The operators of the waste coal-fired power plant in Seward have agreed to pay a $108,000 fine to the Department of Environmental Protection for violating the Air Pollution Control Act, despite remaining within its allowable emissions. In an odd twist, the penalty stems from the plant burning cleaner coal.
As part of the consent order, Seward Generation, LLC also agrees to submit a plan to modify its approval application.
The steam generating plant located across the Conemaugh River from New Florence was approved in 2004 to use state-of-the-art equipment to reduce the percentage of sulfur emitted by 95 percent on a 12-month rolling average, an approval which became part of the company’s operating permit. By burning higher-sulfur waste coal, it met those standards until 2017, but then it began using waste coal with lower sulfur content than the plant was originally designed for. Because of that, the plant was no longer able to meet the 95 percent standard. However, it did not exceed its per-year tonnage or its pound-per-hour limits for sulfur or any other air pollutant.
DEP says that in addition to being required to install the latest technology, the company is also “responsible for anticipating changes to their operation to avoid violating the condition of (its) permit.”
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