Sierra Club to UDAQ: Draft Intermountain Power Permit Will Illegally Allow Massive Increases in Dangerous Pollution

UTAH - Sierra Club is urging the Utah Department of Air Quality (UDAQ) to rescind its draft approval order that would allow both gas and coal units at the Intermountain Power Plant (IPP), near Delta, UT, to operate without requiring any additional pollution controls on either the IPP gas or coal units or even evaluating whether any controls are necessary. UDAQ is accepting comments on the draft permit until August 18. Sierra Club encourages the public to submit comments that call for the rejection of the permit to protect the health of people across Utah and safeguard clean air. Comments should be sent via email to [email protected] by the August 18 deadline.

"We cannot allow the agency meant to protect our air to cook the books and allow massive amounts of pollution to go unchecked. It's critical that everyone in Utah submits comments today demanding UDAQ to change its plans to better protect people over polluters," said Luis Miranda, Senior Campaign Organizer for the Sierra Club.

UDAQ's draft approvalviolates the Clean Air Act by allowing existing coal-burning units to continue operating alongside new gas units, despite long-standing and federally enforceable closure requirements at the coal units. UDAQ's reasoning relied on decades-old and irrelevant emissions data to conclude that emissions would decrease if the coal units continued operating.

UDAQ's proposed permit would allow a massive increase in air pollution. In recent years, the IPP coal units have operated much less-and therefore emitted much less pollution-than they did 20 years ago. If the two coal units at IPP were to run at the levels from 2005-2007 that UDAQ claims are "normal," they would emit over 20,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (which contribute to smog) and millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year. These emissions directly contribute to bad air quality in the area, particularly at Capitol Reef National Park.

The draft permit's conclusion that allowing continued operation of the coal units plus the addition of gas units would not result in higher emissions overall or require pollution control analyses is incorrect. Sierra Club and partners will submit detailed technical comments outlining that UDAQ has no authority to modify the current permit, which requires coal plant operations to cease following operation of the new gas units. Even if UDAQ did have authority to modify the permit, allowing the coal units to continue operating would require installation of "best available control technology," which the IPP coal units currently do not have, precisely because they have been scheduled for closure.

Earlier this year, the Utah legislature passed last-minute legislation to allow IPP's two coal units to continue operating even though the Intermountain Power Agency, the units' owner and operator, has no need for the coal units and wants to cease operations. UDAQ's draft permit aims to accommodate that legislation, despite the massive amounts of harmful pollutants-including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides, and other pollutants- being emitted from the coal units.

The public still has an opportunity to comment about this grave risk to public health. Comments can be emailed to [email protected] and/or mailed to the Utah Division of Air Quality, 195 North 1950 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 by August 18th.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.