Appendix A - Washington State Department of Ecology

Blain, Lindsay (ECY)
From: Earthjustice [info@earthjustice.org] on behalf of Andrea Faste [amfaste@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 9:11 PM
To: ECY RE AQComments
Subject: RE: Comment on Washington's Proposed Regional Haze State Implementation Plan
Categories: General Comment
Oct 1, 2010
Washington State Department of Ecology
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504‐7600
Dear Department of Ecology,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Washington's Regional Haze
State Implementation Plan.
Haze pollution harms public wilderness areas and hurts public health.
Federal law requires the state to create a plan to reduce haze
pollution; however, the State Implementation Plan as proposed is
unacceptably weak and fails to create any meaningful pollution controls
for the TransAlta coal plant, which is our state's largest point source
of haze causing nitrogen oxide pollution.
In order to preserve our treasured public lands and protect public
health, Washington State must require pollution controls for TransAlta
that would reduce nitrogen oxide pollution by 90 percent or more over
its current proposal.
Every year, TransAlta emits more than 10,000 tons of nitrogen oxide
pollution which causes haze damage to twelve protected public lands.
The National Parks Service has criticized the state's proposed plan for
not doing enough to protect these pristine wilderness areas,
specifically citing the lack of pollution controls at TransAlta as
being insufficiently weak.
Nitrogen oxide pollution is also a threat to public health. This type
of pollution has been linked to heart and lung disease and in some
cases can contribute to premature death. It can cause respiratory
problems such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis and can damage lung
tissue and aggravate existing heart disease.
Please protect the our treasured wilderness areas and public health
from harm by revising the Regional Haze State Implementation Plan in
order reduce the TransAlta coal plant's nitrogen oxide pollution by 90
percent or greater. Ideally, let's close the coal operation entirely
and get our power from renewable sources as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Ms. Andrea Faste
7713 11th Ave NW
1
K - 233
Final December 2010