The Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled five public hearings on a coal-fired Arizona power plant. The issue during the hearings will be how to control emissions from the Navajo Generating Station, which for years have hampered visibility at places like the Grand Canyon.
The sessions get underway on Tuesday in LeChee and Page, with other hearings next week in Kykotsmovi, Phoenix and Tucson.
The EPA has proposed cutting haze-causing nitrogen oxide emissions by 84 percent, using expensive pollution control equipment, but its proposal gives the plant operator, Salt River Project, 10 years to install technology to improve canyon views.
A group that includes Salt River Project has submitted an alternate plan, which includes shutting down one the plant’s three generators and sets a firm deadline for closing the plant or converting it to a power source other than coal by 2044.