Pa. fines coal plant for water pollution

HOMER CITY, Pa. - The owners of a coal-fired power plant will pay a $200,000 fine and modify a wastewater-treatment system after polluting waterways in Indiana County, state environmental officials said.

The EME Homer City Generation L.P. plant, owned by Edison International, had discharged excessive levels of selenium, suspended solids and wastewater on numerous occasions since 2001, officials said Friday.

Selenium is a naturally occurring trace element found in Pennsylvania coal. It is an essential nutrient, but long-term exposure to excessive levels can damage the liver, kidneys, and the nervous and circulatory systems.

The polluted effluents were discharged into tributaries of Two Lick, Blacklick and Cherry Run Creeks, violating Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law.

The discharges were linked to a smokestack "scrubber" system designed to reduce air emissions of sulfur dioxide, a major component of acid rain. The scrubbers also remove selenium, but removal is more difficult from wastewater generated in the scrubbing process.

Charley Parnell, a spokesman for Edison International in Chicago, said the plant had made changes in its water-treatment system and had complied with its federal discharge permit for six months.

The state Department of Environmental Protection said Edison International would research treatment technologies to help the facility to comply with its water-effluent limits. If successful, the technologies could benefit other power plants with similar problems.

Under an agreement with the DEP, the plant has 18 months to improve its wastewater system and search for ways to reduce selenium discharges to allowable levels.