Mirant Chalk Point Power Plant in Prince George's County, Md.,Facing Lawsuit For 14,000 Pollution Law Violations

18 June 2006

The Environmental Integrity Project and three Maryland groups -- Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Maryland Public Interest Group and Patuxent Riverkeeper -- have filed notice that they intend to sue the Mirant Corporation Chalk Point Power Plant in Prince George's County, Md., for over 14,000 documented examples of violations of Clean Air Act soot emission limits at two large oil burning units at the plant.

An EIP review of Mirant Corporation filings has found that "opacity" (soot and other particular matter) limits were exceeded at Chalk Point's Unit 3 for an average of 3.9 percent of 2002-2005 operating time and nearly 9 percent at Unit 4 over the same time period.

EIP Director Eric Schaeffer said: "These violations add even more fine particle pollution to the greater Washington, D.C -- Baltimore area, which is already flunking federal air quality standards. We hope Mirant's new management will do the right thing and clean up these units, so our children can breathe a little easier."

Patuxent Riverkeeper Executive Director Frederick Tutman said: "Patuxent Riverkeeper wants to have positive dealings with Mirant and Chalk Point. Goodness knows they make an indispensable product (electricity) for which we all pay dearly. The way for us to achieve the goal of embracing them as good corporate citizens and neighbors is to get their plants operating within compliance of the laws designed to protect our health and safety. It's not too much to ask, and anything less is unfair to the watershed and our members."

Chesapeake Climate Action Network Staff Attorney Diana Dascalu said: "Mirant has a long standing history of non-compliance at many of their power plants across this region, and the Chalk Point plant is no different. However, the violations at the chalk Point plant are of greater concern to local citizens since the plant is in a primarily residential area. Citizens can see the soot deposits on their cars and in their homes and this kind of pollution can worsen the respiratory-related illnesses suffered by children in this area. It is time for Mirant to stop harming Maryland citizens and start becoming a responsible corporate neighbor."

Environment Maryland Research and Policy Center State Director Brad Heavner said: "Particulate pollution kills people. The state should not allow companies to continually break the law by polluting more than their permits allow."

"Opacity" limits are a measure of soot and particulate matter, which contribute to respiratory ailments, heart disease and other damage to human health. Large oil burning units, like the ones at Chalk Point, are among the largest U.S. sources of the airborne discharge of the toxic metals nickel and vanadium. The same technologies that would clean up emissions of particulate matter at the plant would also substantially reduce the air emissions of these two toxic pollutants.

Mirant submits quarterly reports documenting all "emission events" that exceed a six-minute average. An EIP review of Mirant's own emission reports for Chalk Point shows that it exceeded its opacity limits 3,537 times between 2002 and March 2006 (nearly 4 percent of operating time) at Unit 3 and 10,493 times between 2002 and March 2006 at Unit 4 (nearly 9 percent of operating time). Chalk Point's Units 3 and 4 are large boilers that currently burn fuel oil and natural gas.

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