U.S., Cinergy Agree on Pollution Settlement

The Clinton administration and a major electric utility, Cinergy Corp., have agreed on a $1.4-billion settlement of a lawsuit over alleged illegal pollution from its coal-burning power plants, the administration announced. It is the largest such settlement ever reached under the Clean Air Act. The settlement is part of a four-year investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency involving more than a half dozen of the country’s largest electric utility companies. Two utilities previously had settled and agreed--like Ohio-based Cinergy--to make environmental improvements worth in excess of $1 billion and promising to reduce pollution as well as some fine. The EPA claimed that the plants allegedly violated federal pollution laws by modifying some of their old coal-burning power plants, while failing to install required pollution-control equipment. The utilities--even those that have settled--have denied any violations.