On January 7, 2010, the Arkansas River Power Authority ("ARPA") and the Lamar Utilities Board (“LUB”) were served with a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado by WildEarth Guardians (WEG), a New Mexico-based environmental group, asserting that the air permit for ARPA's 44-megawatt electric generation facility in Lamar, Colorado does not comply with Section 112 of the federal Clean Air Act. ARPA's air permit was issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on August 21, 2007 pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act and EPA regulations then in effect. Following issuance of the permit, and in an unrelated action, certain of the EPA regulations upon which permits for coal-fired generation units were issued were held to be invalid by a federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C. Based on this court decision, WEG now claims that the permit issued to ARPA is invalid. ARPA and LUB disagree with WEG on the basis of their lawsuit.
ARPA's coal-fired Lamar generation facility was constructed in full compliance with the terms of its state-issued air permit and the federal air quality regulations then in effect. In light of the ruling of the federal appeals court noted above, ARPA has been working with the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) to determine whether any amendments to its air permit are required. Discussions with the APCD were ongoing at the time WEG filed its lawsuit.
WEG is represented by the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Denver College of Law, a student organization that seeks to provide law students experience in environmental advocacy. The lawsuit against ARPA and LUB is one of a number of lawsuits WEG has recently filed targeting coal-fired electric generation units in Colorado, including actions against Xcel Energy's Cherokee generation facility in Denver and the newly-constructed Comanche Three facility in Pueblo, Colorado.
According to ARPA general manager Bill Leung, "ARPA and LUB are very concerned with the environment and the health of our citizens. We are working hard to ensure that our facility continues to meet all applicable standards. It is unfortunate that WEG and the University of Denver have chosen to pursue litigation, which will simply divert time and resources away from these efforts."
