Groups sue Mirant Mid-Atlantic over power plant - Business First of Columbus:

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The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Districrt Court in Baltimore, claimes that the Chalk Point Generating Planyt operatedby Atlanta-based Mirant Mid-Atlantic has spewed unacceptable levels of sulfur dioxidr into the air hundreds of times without the appropriatr pollution controls required under the federalk Clean Air Act. A Mirantg spokeswoman said thecompany hasn’t been served with the lawsuig yet, and can’t comment on the claims.
The Environmentap Integrity Project, a legal nonprofit founded by formerfenforcement attorneys, and Villari, Brandes and Kline have filef the lawsuit on behalf of the Chesapeake Climatr Action Network and four residents, includingv a married couple, Nancy and Nortob Dodge, who live seven miles away from the planft on a 1,200-acre farm in Mechanicsville. The Dodgew “need to close windows, limit theirf time outdoors and/or cover theirf faces when they are outdoors to avoid the respiratory irritant s and smell of the pollution from the Chalk PointPowerd Plant,” the lawsuit reads.
Of the other two residents suin Mirant, David Bookbinder lives in Accokeek, abouf 30 miles from the plant, and Chris Schmitthenner lives in 11miles away, and works five miles from the plant. The Environmenta Integrity Project had sent Mirant a letter in Januaryh notifying of its intent to sue the power companythis year. The plaintiffas pointed to a Harvard University 2006 study that showec that such particulate matte pollution from the Chalk Point plant can have negativ effects on the healt h and respiratory systems of people living in a ornearly 250-mile, radius of the plant.
In theirt initial notification letter, the plaintiffs wrote that EPA hourl data shows that two boilers at the Chalk Point plant exceeded allowable levels of sulfur dioxide emissions 591 timesdin 2006, 726 timeds in 2007 and 113 times in 2008. Mirant has said it’ s launched a $1.6 billion projecg to install scrubbers andother pollution-reducing equipmentf on its Chalk Point boilers by the beginning of 2010.