a planner with DNREC, said that studies show that NRG should be able to comply with the 2009 timeline.
“They’ve been saying this since day one,” Clausen said. We expected it to come out.” But, he added, “A lot of that information indicates that they should be able to install the equipment in the time allocated by the regulation.”
As for the economic impact, neither Clausen nor Long could recall dollar amounts related to compliance with the regulation, but both agreed that it would considerably exceed the nearly $350 million price tag on NRG’s proposal.
“We can comply with those regulations. If we’re already reducing emissions at or below what DNREC wants, it doesn’t make sense to limit the flexibility of the plant,” Long said. “Why would you install equipment that’s going to cost tens of millions if you can install different types of equipment on all units and still reduce (the same) emissions? It boggles the mind.”