Reuters
By Randy Fabi
December 22, 1999
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - From the Great Smoky Mountains to the Grand Canyon, America's national parks are becoming a health risk for millions of visitors due to pollution from coal-burning power plants, according to an environmental report.
``This summer of 1999 proved to be the worst for our national park system due to the high concentration of air pollution,'' said a report issued on Wednesday by the environmental group Izaak Walton League of America.
The Maryland-based group blamed the acid rain, soot and smog -- which can cause lung damage and asthma -- on old coal-burning power plants exempt from tough air standards under the Clean Air Act.
``On days with high ozone levels, visitors to our national park's experience reduced lung function and may endure respiratory problems such as asthma,'' the report said.
National parks recorded 209 days this year when its air quality violated the federal standard for ozone smog blown hundreds of miles from tall smokestacks, the study said.
``This is a very major problem for us,'' said Chris Shaver, National Park Service Chief of the Air Resources Division. ''Visibility in many of the eastern national parks is about half of what it should be on an average day,'' Shaver said.
The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee -- the country's most visited national park and most polluted -- recorded 52 days during which air pollution levels violated the federal health standard, the report said.
Old Plants Produce 97 Pct Of Acid Rain
While the old power plants account for 52 percent of U.S. energy generation, they produce 97 percent of the acid rain and haze-causing sulfur dioxide, 85 percent of the ozone smog-causing nitrogen oxide (NOx) and 99 percent of the toxic mercury pollution from the utility sector, the report said.
Ground-level ozone smog is formed when NOx and volatile organic compounds combine in the presence of heat and sunlight.
Similarly, when these same chemicals combine with water molecules, acid rain is created and it pollutes the lakes and streams of national parks. Coal-burning power plants are the nation's largest single source of acid rain, the report added.
The U.S. Justice Department, acknowledging that pollution in national parks caused by outdated coal-fired power plants needs to be reduced, has filed a series of lawsuits with the cooperation of the Environmental Protection Agency against the plants for violating the Clean Air Act.
Last month, the EPA accused seven major utility companies of modifying 17 ``grandfathered'' coal-burning power plants without installing state-of-the art equipment required by the Act to control smog, acid rain and soot.
The so-called ``grandfather'' clause in the Clean Air Act exempted old coal-fired plants from meeting tougher new air standards as long as the plants did not add generating capacity or step up its use of coal. When the law was written nearly three decades ago, Congress believed that many of the aging coal plants would eventually be shut down.
The utility companies -- American Electric Power Co, Cinergy Corp,(NYSE:CIN - news) FirstEnergy Corp,(NYSE:FE - news) Illinova Corp,(NYSE:ILN - news) Southern Co,(NYSE:SO - news) TECO Energy Inc(NYSE:TE - news) and Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co(NYSE:SIG - news) -- have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
They face potential civil fines of up to $27,500 per plant
per day, the EPA said.