EPD Says Air Will Be Cleaner When New Coal Plant is Built 

The state's top environmental regulator for air pollution says the air in eastern Georgia will be cleaner if and when a coal plant is built near Sandersville in Washington County.Jac Capp, chief of the state environmental protection division's (EPD) air protection branch, says the plant also won't add to ozone air pollution in Augusta or Macon. Macon is already near two other coal plants, one of them dubbed by environmental groups as the dirtiest in the U.S.Coal plants are in the process of reducing pollutant emissions as required by federal and state regulations.Capp says that the proposed new coal plant, Plant Washington, will also have lower emissions of pollutants.The EPD recently recommended, for the first time, that mid-sized cities in Georgia have failed ozone air pollution standards. Her recommendations are required by federal law and based on measures of the ozone. Newer and tougher restrictions this year have contributed to the cities falling into this category.
The state EPD is beginning the permitting process for Plant Washington. But Capp and his staff have already reviewed an extensive proposal for the plant.