June 24, 2009
Contact: Lynda Tran
(804) 225-4806
www.governor.virginia.gov
GOVERNOR KAINE UNVEILS UNIQUE PROGRAM TO REVIEW EMISSIONS FROM GRANDFATHERED FACILITIES
~ Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to evaluate older facilities for compliance with federal air quality standards ~
Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced a groundbreaking initiative to survey air pollution from facilities throughout the Commonwealth that were initially grandfathered by the 1970 federal Clean Air Act. In the first program of its kind in the nation, Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will determine whether older facilities previously not subject to direct reviews currently comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The survey is a major administrative action as part of Governor Kaine’s Renew Virginia initiative and will enable DEQ to work with individual facilities as appropriate to reduce pollution and ensure compliance with air quality standards.
“This initiative is a giant step forward in improving air quality in Virginia, protecting the health of our citizens, and preserving the environment,” Governor Kaine said. “The Commonwealth is proud to be a leader in addressing the emissions of these older facilities as we continue our efforts to reduce air pollution overall.”
Other states have required some grandfathered pollution sources, mostly coal fired power plants, to reduce pollutants for regional improvements in air quality, but Virginia will be the first state in the nation to systematically evaluate the emission of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particles at grandfathered sources. A single industrial facility can have more than one grandfathered pollutant source, and there are about 300 such sources in Virginia.
The DEQ emissions evaluations will begin in 2009 at three facilities that rank among the 15 largest emitters of air pollution in Virginia: Dominion’s Chesterfield Power Station, American Electric Power’s Glen Lyn Power Station in Giles County, and the MeadWestvaco Packaging Resource Group facility in Covington. Dominion, AEP, and MeadWestvaco have agreed to permit the use of the three facilities as pilot projects and to work with DEQ to provide appropriate meteorological data. As part of the initiative, the companies will collaborate with DEQ to collect site-specific data and perform computer modeling of pollutant levels as necessary to determine the emissions levels for each facility.
While the three initial facilities will comprise a starting point for a larger systematic assessment, the selection of these facilities for evaluation does not indicate they are out of compliance with NAAQS. Over the next five years, DEQ will evaluate these sources and take on the evaluation of additional sources in priority order as resources become available. The studies will be prioritized by considering the amount of pollutants from each plant, the number of Virginians potentially affected by air quality near each plant, the cost to the companies, and the existence of any other studies.
The criteria also include the amount of existing information available to conduct each study. In Dominion’s case, for example, meteorological data has been collected for years in eastern Virginia which will minimize the need for Dominion to perform additional information-gathering. In the other cases, meteorological information will have to be assembled for a particular geographic area before computer modeling can be performed.
"To our knowledge, no other state has initiated this type of comprehensive, long-term program for evaluating the local air quality impact of grandfathered sources of air emissions," said DEQ Director David K. Paylor. "Working together with our corporate partners, this program has the potential to make a major impact on air quality around key facilities statewide."
Governor Kaine made today’s announcement at the Dominion’s Chesterfield Power Station, one of the initial facilities to be evaluated. The emissions survey builds on Governor Kaine’s "Renew Virginia" initiative, a series of legislative and administrative actions to promote renewable energy, create green jobs, and encourage preservation of the environment.
For more information on Renew Virginia, visit www.governor.virginia.gov/RenewVirginia.
