The exact opposite proved to be true. The Administration abandoned the “new source review” (NSR) policy
that required old power plants to be upgraded with the most recent antipollution devices. Under Bush Administration policy, Rochester-area communities would be exposed to three times more toxic mercury
emissions from coal-fired plants than if the Clean Air Act were simply enforced. Ten states filed emergency
stay motions seeking to halt the implementation of the anti-NSR policy.

The original Clean Air Act, together with the NSR policy, was intended to facilitate the closure of facilities
like Russell Station, a Rochester coal-burning power generating plant more than 50 years old. Now, if
the Bush Administration gets its way, this polluting monster will remain on line to continue killing Adirondack
lakes.

The destruction of up to 500 Adirondack lakes by acid rain is a well known story in New York, particularly since Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued the Mid-Western power plants accused of causing most of it. But not all the problems come from the Mid-West.

In Rochester, Russell Station coal burning power plant supplies 25% of the area’s electrical needs, and was owned until recently by Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E). Russell Station is a 257-megawatt plant which annually burns over 1.5 billion pounds of bituminous coal from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It has been ranked the 17th most polluting coal-fired plant in the nation. Many of us in Rochester believe it has been a major contributor to the environmental destruction from acid raid falling on Adirondack lakes. Untreated coal fumes threaten human health as well.

In 2001, Russell Station’s coal-related emissions included barium, lead, mercury, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, benzo perylen and, worst of all, deadly dioxin. Russell Station also released 197 pounds of airborne lead, a probable human carcinogen, which can cause brain damage in children.

The dioxin story is even worse. According to an EPA health assessment, exposure to dioxin is “…by far the highest [health risk] defined for any chemical by any government agency anywhere in the world.”

In 1999, Russell Station had a nasty oil spill in Slater Creek, which empties out near the main drinking water intake pipe for the Rochester region. In 2000, Russell Station was accused by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation of violating the federal Clean Air Act because RG&E failed to install air pollution control equipment. In 2002, chemical releases from RG&E increased. Russell Station is Monroe County’s second largest polluter, second only to Kodak.

Russell Station clearly falls within the Clean Air Act’s NSR rules, which require old electric generating plants
that wish to expand to install new anti-pollution equipment. But it is these very NSR rules which the Bush
administration has been attempting to bend so plants like Russell Station can expand or replace equipment
without new air pollution controls.

According to a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle editorial, “There seems to be a decided deference to
air polluters, and it’s wrong. … Bush recently relaxed clean air rules for 17,000 industrial plants and refineries.
… Bush is proposing language changes in existing regulations that would allow more pollution from old
power plants.”

The reference applies directly to Russell Station, which saw an increase of 8.5% in coal-related chemical
emissions in 2001. As a result of negative publicity and the former NSR rules, owners of the Russell Station decided to close the plant rather than invest in upgrades. But, as a result of deregulation of the electric industry, RG&E was recently sold to a stand-alone holding company, Energy East, which has been building an energy empire in Western New York – and not always doing very well economically.

If the Administration’s anti-NSR policy is allowed to stand, the Rochester Group is concerned that Energy East will keep its polluting monster, a cash cow, on line for economic reasons and the company may be permitted to upgrade the plant without new pollution controls.

Last December, Monroe County received a wonderful Christmas present: A federal appeals court temporarily
blocked Bush’s relaxation of regulations on aging power plants. This will keep the pressure on plants like
Russell Station to reduce their pollution or close. The New York Times reported that a three-judge panel of
the United States Court of Appeals had “substantial doubt about the White House’s claims that it has authority
to modify the Clean Air Act by regulation.” Now the administration has to justify a regulatory change that it has been unable to accomplish through legislation.