Clean Air Program

Shut Down/Clean Up the Centralia Coal Plant

The Problem: Centralia's Legacy of Destruction

The Centralia Coal Plant, built in 1971, is located approximately 50 miles from Mt. Rainier National Park. The plant emits over 31,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (the largest source of nitrogen oxides in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska), 2,800 tons of particulate matter, and 9 million tons of carbon dioxide. Currently the largest source of sulfur dioxide in the West, Centralia emits approximately 65,000 tons of this pollutant annually, over 50 percent of Washington State's total sulfur dioxide emissions. By 1999, Centralia is expected to increase its sulfur emissions to 94,000 tons per year. Sulfur dioxide has two primary environmental impacts: visibility impairment and acid rain. More on the Effects of Centralia ...

The Solution: Clean Air Act Protections for Mt. Rainier

The National Park System contains some of the world's most spectacular scenery, unique cultural and historic resources, and diverse wildlife and ecosystems. Concerned about pollution impacts to visibility in national parks and wilderness areas, Congress created in the Clean Air Act a special three-step process for states to protect these areas. These federal provisions have been incorporated into Washington's State Implementation Plan (SIP), the state's formal agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out the Clean Air Act. Once a SIP is in place, the state's first step is to perform a visibility study every three years. Next, where the federal agencies have certified visibility impairment in protected areas, the state must identify the responsible industrial sources. Last, the state must determine the "Best Achievable Retrofit Technology" (BART) for each of these sources and require BART implementation. More on Washington's Visibility Program...

NWEA's Action: A Lawsuit

In response to these problems, Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) filed a Clean Air Act lawsuit against the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), the Southwest Air Pollution Control Authority (SWAPCA), an agency to which Ecology has delegated some of its regulatory authority, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NWEA's suit, brought pursuant to the visibility requirements of the Clean Air Act, sought two regulatory actions: 1) Ecology's performing the required visibility study, and 2) pollution controls on Centralia which no regulatory agency was been willing to order. Because the emission control equipment B or "scrubbers" B would achieve a reduction of approximately 90 percent of the plant's sulfur emissions but increase carbon dioxide emissions responsible for global climate change, NWEA advocated for plant shut down. The conclusion of a long process was a commitment by the plant owners, Pacificorp, to install scrubbers. Since then, Centralia has been sold.

NWEA's Notice of Intent to Sue on Centralia and Washington Visibility Program

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