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Groups seek cleaner Four Corners Power Plant

FARMINGTON, N.M. - The federal government has been asked to crack down on air pollution from the Four Corners Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico.

The Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Trust and the National Parks Conservation Association have petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set strict limits for the plant, which is operated by Arizona Public Service Co.

Jennifer De Garmo, a co-chairwoman of the Sierra Club's central New Mexico group, said the environmental organizations are giving the EPA "a little nudge."

The coal-fired plant's "emissions are pretty bad, and they've been operating with very little control," she said Thursday.

APS has not seen the petition, said Sheri Foote, a spokeswoman for the utility.

APS has been looking into ways to cut emissions and has invested about $600 million in pollution controls in the past 30 years, she said.

"We continue to work very hard in that area to determine what we can achieve at the plant," Foote said.

The plant's current EPA permit does not include any emissions limits or monitoring requirements for particulates, nitrogen oxides or sulfur dioxide, the petition said.

Steve Frey, an EPA environmental engineer, said the agency is working on new emissions limits for the plant.

"There still are other regulations that fall into play," he said. Other rules already require some monitoring, Frey said.

The San Juan County plant has five units that, when running full-tilt, burn 28,000 tons of coal and churn out 2,040 megawatts of electricity daily.


Source: Associated Press