October 28, 2003

STATEMENT OF CLEAN AIR COUNCIL ON POWER PLANT POLLUTION IN PENNSYLVANIA

Arthur Stamoulis:

"Thanks in large part to pollution from old, dirty power plants, Pennsylvania has some of the worst air quality in the nation. Philadelphia's air is loaded with the pollutants that cause soot and smog. What's worse, a huge percentage of this pollution is completely avoidable.

"The vast majority of Pennsylvania's coal-fired power plants were built in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and early 70s, prior to passage of the Clean Air Act. When these plants were built, there were no environmental laws in place to make sure they limited their pollution. In the thirty years that have passed since the Clean Air Act was introduced, most of these dinosaurs have managed to extend their lives without installing up-to-date pollution controls.

"By using readily-available pollution controls, several of the state's dirtiest power plants could reduce their emissions by as much as 90%. That would go a long way towards improving air quality in our region. Instead, these power plants have chosen to pump out tons upon tons of avoidable pollution.

"This preventable pollution is hurting public health here in Philadelphia. Old, coal-burning power plants are the largest source of sulfur dioxide in the country. Sulfur dioxide makes up what is commonly-known as "soot," something that has been linked to both heart and lung disease. A study by an independent consulting firm often used by the federal government estimates that sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants cause 30,000 premature deaths nationwide each year.

"The Philadelphia region bears the brunt of many of these deaths, as well as other health effects like asthma attacks, heart attacks and sarcoidosis. Philadelphia residents are directly downwind from some of the nation's dirtiest power plants, located in western Pennsylvania and states like Ohio. By installing modern technology, these power plants could reduce their sulfur dioxide emissions by hundreds of thousands of tons each year. They have chosen not to do so.

"The Bush administration should be doing everything in its power to make sure that major polluters install basic pollution controls. Instead, the President has allowed the corporate special interests to rewrite the rules so that they can keep on polluting forever. Yesterday, the Bush administration published the largest rollback of the Clean Air Act in history-and our children's health will suffer because of it.

"It is outrageous that our families be exposed to dangerous levels of pollution when the technology to reduce air pollution is so readily available. This is a huge failure of both corporate responsibility and government oversight. That's why Clean Air Council has joined a dozen states and numerous environmental groups in challenging the Bush Administration's air protection rollbacks through the courts."

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