Duke rethinks pollution controls

CHARLOTTE -- Duke Energy said Friday that it will evaluate the pollution controls at a coal-burning plant it is building in the Blue Ridge foothills to make sure they are as efficient as possible.

The announcement from the Charlotte utility comes nearly two weeks after state environmental regulators said Duke must use stringent standards to control mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.

Duke's decision is the latest development in its journey to build an 800-megawatt power generator at its Cliffside Steam Station. Duke has said the plant will be among the cleanest in the country, but environmental groups and other critics say the $2.4 billion project violates federal law.

Those groups, which have fought the project for months, said Friday's announcement was a step in the right direction.

"I think it's certainly to Duke Energy's credit that they are not contesting it," said Molly Diggins, state director for the Sierra Club. "However, under the Clean Air Act, we believe Duke Energy is required to stop construction."

Duke's evaluation, which it expects to finish by the end of the month, could start another round of contentious public hearings.

In making the announcement, the company said it expects its evaluation to show that the plant's advanced pollution equipment will not require upgrades. Environmental groups have estimated that maximum emissions standards would require the plant to trap 10 times more pollution than it is designed to catch.

When the plant opens in 2012, Duke will close four of its five older coal-fired power generators at Cliffside, the utility says. The five plants emit about 157 pounds of mercury a year. Mercury can damage the developing brains of fetuses and very young children.

Duke said Friday that it would take additional steps to make the Cliffside unit carbon-neutral by 2018, a step that is not required under state or federal law.