Watch CBS News

Clean Air Suit Targets Largest Minn. Power Plant

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Clean air advocates are suing the Environmental Protection Agency, seeking an order to require the EPA to mandate that Xcel Energy install the best available technology to reduce emissions at Minnesota's biggest power plant.

The six groups that filed the lawsuit Wednesday say pollution from the coal-fired Sherco plant near Becker is unhealthy for people and a major contributor to haze that obscures the views at Voyageurs and Isle Royale national parks and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. They say a haze-cutting plan that state regulators submitted to the EPA is deficient because it doesn't require Xcel to install technology used at similar plants elsewhere that would most effectively cut Sherco's emissions.

They're asking the federal court to order the EPA to mandate that Xcel install the technology at Sherco.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.