Still Fighting the Air Quality Battles

NC Wins Air Quality Battle With TVA

April 15, 2011 - North Carolina has won a settlement requiring the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut down nearly one third of its coal-fired units and install pollution controls in the rest. The legal battle spanned five years and is a significant victory for pollution reduction.

A blue mist always seems to hover around the Great Smoky Mountains. But over the years, frequent hiker Steve Copulski says the mountains have come to resemble their name more than they should.

"They're supposed to be smoky from fog and weather patterns, not pollution," says Copulski. "You can see over the years how the visibility - the distance you can see - has been greatly reduced, and we know that the bad air moves east."

snip

North Carolina lawmakers passed a law in 2002 requiring Duke Energy and Progress Energy to reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide at their plants in the state. Attorney General Roy Cooper then went after TVA in neighboring Tennessee because, as Cooper is fond of saying, "Pollution ignores state boundaries." {continued}