Cuomo
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday that he has sent word to one of the top electric power plants in Pennsylvania that he is planning to file a lawsuit against them.
Cuomo and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have filed a notice of intent to sue against the current and former owners of the Homer City Station electric power plant, a 1,884-megawatt plant located in Homer City, Pa.
Cuomo says he believes the plant to be one of the largest out-of-state sources of sulfur dioxide pollution within New York.
Cuomo claims the plant emits 100,000 tons of SO2, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter each year, which contribute heavily to smog and soot pollution in New York, and is considered the largest upwind source of this sort of pollution in the state.
Cuomo alleges that the owners and operators of Homer City Station disregarded provisions of the federal Clean Air Act, alleging that state-of-the-art pollution controls should have been installed during upgrades and modifications in the 1980s and 1990s. The changes made at these times instead increased the plant's pollution emissions, Cuomo claims.
"The owners of Homer City Station have ignored their legal obligations while their power plant pollutes our skies and our lungs with over one hundred thousand tons of emissions each year," Cuomo said.
"We will hold the owners of the Homer City power plant accountable for breaking clean air laws and for endangering the health and environment of New Yorkers."
Homer City Station is owned by a consortium of eight limited liability companies - Homer City OL1-OL8 LLC - and is operated by EME Homer City Generation L.P.
The lawsuit will seek to require Homer City Station to comply with the CAA going forward and to address the already-established problems created by the plant's increased emissions.
Past owners named in the suit include Chestnut Ridge Energy Company, Mission Energy Westside Incorporated, Pennsylvania Electric Company, and New York State Electric & Gas Corporation.