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PRESS RELEASE |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| Date: |
January 10, 2008 |
| Contact: |
Ron Sundergill, Pacific Regional Director, NPCA: (510) 368-0115 |
Coal-fired power plant threatens Great Basin National Park air quality
Statement by National Parks Conservation Association Pacific Regional Director Ron Sundergill
The National Parks Conservation Association echoes Great Basin National Park Superintendent Paul DePrey’s concerns regarding the proposed coal-fired power plant threatening Great Basin National Park. The Ely Energy Center would bring increasingly hazy skies to Great Basin, which currently has some of the best air quality of any national park in the country.
The air pollution from the proposed 1,500-megawatt power plant would also jeopardize the lakes and wildlife at Great Basin National Park. Damaging emissions of sulfur, nitrogen and mercury from the power plant would deposit in the rivers and lakes, hurting animals that depend on those water sources. The same polluted air that would harm the wildlife at Great Basin National Park would also harm the children playing in Ely.
The Nevada Department of Environmental Protection must put the brakes on dirty, coal-fired power plants and encourage clean, renewable energy sources so that the air in Great Basin is healthy for people and wildlife.
According to analysis by NPCA, more than 150 of the 390 parks in the National Park System are located in areas of the country that fail to meet basic healthy air standards.
As stewards of Great Basin National Park, we must prevent this coal-fired power plant from moving forward. This is the legacy we leave to future generations.
