Press release from the Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Voices
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2024
CONTACTS
SELC: Eric Hilt, 615-622-1199 or [email protected]
Appalachian Voices: Dan Radmacher, 540-798-6683 or [email protected]
KINGSTON, Tenn. — The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Appalachian Voices, has appealed the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s air permit for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s proposed Kingston Gas Plant, saying state regulators broke the law by providing an air permit that would allow TVA to construct the power plant without meeting standard pollution control requirements needed to protect public health from air pollution and without assessing whether the plant’s air pollution will significantly degrade air quality.
The groups contend that state regulators are allowing TVA to avoid installing commonsense pollution controls — which are standard for any new large industrial air pollution source — by characterizing construction of its proposed methane-fired plant as a “minor modification” to the Kingston coal plant, which TVA plans to demolish.
“TVA is attempting to evade critical air quality protections by pretending construction of a brand-new methane-fired power plant is merely a minor modification to its soon-to-be-retired Kingston Fossil Plant,” SELC associate attorney Delaney King said. “State regulators must do their part to protect communities that have already been burdened with decades of harmful pollution from the federal utility’s coal plant.”
By endorsing TVA’s characterization of its proposed methane-fired power plant as a modification to TVA’s soon-to-be-demolished coal plant — which itself lacks modern air pollution controls and never underwent an analysis of its impact on air quality — state regulators have enabled TVA to avoid its Clean Air Act requirements for decades into the future.
Methane gas plants release huge amounts of air pollution, including formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. These harmful pollutants are tied to increased rates of asthma, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. Had state regulators followed the law and required TVA to comply with Clean Air Act requirements that apply to large new power plants and other large air polluters, TVA would have had to reduce the new plant’s pollution to the level that is achievable using affordable and available control technology.
“Tennessee regulators have failed in their duty to protect residents from unnecessary and harmful pollution from this proposed plant,” said Gabi Lichtenstein, Tennessee Energy Democracy Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices. “The decision to issue this air permit without adequate study of the impact and without insisting on the best available pollution controls is indefensible.”
Despite the huge impact the proposed Kingston Gas Plant would have on air quality and nearby communities, there was practically no public engagement in the permit process. In fact, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued the permit just seven days after TVA submitted a substantial revision to its application, leaving extremely little time for community members and other stakeholders to review and comment on the federal utility’s application.
The conservation groups are asking the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board to require TVA to comply with all air pollution control requirements applicable to new major air pollution sources before beginning construction on its new Kingston Gas Plant, including applying for and obtaining the appropriate air pollution permit. They are also asking the Board to halt construction of the new plant until TVA obtains a permit that satisfies Clean Air Act requirements.