LANDMARK VIRGINIA MERCURY MACT DRAWS LEGAL WARNINGS FROM ACTIVISTS

摘要

Environmentalists are warning that the first-time state air toxics standard for mercury emissions that Virginia regulators issued to a coal-fired power plant last month violates the Clean Air Act because it discounts data from another utility that is achieving better emission reductions than Virginia's MACT would require. Activists are vowing to challenge the June 25 permit that Virginia issued to Dominion Power's proposed power plant in the state's Wise County, because the limit of 4.45 pounds of mercury emissions per year is weaker than reductions being achieved at Reliant Energy's plant in Seward, PA, which emits just 1.48 pounds of mercury per year. MACT requires that emission limits for new sources be based on the best achieving facility nationwide.