Published: May 23, 2008 11:01 pm         

Vigo County power station’s future in question

TERRE HAUTE — A clean-air verdict Thursday from a federal court jury brings into question the future of the Wabash River Power Station in Vigo County.

The jury ruled that Cinergy Corp. violated the U.S. Clean Air Act when it made upgrades to the Vigo County plant from 1989 to 1992. Duke Energy purchased Cinergy two years ago.

The decision was reached after a two-week trial in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, in Indianapolis.

The case, filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and joined by New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, the Hoosier Environmental Council and the Ohio Environmental Council, involved five Midwestern plants formerly owned by Cinergy. The other four power plants are Beckjord, Miami Fort, Gallagher and Gibson.

Duke Energy won legal decisions on 10 of the 14 projects at those plants, but the four lost were at the Wabash River Power Station. The jury ruled that Duke should have known the projects at its Wabash River station would result in significant increases in air pollution emission.

Angeline Protogere, spokeswoman for Duke, said the jury ruling will affect half of the six power units at the Wabash River station. The power station produces 668 megawatts. Unit Six, which produces 318 megawatts, and Unit Four, which produces 85 megawatts, were not affected by the jury ruling.

Unit One at the plant, owned by SG Solutions, a synthetic gas producer, also was not impacted by the jury ruling. The power units affected are two, three and five, Protogere said.

Protogere said Duke Energy has not yet decided if the utility will appeal the ruling. A remedy trial is scheduled for December, in which a federal judge will determine what steps Duke must take. While fines would not be involved, a judge could rule that Duke must install air emission controls such as scrubbers and nitrogen oxide controls.

Duke would have to evaluate the cost of implementing such measures on an older facility, Protogere said.

“It is premature to speculate. We are not actively planning to retire Wabash River Station, although that is an option for the future considering we may need to put advanced environmental controls on an older power plant,” Protogere said.

Duke Energy also could retire the affect power units, Protogere said, and keep all other units in operation.

“We would not take any steps without having adequate power supply for all of our customers, because the plant serves all of our Indiana customers, not just in Terre Haute,” Protogere said.

Duke Energy employs 130 workers at The Wabash River Power Station.

Officials from both sides of the lawsuit are claiming victory.

“Overall it was a very successful decision for us and the Wabash River station projects were the only projects that we were not successful on,” Protogere said.

Jonathan Lewis, an attorney representing the Hoosier Environmental Council, called the jury verdict “a mixed bag.”

“One thing that is clear, the people in western Indiana around Terre Haute faired the best because the jury did find that four projects at the Wabash River plant did violate New Source Review [provision of the federal Clean Air Act] and the company is now on the hook to have to comply with the Clean Air Act,” Lewis said.

“With respect to Terre Haute, it is a solid result,” Lewis said.

New Source Review requires power plants and other major sources of air pollution to obtain a permit and install best available pollution controls when a plant undergoes a major modification, and that modification results in a significant increase in emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, or other criteria pollutant.

The ruling stemmed from a 1999 lawsuit when the Clinton administration alleged that Cinergy upgraded and extended the life of those power plants in Indiana and Ohio without installing required modern pollution controls.

Duke Energy, based in North Carolina, is Indiana’s largest power provider, serving 700,000 customers in 69 Indiana counties.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.