N.J. sues Pa. power plant over pollution

New Jersey has filed suit against a coal-fired power plant in neighboring Pennsylvania, claiming the plant's pollutants blow across the Delaware River and harm New Jersey residents.

The state claims sulfur dioxide and other pollutants from the plant, owned by Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Power Holdings, are carried downwind across New Jersey's western boundary, less than a mile away.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, alleges that the Portland Generating Station has been modified in ways that increase air pollution. It also alleges that the owners did not obtain proper permits before modifying the Northhampton County plant and that they are violating the federal Clean Air Act by not using the best pollution control technology available.

Patricia Hammond, a spokeswoman for Reliant, said the Portland facility has a valid air permit and is operating in compliance with the requirements of that permit.

"We disagree with New Jersey's contentions," she said.

New Jersey has tried to address claims of excessive downwind pollution by Reliant before. It filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a year ago for failing to respond to its objection of an operating permit for Reliant. When the EPA rejected New Jersey's opposition to the license in June, the state appealed; that appeal is pending.

A report by the public health advocacy group Environmental Integrity Project, released in July, ranked the Portland plant fifth-highest nationally in terms of sulfur dioxide emissions per megawatt of power generated.