Wyman Station decision postponed

YARMOUTH – State regulators are postponing until February a decision on how to cut emissions from the Wyman Station power.

The state Board of Environmental Protection is considering a rule that would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by about 40 percent.

State regulators would not be able to present a proposed rule to the board until Feb. 1 because of other issues on the board’s agenda and the holidays, according to Jeff Crawford, an air quality specialist at the Department of Environmental Protection.

The oil-fired plant on Cousins Island has a relatively high emission rate for nitrogen oxides, a key component of smog. It released 4,200 tons of the pollutant in 1999, according to data filed with the state.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine wants the state to make the plant cut emissions.

But a new group, Citizens for a Workable Clean Air Plan, is pushing a proposal supported by the plant’s owners, Florida Power and Light. The group is funded largely by the utility, according to Peter Anastos, a Cousins Island resident who formed it.

Anastos said he established the organization to refute what he said is misleading information disseminated by the Natural Resources Council.

“This is to present the other side of the story and to say that not everybody on Cousins Island thinks FPL is a bad neighbor,” Anastos said.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine wants all the cuts made at the Yarmouth plant. FPL favors emissions trading, which would allow the utility to make 20 percent of its cuts at a plant outside of Maine.

Anastos said he decided to speak against the council after attending a BEP meeting and researching the issue. He said the group once supported emissions trading, but believes it changed its position to raise money.

“They did a flip-flop once they realized they had a constituency for a battle with the plant,” he said.

Anastos said residents are worried that FPL could end up shutting down the plant, an issue that he believes the council is not concerned about.

Sue Jones, a staff attorney at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, defended her organization’s decision to solicit money for the Wyman campaign.

“We’re up against the largest utility in the country,” she said. “They have deep pockets, and they’ve shown they’re willing to do anything it takes.”

Jones said that the utility has invested $500 million to modernize a plant in Florida, but is balking at spending money on Wyman.