N.Y. Initiates Nafta Push To Cut Ontario Air Pollution

As part of a continuing effort to improve air quality in New York and the Northeast states, Attorney General Spitzer today filed a petition calling for sharp reductions in air pollution from three large coal-fired power plants in southern Ontario.

"Ontario's massive coal-fired power plants operate with wholly inadequate pollution controls and are a major factor contributing to acid rain and respiratory disease in New York and throughout the Northeast," Spitzer said. "With this action, we are appealing for stronger enforcement of environmental laws pursuant to an international agreement."

Spitzer was joined in the action by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch and 50 environmental and public health groups from the northeastern United States and Canada.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said: "Canadian polluters must be held accountable when they contaminate our air - - violating agreements that protect us from acid rain and respiratory disease. These killer contaminants cross borders - - invisibly and insidiously - - to imperil our health and air quality."

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said: "Whether the pollution originates from coal-fired power plants in Canada, Ohio, Texas or the Mid-Atlantic states, the result is, unfortunately, always the same - - increase health risks and environmental harm here in Rhode Island. This petition calls on our neighbor to the north to accept its responsibilities and reduce the pollution that these three power plants are spewing into the air."

The petition was filed with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation, a joint U.S.-Canadian body established by the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, known as the environmental "side agreement" to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The petition asks the Commission on Environmental Cooperation to investigate the failure of government agencies in Canada to control air pollution from the Nanticoke power plant located on Lake Erie near Port Dover; the Lambton power plant located on the St. Clair River, south of Sarnia; and the Lakeview power plant located in Mississauga, just west of Toronto.

While the NAFTA side agreement does not authorize the Commission on Environmental Cooperation to order the plants to install pollution controls, it envisions that a comprehensive and factual examination should compel Canadian officials to enforce environmental laws and require air pollution reductions at the three plants.

The three coal plants, operated by Ontario Provincial Power, emit large quantities of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide pollution, in addition to other contaminants. These pollutants contribute to acid rain, urban smog, fish contamination, respiratory disease and global warming.

The Commission on Environmental Cooperation's April 17, 2002 report ("Taking Stock 2000") found that Ontario is third, after Texas and Ohio, on the continental North American list of top polluting jurisdictions. The report also found that while air pollution from American industries decreased by 8 percent from 1998-2000, Canadian air pollution increased by 7 percent. The Nanticoke plant, one of the largest coal-fired power plants in North America, was responsible for half of that 7 percent increase, according to the report.

Spitzer and other officials believe that the Nanticoke plant and other Ontario plants may not be in compliance with Canadian environmental laws.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which operates a statewide network of air quality monitoring stations, reported that the greater Buffalo area had the highest ozone levels in the state last summer. Much of the pollution responsible for those high ozone levels is generated by power plants in Ontario and the Ohio Valley.

"Air pollution respects no boundaries," Spitzer said. "Fortunately the NAFTA side agreement offers a cooperative mechanism to address cross-border environmental problems."

Spitzer's Ontario power plant petition comes two weeks after the Attorney General finalized a $1.2 billion settlement with Virginia Electric Power Co. (VEPCO). The VEPCO deal, announced with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will achieve air pollution reductions of 70-percent from 8 coal-fired power plants in Virginia and West Virginia. At different times during the year, prevailing winds carry pollution generated by Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Western and Canadian power plants into the Northeast, where it falls as acid rain.

Attachments:

• Caption and Listing of the Submitting Parties
• Index
• Body of the Submission
• Appendix A (Description of Submitting Parties)

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