Another Step to Cleaner Air for Virginia

When the federal Clean Air Act became effective around the first Earth Day in 1970, some 300 power plants and industries in Virginia were excused from having to comply with the new standards. The thinking was that the plants eventually would upgrade their facilities, which would bring them into compliance with the cleaner air standards.

That was nearly 40 years ago. And guess what? Many of those same plants are still belching sulfur dioxide, ozone and soot into the air that residents in their communities breathe.

That’s about to change. The entire state will benefit from the cleaner air on the horizon, but the biggest beneficiaries will be residents of the communities the plants call home.

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Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced last week that Virginia will survey air pollution from as many as 300 older power plants and industries that were grandfathered in when the Clean Air Act took effect. The initiative will determine whether the plants’ emissions meet national air quality standards for several pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, such as soot.

Kaine said the survey will begin this year with three plants that are among the greatest sources of air pollution in the state. The plants have emissions from sources such as smokestacks that have never been upgraded.

One plant chosen for the project is at Dominion Virginia Power’s Chesterfield generating station. The others are American Electric Power’s Glen Lyn station in Giles County and Mead Westvaco’s paper mill in Covington.

Environmentalists praised the initiative, which has the potential to yield far cleaner air than those communities are accustomed to breathing.

“Governor Kaine has set Virginia on a path apart from other states,” said Frank Rambo, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “In essence, Virginia will be taking a long, hard look at itself to fully face the persistent problem of air pollution that is created by major facilities here in the state.”

Northern Virginia fails to meet federal standards for ozone and particulates, according to Mike Dowd, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Air Quality Division. He said it is likely the area not in compliance could be widened to include both the Richmond area and Hampton Roads by next year.

The companies involved in the survey will work with DEQ to collect data and set up computer models of likely pollution levels. If emissions exceed the federal standards, Dowd said, monitors will be installed at the sites to gather more precise data. The state will require the companies to come up with new ways to reduce air pollution, he added.

And that’s the good news from this effort. For some 40 years, these companies have been allowed to pour contaminants into the air that Virginians breathe without sanctions from the state. That is about to change — and none too soon. The resulting cleaner air will benefit the people of Virginia and their future generations.