Entergy’s Diane Tatum told the White Hall Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that electrical service provided by the company won’t be disrupted while the utility is at a standstill, awaiting action from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a proposed delay in implementing mandated environmental improvements at Entergy’s White Bluff coal-powered electric generating plant near Redfield.
Tatum, Entergy’s Southeast Arkansas regional manager of customer service, said Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Director Teresa Marks recommended earlier this month that the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission grant a request to delay the effective date of a state regulation on air emissions. Entergy Arkansas, Southwestern Electric Power Company Inc. and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. petitioned ADEQ with the request. The commission is expected to consider the petition and Marks’ recommendation at a panel meeting Friday, Jan. 22, at the ADEQ headquarters, located at 5301 Northshore Dr. in North Little Rock.
The state provision has an Oct. 15, 2013, deadline for some existing boilers to comply with new emissions requirements stated in the EPA’s Regional Haze Rule. Compliance at White Bluff would be achieved with an installation of “scrubber” devices designed to reduce haze within the atmosphere.
Entergy and its partnering companies asked that the state lift its compliance deadline, at which point a federal deadline of “no later than five years after the EPA approves Arkansas’ implementation plan for the rule,” would be implemented, according to an ADEQ news release.
“To date, EPA has taken no action on the state’s plan and there is no time frame for approval or disapproval,” said ADEQ spokesman Aaron Sadler. “If the variance petition is granted, ADEQ will suspend its review of a proposed modification to the air permit” for the White Bluff station.
Sadler said that in the petition, the utilities noted that EPA-established emissions standards could, after review of the state’s plan, be more stringent than those now in place.
“Therefore, the companies could comply with the 2013 deadline and risk facing stricter emissions limits if the EPA disapproves the state plan, or wait for EPA action and possibly fail to meet the existing deadline,” Sadler wrote.
Marks said the ADEQ “understands” the companies’ dilemma.
“It would be impractical to require these companies to update their facilities before definitive limits are set,” she opined in the news release.
Tatum said Entergy, to satisfy current guidance, would expend an estimated $1 billion in a White Bluff project that would feature a peak construction activity of 1,100 new jobs and create an estimated 25 new, permanent jobs. The cost would be recovered over time from Entergy customers through an Arkansas Public Service Commission-approved rate hike.
Tatum pointed out that the White Bluff plant produces power to serve not only the local area, but also Conway, Jonesboro and West Memphis.
Tatum said that in an ADEQ public hearing on the petition held in November at Redfield, only a Pulaski County chapter of the Sierra Club – hailed as the nation’s oldest and most influential environmental organization, and the largest with a reported 1.3-million members – voiced opposition to Entergy’s request.
White Hall Mayor James “Jitters” Morgan recalled the club’s opposition to Pine Bluff Arsenal projects of the past. “They’re against everything,” Morgan said of the club’s members.
Morgan was among a number of persons expressing support of Entergy at the hearing.
“I anticipate calling on the mayor again if problems arise,” said Tatum.
“I’ll be there,” Morgan responded.
Entergy’s Diane Tatum told the White Hall Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that electrical service provided by the company won’t be disrupted while the utility is at a standstill, awaiting action from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a proposed delay in implementing mandated environmental improvements at Entergy’s White Bluff coal-powered electric generating plant near Redfield.
Tatum, Entergy’s Southeast Arkansas regional manager of customer service, said Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Director Teresa Marks recommended earlier this month that the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission grant a request to delay the effective date of a state regulation on air emissions. Entergy Arkansas, Southwestern Electric Power Company Inc. and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. petitioned ADEQ with the request. The commission is expected to consider the petition and Marks’ recommendation at a panel meeting Friday, Jan. 22, at the ADEQ headquarters, located at 5301 Northshore Dr. in North Little Rock.
The state provision has an Oct. 15, 2013, deadline for some existing boilers to comply with new emissions requirements stated in the EPA’s Regional Haze Rule. Compliance at White Bluff would be achieved with an installation of “scrubber” devices designed to reduce haze within the atmosphere.
Entergy and its partnering companies asked that the state lift its compliance deadline, at which point a federal deadline of “no later than five years after the EPA approves Arkansas’ implementation plan for the rule,” would be implemented, according to an ADEQ news release.
“To date, EPA has taken no action on the state’s plan and there is no time frame for approval or disapproval,” said ADEQ spokesman Aaron Sadler. “If the variance petition is granted, ADEQ will suspend its review of a proposed modification to the air permit” for the White Bluff station.
Sadler said that in the petition, the utilities noted that EPA-established emissions standards could, after review of the state’s plan, be more stringent than those now in place.
“Therefore, the companies could comply with the 2013 deadline and risk facing stricter emissions limits if the EPA disapproves the state plan, or wait for EPA action and possibly fail to meet the existing deadline,” Sadler wrote.
Marks said the ADEQ “understands” the companies’ dilemma.
“It would be impractical to require these companies to update their facilities before definitive limits are set,” she opined in the news release.
Tatum said Entergy, to satisfy current guidance, would expend an estimated $1 billion in a White Bluff project that would feature a peak construction activity of 1,100 new jobs and create an estimated 25 new, permanent jobs. The cost would be recovered over time from Entergy customers through an Arkansas Public Service Commission-approved rate hike.
Tatum pointed out that the White Bluff plant produces power to serve not only the local area, but also Conway, Jonesboro and West Memphis.
Tatum said that in an ADEQ public hearing on the petition held in November at Redfield, only a Pulaski County chapter of the Sierra Club – hailed as the nation’s oldest and most influential environmental organization, and the largest with a reported 1.3-million members – voiced opposition to Entergy’s request.
White Hall Mayor James “Jitters” Morgan recalled the club’s opposition to Pine Bluff Arsenal projects of the past. “They’re against everything,” Morgan said of the club’s members.
Morgan was among a number of persons expressing support of Entergy at the hearing.
“I anticipate calling on the mayor again if problems arise,” said Tatum.
“I’ll be there,” Morgan responded.
