Alcoa, Inc. Clean Air Act Settlement

On April 9, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced a major Clean Air Act settlement with Alcoa, Inc., under which the company will likely spend over $330 million to install state-of-the-art pollution controls to eliminate the vast majority of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from the power plant at Alcoa's aluminum production facility in Rockdale, Texas. The Clean Air Act violations remedied by the agreement relate to Alcoa's operation of the Rockdale facility since it overhauled the Rockdale power plant without installing necessary pollution controls and without first obtaining proper permits required by the "New Source Review" program of the Clean Air Act. The settlement reflects the culmination of well-coordinated efforts between federal and state regulators, as well as certain citizen groups in the area of the Rockdale plant, to bring Alcoa's operation into compliance with the Clean Air Act.

The combined effect of the pollution controls mandated by the settlement will be to reduce the company's emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by approximately 90 percent. More than 52,000 tons of SO2 and 15,000 tons of NOx - a total of more than 68,000 tons of pollutants - are expected to be removed from the air of central Texas each year.

Under the terms of the settlement, Alcoa will elect, within roughly one year, one of three options for achieving such reductions: to install state-of-the-art pollution controls for SO2 , NOx, and particulate matter (PM) on its existing power plant; to replace its existing power plant with new electricity generating units and pollution controls; or, if the aluminum production facility is to discontinue operations, to shut down the power plant completely. Alcoa will implement one of these changes by the end of 2007, and will implement additional pollution reduction measures in the interim as well.

In addition to the pollution reductions secured by the settlement, Alcoa has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million, and spend at least $2.5 million on two additional projects that will partially offset the impact of past emissions. Specifically, Alcoa will provide roughly $1.75 million to the Trust for Public Lands and the Pines & Prairie Land Trust to purchase conservation easements in the area around the Rockdale facility. Alcoa also will spend $750,000 to retrofit school buses in the greater Austin area with pollution control devices.

Press Release (04/09/03)
Fact Sheet (PDF) (50.4K, 3 pp, About pdf)
Consent Decree (PDF) (340.3K, 70 pp, About pdf)

Alcoa, Inc. Clean Air Act Settlement

Local Navigation