EPA Settles with Deseret to the Tune of $35,000

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a Clean Air Act settlement with Utah-based Deseret Generation & Transmission Co-operative (Deseret) resolving alleged violations at the coal-fired Bonanza Power Plant.

According to a complaint filed with the settlement, Deseret allegedly violated provisions of the New Source Performance Standards under the Clean Air Act by emitting excess particulate pollution at the Bonanza plant, which is located on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation near Vernal, Utah.

The EPA alleges that the cooperative’s pollution control device was bypassed during startup and shutdown events, resulting in excess particulate matter emissions. As part of the settlement, Deseret has agreed to route emissions through the control device during startup and shutdown, resulting in significant emissions reductions.

The June 2 agreement requires Deseret to pay $35,000 in penalties and implement new procedures for controlling particulate emissions during startup and shutdown. The company is also financing a $260,000 vehicle replacement program to replace at least five fleet vehicles in the area to use natural gas.

According to Deseret’s website, the Bonanza Power Plant "is consistently ranked in the top environmentally clean coal fired plants in the U.S. and was the number one plant for availability in 2001 and 2002."

Sources: POWERnews, EPA, Deseret

—Gail Reitenbach, PhD, Managing Editor (@POWERmagazine, @GailReit)

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on July 3