The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection joined four states in suing Allegheny Energy Inc., charging that three of its coal-fired power plants have violated the Clean Air Act.
The lawsuit against Allegheny, filed today in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania's Western District, involves power plants in Armstrong County, Greene County and Washington County. The attorneys general charge that the owners -- Allegheny and its subsidiaries -- did not install the required modern pollution controls when the plants were upgraded to produce more power. Some of the plants, the attorneys general said, have had inadequate pollution controls since the 1950s.
The plants produce thousands of tons of air pollution a year, causing smog and acid rain in Pennsylvania and downwind states, according to the attorneys general.
Along with the PADEP, the attorneys general of Maryland, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey are also suing Allegheny.
The states claim that, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, the plants violate a provision of the Clean Air Act known as New Source Review. The EPA has built a case against the power plants for violating the Clean Air Act but has not enforced the regulations against the plants, the attorneys general claim.
Allegheny Energy (NYSE:AYE), formerly based in Hagerstown, moved its headquarters to Greensburg, Pa. last year.
In February, Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, a public interest group, filed suit against Allegheny Energy alleging it had "massive air pollution" violations at its Hatfield's Ferry plant in Greene County.
In a statement, chairman, president and CEO Paul Evanson called the suit "unnecessary, given our pending lawsuit in West Virginia and our plans to reduce the absolute level of emissions at our power plants. We are moving forward as rapidly as our financial condition allows."