Settlement Announced With Arizona Utility

A more than $400 million settlement has been announced with an Arizona utility suspected of violating federal Clear Air Act standards.

The Salt River Project will spend most of the funds on updating pollution control equipment at its Coronado coal-fired plant. It must also pay nearly a $1 million fine and spend $4 million more on statewide environmental improvement projects, The Arizona Republic reported Wednesday.

“We anticipated this financial settlement,” said SRP’s Associate General Manager Richard Hayslip. “This has been in our financial plan for some time.”

An Environmental Protection Agency complaint, filed along with the settlement, alleged that SRP “illegally modified” the Coronado plant from 1996 to 2000 to burn more coal. The utility also didn’t obtain required paperwork and install air pollution reduction systems at the facility, said the EPA.

“Power-plant modifications must include required emissions controls to protect public health and the environment,” Wayne Nastri, administrator for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region, told the Republic.