By Phuong Le
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Environmental groups are asking the U.S. Department of Interior to expand an earlier finding that pollution from a coal-fired plant in Centralia is causing haze and poor visibility in about a dozen national parks and wilderness areas, including Olympic National Park.
Emissions from TransAlta’s power plant are a major contributor to the visual impairment of national parks in the state, said Don Shepherd, an environmental engineer with the National Park Service.
“It does have the greatest impact on visibility in national parks of any coal-fired plant that we’ve seen so far,” Shepherd said, noting that 50 plants have been evaluated in a regional haze program.
Greenhouse gases
The TransAlta plant, which is considered a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state, is about 60 miles from Olympic National Park and about 50 miles from Mount Rainier.
Both parks are entitled to the highest level of protection from air pollution under federal law.
The National Parks Conservation Association, Washington Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and Northwest Environmental Defense Center want tougher control of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions.
In 1995, the Interior Department certified that emissions from the plant were responsible for haze at both Olympic and Mount Rainier national parks.
The Environmental Protection Agency later determined that limits on sulfur dioxides and particulate matter — not nitrogen oxide emissions — were enough to address the problem, the environmental groups said.
In a petition sent Wednesday to the Interior Department, they’re asking the agency to supplement that 1995 ruling to address nitrogen oxide emissions, which contribute to smog, soot and acid rain.
Such a finding could lead to tougher pollution-control measures from the company and state.
“This petition will go a long way toward better preserving the environment of our parks while protecting the way of life of Northwest citizens,” said Sean Smith, policy director for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Reduced emissions
Marcy McAuley, a spokeswoman for TransAlta based in Calgary, Alberta, said the company has spent $300 million on new pollution controls and has significantly reduced emissions of nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide since it took over the plant in 2000.
“We’re already starting with a clean plant today compared with others in North America,” she said.
Earlier this year, TransAlta agreed to voluntarily reduce mercury and nitrogen oxide emissions, but critics said the targets were too low.
An executive order signed last month by Gov. Chris Gregoire also requires TransAlta to cut its carbon dioxide emissions from the plant by 50 percent no later than 2025.
Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman, said she had no information Wednesday about air pollution in the park.
She said that the park operates two air-quality monitoring sites, one near Blyn and another in Deer Park that operates only in the summer.
