Tom Mason, general manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority, said Monday that the Austin-based public utility organization will vigorously defend allegations by a trio of environmental groups claiming violations of the Clean Air Act at the Fayette Power Project.

“We deny these allegations and look forward to telling our story in court,” Mason said. “This is a power plant that has been praised by regulators and environmental groups alike. It is a model of how a coal plant can be operated responsibly.”

“From the type of coal we choose to burn to the conscientious daily operation of the plant, I join all LCRA employees in taking great pride in the Fayette Power Project,” Mason said. “When this story is told, reasonable people will not only see these allegations as spurious, but will recognize LCRA for our efforts.”

The Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington-based environmental group, first told LCRA of its allegations in April 2010. In July 2010, the groups filed a Notice of Intent to sue, a required precursor to an environmental suit under the federal Clean Air Act. The suit was filed today in U.S. District Court in Houston.

The suit claims LCRA violated the Clean Air Act on numerous occasions.  EIP is being joined by two other groups, the Texas Campaign for the Environment and Environment Texas.

The Fayette Power Project is located on a 10-square-mile site seven miles east of La Grange. It includes three units with a gross generating capacity of approximately 1,760 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Austin Energy owns 50 percent of units 1 and 2. FPP operates under a permit issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. When that permit was issued in 2002, it was hailed by environmental groups as well as federal and state regulators as an innovative means of reducing emissions. As part of the permitting process, LCRA and the City of Austin agreed to add equipment called scrubbers to further reduce emissions.  The $400 million additions are projected to remove about 95 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, about 20 to 25 percent of mercury emissions, and lead to significant reductions in particulate matter emissions from FPP units 1 and 2.  The scrubber on unit 1 began operating in January. The scrubber on unit 2 will begin operating later this month. A scrubber was built into unit 3 as part of its initial construction. Unit 3 has been generating electricity since 1988.

“It is ironic that these allegations come just as LCRA and our partner, the City of Austin, complete construction of a $400 million project that will further reduce emissions from the Fayette Power Project,” Mason said.

FPP also has completed improvements to reduce plantwide nitrogen oxide emissions by 65 to 70 percent.

The plant uses low sulfur coal from Wyoming because it produces fewer emissions when it is burned.

In 2002, when the FPP permit was announced, Gregg Cooke, then-regional administrator of the EPA, lauded the efforts of the plant's co-owners (LCRA and the City of Austin), saying that "by enhancing air quality more quickly than current plans require, this plan will mean improved health for the people of Central Texas."

Representatives from the Environmental Defense Fund, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club added their praise for the permit in 2002.

Last year, the TCEQ recognized FPP as a statewide environmental leader and accepted it into its Clean Texas program. FPP is the first coal-powered plant in Texas to be recognized at the gold level by the TCEQ.