Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), the Maryland-based company that is building the plant off Dillon Road in North Palm Springs, had to buy “pollution credits” to show the impact the new plant would be mitigated.
The purchases from the South Coast Air Quality Management District's bank of pollution credits created the $53 million mitigation fund to be used for air quality improvement projects in the Coachella Valley. The district is considering dozens of proposals, such as the Whitewater River Parkway, to offset the pollution the plant will emit.
But environmental groups, such as California Communities Against Toxics have sued, questioning whether the credits AQMD is selling have any effect on the air we breathe today.
The prime example they cited is credit for a flag company in Riverside that closed in 1992. They have a point.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency could rewrite its rules on pollution credits. The ruling doesn't halt construction of the Sentinel plant, which is about two-thirds complete, but both sides claimed victory over the court ruling.
Does buying credits from a business that shut down 20 years ago count? It all depends on when you start counting. The revised EPA ruling seeks to allow AQMD to use a 2003 air quality management plan rather than a 2007 plan, which would allow older credits to be considered a legitimate reduction.
John Foster, CPV's executive vice president, said the EPA has continued to affirm that the offsets are valid under federal law.
The Desert Sun is concerned that the issue is still up in the air.
The peaker plant is important to maintain a steady flow of power in Southern California, especially with the uncertainty of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.
We hope CPV prevails, but the credits should represent real offsets for today's air quality, not a plant that stopped polluting when President George Herbert Walker Bush was still in office.
Source: Mydesert.com
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