Friends of the Columbia Gorge : The Columbia River Gorge

DEQ's new shutdown options are an acknowledgement that burning coal at Boardman is having a damaging impact on visibility in our most cherished natural areas, including the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. While a step in the right direction, the scenarios are neither binding nor strong enough to hold PGE accountable for the uncontrolled pollution the Boardman plant continually emits.
PGE’s Boardman is Oregon’s largest stationary source of acid rain, haze, smog-causing pollution and carbon dioxide. The Boardman plant is just 60 miles east of the National Scenic Area boundary; its emissions flow directly into Columbia River and result in smog and acid rain in the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.

Friends of the Columbia Gorge and our members and supporters have insisted on stronger standards and better accountability. PGE should not be allowed to evade Clean Air Act requirements and pollute the Columbia River Gorge. In addition to addressing haze, PGE must comply with other programs of the Clean Air Act to control dangerous pollution like mercury, sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Thus, DEQ’s proposal is just one step along the way to an ultimate resolution for the Boardman coal-fired power plant.

With your help, we submitted over 400 comments to the DEQ this spring, demanding that PGE cleanup or shutdown Boardman. Now we have another chance to weigh in and make a difference. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality wants to hear from members of the public about the new proposed shutdown scenarios. Please take a moment to scroll down and submit a letter today!

Visit the DEQ website

Photo: PGE's caol-fired plant Boardman, Portland Business Journal

Subject:

Your Letter:

I am writing to commend the Oregon DEQ on developing early closure options for PGE’s coal-fired plant in Boardman in its proposal for amending Oregon’s Regional Haze Rule.  These options are a step in the right direction toward reducing air pollution in the Columbia River Gorge and other protected areas in the Northwest and will ensure compliance with the federal Regional Haze Rule.

The Boardman Plant is Oregon’s largest stationary source of acid rain, haze, smog-causing pollution and carbon dioxide. While closure of the Boardman plant by 2014 would be best alternative for reducing pollution in the Columbia Gorge and the region’s wilderness area and parks, the 2015 option for closure proposed by the DEQ shows significant progress toward meeting this goal.  I hope the DEQ will continue push for cleanup or early shutdown of this plant by 2015.

In addition to requiring PGE to apply the “Best Available Control Technology” to the Boardman plant, I strongly encourage the DEQ to require PGE to develop a plan to comply with new federal air toxics standards, and also take action to remedy the violations of the Clean Air Act identified in the citizen’s suit currently pending in federal court.  It is time for PGE to stop evading Clean Air Act requirements and I fully support the DEQ in carrying out its mandate to enforce clean air laws in Oregon.