Clean air victory for Wisconsin!

WPS to shut down two dirty boilers in Green Bay and invest in more energy efficiency

Katie Nekola

In November, 2006 Clean Wisconsin reached a landmark agreement with Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) to clean up its J.P. Pulliam power plant, one of the dirtiest coal plants in the nation. In 2005, we discovered the Green Bay utility had been violating its air permit limits for at least five consecutive years prior; thus we filed a lawsuit in federal court to compel them to clean up the plant. We had compiled all of the air monitoring reports submitted by WPS to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) showing that Pulliam had exceeded the legal limits for opacity, one way to measure fine particle pollution. During that time period, the DNR had issued "notices of violation" to the utility, but had not initiated its own enforcement action. Meanwhile, the excessive soot from the power plant was contributing to air pollution in Brown County, which in turn was making it harder for children and people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses to breathe. Five years of continuous violations adds up to a lot of extra soot in the air.  It was time for us to step in.

Fine particle pollution is one of the most dangerous of the power plant pollutants, because it is so small that it escapes the body's natural defenses against breathing in airborne chemicals. The fine particles released when burning coal get lodged deep in the lungs, causing inflammation and reducing the breathing capacity of both humans and other creatures. In populations that are especially vulnerable, such as children with asthma and older people with chronic respiratory diseases like emphysema, living near a coal-burning plant can result in more visits to the emergency room, more missed work and school days, and more medical expenses.

As a result of this settlement, WPS has agreed to shut down its two oldest boilers, which will reduce air pollution in Green Bay by thousands of tons per year. Global warming pollution will be cut by almost 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, just by closing those two small, dirty units. The utility has also agreed to spend half a million dollars on energy efficiency projects in Brown County, aimed at reducing the amount of power needed, further reducing air pollution there. Clean Wisconsin members and board of directors played crucial roles in helping the staff to earn this victory. Help came in the form of attending and speaking at press conferences, providing valuable quotes for press releases and being available for press calls, writing letters to editors, and contributing much-needed funds to fight this fight. Clean Wisconsin gives heartfelt thanks for all your support.

The air pollution reductions achieved in Green Bay are just the beginning. Look for Clean Wisconsin’s new report, “Wisconsin’s Dirty Dozen” that examines the oldest and dirtiest coal plants operating in our state, the high levels of pollution they generate, and what needs to be done to clean them up.