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Ohio Edison Company, W.H. Sammis Power Station, Clean Air Act Settlement

2009 Settlement Modification

(WASHINGTON, D.C. August 11, 2009) - Ohio Edison Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., has agreed in a consent decree to repower one of its coal-fired power plants using primarily renewable biomass fuels, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

In the agreement, filed in federal court in Columbus, Ohio and joined by the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Ohio Edison will repower the R.E. Burger Units 4 and 5 near Shadyside, Ohio with biomass fuel. The consent decree modifies a 2005 consent decree requiring Ohio Edison to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) at several of its coal-fired plants.

The modified consent decree will substantially reduce emissions of SO2 and NOx from Burger's current levels and also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from current levels by more than 1.3 million tons a year. Burger will be the largest coal-fired electric utility plant in the country to repower with renewable biomass fuels and the first such plant at which greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced under a Clean Air Act consent decree.

"Today's settlement improves air quality for the local community and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by requiring the use of a renewable, carbon-neutral fuel to generate electricity," said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "EPA will seek similar commitments from companies to replace coal-fired electric generation with cleaner, renewable energy in future Clean Air Act settlements."

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2005 Settlement

On March 18, 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice announced a major Clean Air Act (CAA) New Source Review Program (NSR) settlement with Ohio Edison Company (Ohio Edison), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., to resolve CAA violations at the company’s W.H. Sammis Power Plant located in Stratton, Ohio, several of the company’s coal-fired power plants in Illinois. The states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit and also joined the settlement.

Under the settlement, Ohio Edison will spend $1.1 billion between now and 2012 on various pollution controls to substantially decrease emissions at the Sammis plant and other nearby Ohio Edison power plants. The Sammis plant must comply with an annual tonnage cap for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions that declines over time.

Approximately 212,500 tons of SO2 and NOx emissions will be reduced annually, based on 2003 emissions.

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For additional information, contact:

Ilana Saltzbart
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2242A)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20460-0001
(202) 564-9935
saltzbart.ilana@epa.gov

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