U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Concerned About Pollution, Global Warming

Washington, DC - Less than three days after the Bush Administration left office, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has overturned the State of South Dakota's approval of the massive BigStone II coal-fired power plant.  The EPA's decision comes after the state failed to require state-of-the-art pollution controls for the coal plant that would address concerns about harmful soot, smog and global warming pollution.

"This is a great day not only for clean energy and people's health, it's a victory for the rule of law," said Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club's Move Beyond Coal Campaign. "EPA is signaling that it is back to enforcing longstanding legal requirements fairly and consistently nationwide," added Nilles.

As the first major coal plant decision by the EPA since President Obama took office, this decision signals that the dozens of other coal plant proposals currently in permitting processes nationwide will face a new level of federal scrutiny. Sierra Club and Clean Water Action have been working to stop the Big Stone II project and ramp up clean energy investments for more than three years.

"Today EPA took the first step toward restoring science and integrity to its work and recognizing the very real need to reduce air pollution from coal-fired power plants," said Darrell Gerber, Clean Water Action Program Coordinator. "Downwind residents and the region's natural resources will be better protected."

This decision likely spells the end of Otter Tail Power's Big Stone II coal plant. While for the past eight years the Bush Administration has refused to regulate global warming pollution, even after being ordered to do so by the US Supreme Court, President Obama has pledged that the US will cut global warming pollution and do its part to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. With coal-fired power plants accounting for almost 30% of our nation's carbon dioxide emissions, burning less coal and investing in clean energy such as wind and solar instead is a common sense approach to helping meet global warming pollution reduction goals. The proposed Big Stone II 500-megawatt coal plant would have emitted more than 4 million tons of global pollution annually. Today's permit decision extends protections beyond air pollution. The proposed Big Stone II coal plant will draw millions of gallons of water a day from Big Stone Lake—the headwaters of the Minnesota River. The Minnesota River is already heavily polluted with mercury. Coal plants are recognized as the leading source of this pollution."

At a minimum, Otter Tail Power will have to go back to the drawing board and redesign the project to incorporate the best and maximum available control technology for pollution like soot and smog. Sierra Club and Clean Water Action will be pushing for EPA to set limits also for carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming.

"Otter Tail Power will now have to be responsible for the cost of its pollution," said Nilles. "We hope that this increasing cost of coal will encourage Otter Tail Power, along with Governors Pawlenty and Rounds, to harness the clean and affordable wind resources available in the region. Minnesota and South Dakota should be leaders on the path to renewable energy independence, not laggards proposing 19th century coal plants."