DEP Fines Lehigh Valley Coal-Burning Plant for Air Pollution Violations

Northampton Generating Company, which provides electricity to about 100 households in Northampton County, will pay $119,345 to the state’s Clean Air Fund. The Department of Environmental Protection says the company violated emission limits for carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide five times over two and a half years between 2009 and 2012. It also reported false daily emission data for two and a half months during 2012.
The air pollution violations coincided with the company filing for bankruptcy in December 2011, citing increased fuel costs. Court papers showed the company’s financial problems dated back to the fall of 2009. The plant burns coal, coke, ash, and a fuel made from old tires. It emerged from bankruptcy this March.

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