![\"Jim](\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/texasenergyexchange\/files\/2009\/07\/jim226.thumbnail.jpg\")
The \u00a0proposed $3 billion petroleum coke-fired Las Brisas power plant in Corpus Christi suffered another setback Friday when the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said two significant environmental questions were not adequately answered by the plant’s permit application.<\/p>\n
The agency’s\u00a0own\u00a0Executive Director (ED) recommended to remand the application for additional data. This\u00a0follows hard on the heels of a brief by the TCEQ’s internal Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC), which last month recommended denial of the permit for a list of reasons that closely mirrored those outlined in our own Environmental Defense Fund brief in permit hearings last fall.<\/p>\n
In replying to our brief, TCEQ’s executive director recommended that the application be sent back for a better analysis of the potential air pollution resulting from the dockside handling of enormous quantities of pet coke and limestone for the plant. He also agreed that the applicant’s emissions modeling for the plant was flawed and should be revisited.<\/p>\n
EDF’s attorney,\u00a0Tom Weber, said the agency\u2019s filing was\u00a0encouraging, but he said there are other serious problems with the Las Brisas application that aren’t being addressed.\u00a0“We’re pleased that the TCEQ\u2019s executive director\u00a0recognizes the clear deficiencies in Las Brisas\u2019 application regarding modeling of\u00a0pollutant emissions,” Weber said. “However, Las Brisas\u2019 application should also be\u00a0denied because it fails to analyze whatsoever hazardous air pollutants and particulate\u00a0matter smaller than 2.5 microns, both of which can cause significant health problems\u00a0especially in children and senior citizens.”<\/p>\n