Power Plant Killed Over Air Quality Issues

A major energy firm has withdrawn plans for a large power plant seven miles from Joshua Tree National Park after it became one of the first projects to run into serious opposition on environmental grounds since the state’s energy crisis began.

Environmentalists have been concerned that the fast-tracking of new plants by the California Energy Commission would come at the expense of air quality in a state already plagued by smog.

But Wednesday’s announcement by Boston-based InterGen demonstrates that environmental concerns remain potent issues.

Air pollution at Joshua Tree already ranks among the worst in the park system because of its location downwind from Los Angeles. Park officials feared that a new power plant would add even more dirty air to the area and could harm plants and animals, including the endangered desert tortoise.

InterGen’s decision not to build the plant follows a negative report by the staff of the Energy Commission, which licenses power facilities. “The plant does not comply with all federal, state and local laws . . . and has the potential to cause significant, unmitigated adverse environmental impacts,” the commission staff wrote.

InterGen had planned to build the Ocotillo Energy Facility in two phases at a site north of Palm Springs. The first would have been completed in 2002 and generate 460 megawatts; a subsequent expansion in 2004 would boost the plant’s capacity to 900 megawatts.

According to InterGen, the larger plant would produce less pollution because it would use state-of-the-art technology the smaller plant could not. InterGen officials said they still hope to build the 900-megawatt plant, a move that could spark another round of controversy.

City Council Balks at Zoning Change

Bob Hren, InterGen’s vice president of development, disputes the Energy Commission report. Numerous analyses by the company show Ocotillo would not harm Joshua Tree, he said. But, he added, the company decided to drop plans for the plant because the Palm Springs City Council, facing citizen complaints and an upcoming election, balked on approving a necessary zoning change.

The dispute over the new plant was intensified by the short period of time available to review its environmental impact. A new law signed by Gov. Gray Davis this year that is designed to jump-start plant construction allowed Ocotillo to be reviewed in four months, instead of the usual 12 months.

That short period did not allow enough time to analyze all the possible impacts, park service officials said. Proving how smog affects vegetation needed by the desert tortoise to survive is particularly difficult, officials said. InterGen argued that the park service had only anecdotal evidence of the problem.

Park service officials also have been frustrated that several other large sources of pollution have recently been approved near Joshua Tree, including a large landfill and a small power plant--operated by InterGen--in nearby Indio.

The park service is not against energy projects, said John Bunyak, of the park service’s air resources division. “Our point of view is that you need to look at the whole picture and consider both environmental protection and energy,” he said. “With well-designed projects, one does not have to preclude the other.”