When Scott Pearson, who lives about a mile from Reliant Energy's coal-fired Elrama power plant in Union Township, wants to eat outdoors on his picnic table, he must first wipe off the dirt and fly ash.
But more worrisome to the West Elizabeth resident and councilman is breathing in that pollution.
Barbara Fitterer, of Elrama in Union Township, complained about wiping window sills of dirt, which quickly reappears, while neighbor Nancy Adams lamented living in an area for 43 years without clean air.
On March 29, they were among about 60 local residents at a public forum at Jefferson Elementary School in Jefferson Hills, designed to address air pollution problems at the plant.
The audience also learned about plant improvements in the wake of a September 2006 consent agreement between the state Department of Environmental Protection and Reliant Energy to address recurring violations.
Officials from the DEP and Reliant also answered questions.
The forum was hosted by the nonprofit Clean Water Action and the community group Residents for a Clean and Healthy Mon Valley, a group often called REACH Mon Valley.
The plant, at 30 Duquesne Light Way, is in Washington County and straddles Allegheny County. It provides electricity to about 480,000 houses and was cited last year for emitting dark smoke in violation of the state's Air Pollution Control Act. The violations were discovered during a random inspection in response to residents' complaints.
The consent order requires all corrective actions to be in place by March 6, 2008.
So far, the company has paid $50,000 in penalties. Once the problems are corrected, the $5,000 monthly fines will halt, said Steve Hepler, DEP Bureau of Air Quality, Southwest Regional Office.
Among the corrective actions, $10 million is being committed to scrubber upgrades to reduce sulfur dioxide and particulate matter emissions, said J. Derek Furstenwerth, of Reliant. He is the company's director of Air Resources in the Environmental Department.
To a resident's question of why not bulldoze the plant, built about 1950, and start from scratch, Mr. Furstenwerth said it is very expensive to build a new plant.
Reliant Energy, with headquarters in Houston, Texas, bought the former Orion Power plant in 2002. Its local administrative office is in Canonsburg.
Vince Brisini, manager, Air Resources for Reliant, said the efforts identified in the consent agreement will "absolutely" be completed by deadline.
He also said the company is excited about a "completely innovative" plan it developed that uses computerized equipment and a monitoring device to provide a continuous count of particulate matter emissions.
The plan awaits approval from the DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
"Not only will we address the concerns of the community, but we will have an objective demonstration of the improvement," he said.
While attendees expressed skepticism borne from years of dark smoke and broken promises, Myron Arnowitt, a director of Clean Water Action and the evening's moderator, was hopeful.
"We're glad to hear there is a plan to end the air pollution violations in that area. We hope it can be implemented quickly."
REACH Mon Valley's next meeting is 7 p.m. April 18 at the Elrama Volunteer Fire Hall off state Route 837. It is open to the public.
First Published: April 5, 2007, 4:00 a.m.
