Louisiana Generating and EPA Reach Largest Air Pollution Settlement in State History
Louisiana Generating must pay $14 million in penalties for illegal air pollution.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice, Louisiana Generating is taking steps to eliminate the release of harmful emissions into the air. The company has agreed to a settlement with the EPA and the Department of Justice to reduce more than 27,300 tons of harmful emissions released by the company’s Big Cajun II coal plant in New Roads, La. This is the largest clean air act settlement in Louisiana history, which is fitting, because this company is the largest source of illegal pollution in the state.
Louisiana Generating, owned by NRG Energy, Inc., will be pouring $250 million into the plant to reduce pollution. In addition to this large sum, the company is also responsible for $3.5 million in fines, with half going to the state of Louisiana, and is required to invest $10.5 million into environmental mitigation projects.
The company will be cleaning up pollution at Big Cajun II “through a combination of new pollution controls, natural gas conversion, and annual emission caps at all three” of the plant’s units, according to the EPA.
“This settlement continues our important enforcement initiative to reduce harmful illegal air pollution from the largest sources of emissions,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, in a statement on the EPA website. “Pollution from these sources can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and EPA is committed to making sure that they all comply with the law.”
For more information on the settlement, visit the EPA website.