PITTSBURGH, PA (November 13, 2023) After years of community opposition to building a dirty fossil-fuel-burning power plant and litigation by a team of environmental groups to challenge its permit’s weak pollution controls, Invenergy has abandoned its proposal to build the Allegheny Energy Center (“AEC”) south of Pittsburgh in Elizabeth Township, PA.
Late Friday, Invenergy announced that it had given up its Allegheny County Health Department air quality permit because it “will not develop and construct the proposed Allegheny Energy Center.” The announcement came almost three months after it paused the multi-week trial in the appeal brought by the Environmental Integrity Project (“EIP”), Clean Air Council (“CAC”), and PennFuture on behalf of CAC, PennFuture, and Mountain Watershed Association (“MWA”) challenging the legality of AEC’s air permit. The gas-fired power plant would have been one of the largest and most polluting in Pennsylvania, and would not have included any renewable energy despite the community’s wishes and Invenergy’s experience with renewables at other sites.
Invenergy had been trying to build the AEC plant south of Pittsburgh since at least 2016. It encountered vigorous community opposition, including hundreds of commenters attending a public hearing to oppose the air pollution permit in 2021. In November 2021, the groups appealed the AEC air pollution permit, with EIP representing MWA, CAC, and PennFuture, and CAC and PennFuture also representing themselves. The now-terminated permit issued to AEC by the Allegheny County Health Department would have allowed the proposed 639-megawatt power plant to spew hundreds of tons of health-harming pollutants and millions of tons of climate pollutants annually.
The case had made it all the way to trial. The environmental groups had already presented the testimony of expert witnesses and several fact witnesses when Invenergy asked for the trial to be paused.
“Allegheny Energy Center’s demise marks the end of giant new fossil-fueled power plants in Pennsylvania,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council. “Instead of locking us into decades of fossil fuel use and fueling the climate crisis, Pennsylvania can invest in wind and solar, which are safer, cheaper, and guarantee our energy independence far into the future.”
“This is a big win for everyone who cares about clean air in Western Pennsylvania,” said Lisa Hallowell, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “This plant would have released excessive amounts of pollution, and burning more fossil fuels would have been a giant step backwards for the region and the planet.”
“This is a victory for Allegheny County as it continues to move away from its fossil fuel past into a sustainable energy future,” said Angela Kilbert, Senior Attorney at PennFuture. “We will continue to fight to protect the health of our communities from the harmful air pollution impacts imposed by fossil-fuel facilities like this one.”
“The community pushed back against the Allegheny Energy Center for seven long years,” said James Cato, Regional Organizer at Mountain Watershed Association. “Mountain Watershed Association is proud to have supported this fight through to the end. This is a huge win for residents of West Newton, Elizabeth Township, users of the GAP Trail, and the Youghiogheny River watershed as a whole.”
“My family, neighbors and friends were thrilled to learn that years of hard work paid off in a meaningful way,” said Cathy Anderson, Elizabeth Township resident. “Our voices were finally heard and legal facts were instrumental in leveling the playing field for our communities. This is a victory today and for the future of the region.”
HARRISBURG, PA (November 2, 2023) – In 2020, the recommendations of Pennsylvania’s 43rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury released a report on the systemic problems of the unconventional oil and gas industry. The Grand Jury made a series of reasonable and easy-to-implement recommendations that would better protect the health, welfare and quality of life of Pennsylvanian residents. Despite the recommendations of the Grand Jury, the Pennsylvania Legislature has done little to implement the Grand Jury recommendations.
Today, Governor Shapiro is moving forward in implementing the Grand Jury Recommendations by instructing Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to draft regulations to protect Pennsylvania residents and the environment from the chronic pollution emitted by the gas industry.. In today’s press event with CNX Resources, the Governor will highlight new public health and environmental protections from the gas industry. Residents throughout Pennsylvania have been demanding protections from gas infrastructure for years while the gas industry has opposed them.
The Governor has instructed the DEP to adopt regulations that will require the gas industry to disclose all the chemicals used in drilling, set stronger standards for dealing with drilling waste and assure the safety of gathering pipelines. Governor Shapiro also committed to improved standards to reduce climate-changing methane emissions from the gas industry which is a major contributor to climate change.
In Response, Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Clean Air Council Executive Director and Chief Counsel, released the following statement:
“Clean Air Council strongly supports Governor Shapiro’s decision to move forward in implementing the commonsense public health and environmental standards recommended by the 2020 Grand Jury to better protect Pennsylvania residents from oil and gas operations. For far too long, the gas industry and too many elected leaders have shown a disregard for the harm the industry is causing to residents’ health and the environment. It is past time that our leaders adopt protections from this industry.”
“We applaud Governor Shapiro’s leadership in recognizing the need to further reduce methane pollution from the gas industry, and look forward to supporting him and the DEP in tailoring the forthcoming federal rules to ensure they address the concerns of Pennsylvania residents affected by the gas industry.”
The Council encourages the Governor to additionally propose regulations to require setbacks that better protect residents and our natural resources from harmful gas infrastructure. DEP has the legal authority, scientific evidence, and public support needed right now to adopt setback distances that prevent this infrastructure from being built too close to our homes, schools, hospitals, streams, and wetlands.
To demonstrate how the industry needs to do more, the Governor announced a partnership with the gas company CNX Resources, which agreed to disclose its chemical use and better monitor its emissions, something that residents in areas affected by fracking have been demanding for years.
