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From the March 2008 issue
Settlement Resolves Company's Air and Water Violations
Mirant Bowline, Inc. has agreed to a $300,000 settlement to resolve alleged air and water violations at its West Haverstraw (Rockland County) power plant. The settlement calls for the company to pay a $50,000 fine and fund a $250,000 "environmental benefit project" to promote research on fish and aquatic life in the Hudson River. In addition, it requires Mirant Bowline to make immediate repairs, hire an outside consultant to audit the plant and make any changes recommended by the consultant.
An aerial view of Mirant's Bowline Power Plant in West Haverstraw
The settlement focuses on activities at the plant between June 30, 1999 and November 30, 2007. A number of the violations centered on malfunctioning monitoring equipment. In one case, instruments to measure the discharge rate of wastewater into the Hudson River and the pH of those discharges reported potentially inaccurate and incomplete data. In some cases, required sampling was incomplete, and compliance reports were not filed. Another alleged violation centered on a deficient storage tank that should have been removed or repaired. In addition, the company allegedly violated opacity (smoke density) restrictions about 25 times during a 15-month period ending in fall 2007. Mirant Bowline self-reported a number of the deficiencies and has agreed to make corrections. The company will fulfill its obligations regardless of its ongoing bankruptcy proceeding.
Environmental Benefit Project
A key part of the settlement is Mirant Bowline's agreement to fund an environmental benefit project (EBP) that will support aquatic research in the Hudson River Estuary. Though details are still being developed, the EBP is intended to aid research to track key types of fish for a period to develop a set of distribution maps that detail the early life stages of the species. The maps will help determine what factors have influenced distributional changes. The EBP will help implement goals of the Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda, including: 1) restore the signature fisheries of the estuary to their full potential and 2) conserve, protect and, where possible, enhance critical river and shoreline habitats to assure that the life cycles of key species are supported.
