New Mexico reaches deal over emissions at coal-fired plant
Posted at: 02/15/2013 1:57 PM
By: SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico has brokered an agreement with federal regulators and the state's largest utility that settles more than a year of wrangling over how to curb pollution from a coal-fired power plant that serves more than 2 million customers in the Southwest.
Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's administration and Public Service Company of New Mexico unveiled details of the agreement Friday. It calls for shutting down two units at the 1,800-megawatt San Juan Generating Station.
The negotiations were sparked in 2011 by an order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that called for the utility to equip the plant with certain technology to cut pollutants that cause haze and visibility issues in national parks and wilderness areas in the Four Corners region.
Martinez says the agreement strikes a balance between economic impacts and environmental protections.
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