16 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, May 2 - May 8, 2003
Environmental groups rate air quality a 'good, bad and ugly'
By Jim Cresson
Citing the latest Delaware Toxi-
cs Release Inventory (TRI) report
that shows a combined total of
4,173,996 pounds of toxic releas-
es from the two power generation
plants in Delaware, Clean Air
Council state coordinator John
Kearney said more needs to be
done to reduce air pollution here
and around the nation.
Keamey joined Debbie Heaton
of the Delaware Sierra Club,
Eileen Butler of Delaware Nature
Society, Tll Pumell of the League
of Women Voters, Matt Del Pizzo
of the Delaware Chapter of
Audubon Society and citizen Bill
Zak in a phone-linked press con-
ference with state media, April 28.
Keamey noted that TRI statis-
tics show a decline in toxic air
pollution since 1998 when the In-
dian River Power Plant and
Conectiv's Edge Moor plant, now
called the Hay Road/Edge Moor
facility, produced a combined
5,960,915 pounds of toxic releas-
es into the air. But he said the de-
cline is far from enough and with-
out stricter federal pollution stan-
dards to force companies to lower
their emissions, the problem will
never improve.
"There are three pieces of feder-
al legislation to amend the Clean
Air Act by reducing toxic emis-
sions and improving air quality
nationwide," said Kearney.
"There is the Jeffords/Lieberman
Clean Power Act known as S. 366,
the Carper Clean Air Planning
Act, known as S. 843 and the
Bush administration's Clear Skies
Act known as S. 485. All of our
environmental groups represented
here today support the
Jeffords/Lieberman Clean Power
Act, which is cosponsored by Sen.
Joe Biden."
Audubon society's Del Pizzo
said the three bills remind him of
an old movie. "What we have here
is the good, the bad and the ugly,"
said Del Pizzo. "Jeffords' bill is
good; Carper's bill is bad and the
Bush bill is ugly."
Keamey said the recently intro-
duced Carper Clean Air Planning
Act falls short in what environ-
mentalists believe are two crucial-
ly important areas of improving
air quality. "We're very thankful
for the fact that Sen. Carper has
taken on and championed the ef-
fort to control pollution," Keamey
said. "Because of Sen. Carper, we
may actually see one of these bills
pass this year. His is a sound re-
buke of the Bush administration's
Clear Skies Act. The Bush bill
does not deal with carbon pollu-
tion which causes global warm-
ing. Sen. Carper's plan does, but
we feel it doesn't go far enough,
and we have several concerns.
We'd like to work with Sen. Carp-
er's staff to improve the bill."
Delaware Nature Society's But-
ler said: "In comparison to the
Bush plan, Sen. Carper's bill
would reduce pollution. But the
key question is whether the bill
strengthens current pollution
laws, and it doesn't. It appears to
me that Carper's fast priority is to
defeat the Bush administration
plan. We think the first priority
should be to dean up the air."
Delaware Chapter Sierra Club's
Heaton said unfolded the current
Delaware Fishing Guide with its
health advisories that tell how tox-
ic chemicals tend to concentrate in
the fatty tissue of fish. The advi-
sories note that mercury contami-
nation has been found in the
Delaware River and Bay, St.
Jones, River and Becks Pond.
People are advised to limit what
they eat from several areas in
Delaware.
"We have a vital fishing indus-
try here and a huge sport fishing
industry. People are advised not to
eat fish from certain areas. On
code red days during summer,
even healthy people are advised to
limit their outdoor activity. We'd
like to change that. We'd like the
Congress to pass the Jeffords bill
and get serious about controlling
air pollution."
"Indian River Power Plant is a
prime example of an old coal-
fired power plant that needs to be
forced to improve its pollution
controls," said Del Pizzo.
League of Women Voter's Pur-
nell concurred with Del Pizzo. "I
would hope either Sen. Carper's
bill could be stiffened or he and
Sen Jeffords could get together
and create a bill that would defeat
the Bush administration plan and
improve the environment."
Zak noted: "I'm not sure there is
really a need for Indian River
Power Plant any longer. I know
that Delaware Electric Coopera-
tive imports a lot of its electricity
from a nuclear power plant in Vir-
ginia. Indian River Power Plant
exports a lot of the electricity it
generates. It is one of the top 12
polluters in the nation. Do we re-
ally need that power plant? I in-
tend to find out."
Butler noted that Carper's bill is
obviously an attempt to find the
political middle ground between
the Bush administration bill and
the Jeffords/Lieberman bill. "If
the Carper bill passes the House
and goes to conference with the
Senate-backed Bush bill it would
be a case of trying to fmd a com-
promise between the bad and the
ugly. I wonder what we would call
that?"
Pumell responded: "We'd call it
the bugly bill, what else?"
Under current federal standards
of the Clean Air Act, Indian River
Power Plant emitted the following
amounts of toxics into the air, land
and water in 2001:
15,000 pounds of ammonia,
291,805 pounds of barium
compounds,
54,835 pounds of chromium
compounds,
28,115 pounds of copper com-
pounds,
1,630,580 pounds of hy-
drochloric acid aerosols,
130,000 pounds of hydrogen
fluoride,
17,413 pounds of lead com-
pounds,
51;005 pounds of manganese
compounds,
191 pounds of a mercury com-
pounds,
31,595 pounds of nickel com-
pounds,
76 pounds polycyclic aromatic
compounds,
84,000 pounds of sulfuric acid
aerosols,
56,625 pounds of vanadium
compounds,
42,385 pounds of zinc com-
pounds
As they have for the past five
years of TRI reporting, Indian
River Power Plant and Edge
Moor/Hay Road Power Plant are
ranked first and second, respec-
tively, on the list of top state pol-
luters. And, as it has for the past
five years, Motiva Industries
ranks third on the list.
The fallout from those air pol-
luting power plants is linked to
many respiratory ailments. As
noted by the EPA Emissions
Tracking System report for
Delaware:
particulate matter pollution
can lead to neonatal death, cause
serious health impacts such as
asthma attacks, and slow lung
function growth;
ozone smog may permanently
damage and stunt developing
lungs, triggering asthma attacks
and possibly causing asthma;
air toxics like mercury and
chromium can have devastating
impacts on children and neonatal
development, acting as carcino-
gens and neurotoxins.
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Jim Cmtton photo
Clean Air Council Delaware coordinator Jolm Kearne far
right, talks with state media via cellphone from the Lewes Li-
brary, April 28. Environmental group representatives (l-r)
Bill Zak, Debbie Heaton and Eileen Butler wait their turns to
talk with the media.
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