[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 101 (Thursday, May 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 30163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-4835]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act
Under the policy set out at 28 CFR 50.7, notice is hereby given
that on May 8, 2006, the United States lodged with the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia a proposed amended
consent decree (``Amended Consent Decree'') in the case of United
States, et al. v. Mirant Potomac River, LLC, et al., Civ. A. No.
1:04CV1136.
The Amended Consent Decree settles claims by the United States, the
State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia, pursuant to section
113(a) and (b) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7413(a) and (b), against
Mirant Potomac River, LLC and Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC (``Mirant'')
regarding its Potomac River Generating Station--a coal-fired utility
plant in Alexandria, Virginia. A complaint filed with the original
decree, lodged with the same Federal court in September 2004, alleged
that Mirant violated the ozone season limitation for nitrogen oxide
(``NOX'') emissions set forth in the 2003 operating permit
for the Potomac River plan.
The Amended Consent Decree retains the key elements of the original
decree. Mirant agrees to a declining schedule of system-wide limits on
the NOX emissions from its four plants located in the mid-
Atlantic region: The Chalk Point Generating Plant in Prince George's
County, Maryland; the Dickerson Generating Plant in Montgomery County,
Maryland; the Morgantown Generating Plant in Charles County, Maryland;
and the Potomac River plant. To achieve these reductions and meet the
declining NOX caps, Mirant agrees to install and operate
NOX pollution control equipment, including two Selective
Catalytic Reduction devices, at its Morgantown plant, and Separated
Over-Fire Air technology at its Potomac River plant. Mirant also agrees
to pay a $500,000 civil penalty, to be divided equally between Virginia
and the United States, and to undertake nine projects designed to
reduce particulate matter and fugitive dust emissions from its Potomac
River plant.
The Amended Consent Decree modifies the original consent decree in
several respects, as a result of public comments received on the
original decree. First, under the Amended Consent Decree, Mirant agrees
to meet annual NOX tonnage limitations for the Potomac River
plant in addition to the tonnage limitations that apply only during the
ozone season. Second, the Amended Consent Decree addresses the
possibility that at some future point Mirant could reject, sever or
otherwise lose its ownership interest in, and thereby cease to operate,
the Morgantown and/or Dickerson plants. If such a contingency occurs,
Mirant agrees to seek a new owner or operator of those plants to become
subject to the terms of the decree and, failing that, to install an
alternate suite of pollution control technologies on the two plants
remaining in the Mirant system, i.e., the Chalk Point and Potomac River
plants.
The Department of Justice will receive for a period of thirty (30)
days from the date of this publication comments relating to the Amended
Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney
General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, P.O. Box 7611,
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer
to United States, et al. v. Mirant Potomac River, LLC, et al., DOJ Ref.
No. 90-5-2-1-07829.
The Amended Consent Decree may be examined at the offices of the
United States Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, 2100 Jamieson
Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314, and at the offices of U.S. EPA Region 3,
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
During the public comment period, the Amended Consent Decree may
also be examined on the following Department of Justice Web site,
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html. A copy of the Amended Consent
Decree may also be obtained by mail from the Consent Decree Library,
P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611,
or by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood
([email protected]), fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation
number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy from the Consent Decree
Library, please enclose a check in the amount of 25 dollars (25 cents
per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.
W. Benjamin Fisherow,
Deputy Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 06-4835 Filed 5-24-06; 8:45 am]
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