A proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule to reduce air pollution in Montana could cost three industrial plants $90 million.
The EPA says the plan would improve air quality and visibility in some of the country’s most famous parks, such as Yellowstone, but the plants say the rule would hit too fast—within five years—and too hard.
The Great Falls Tribune reports:
Colstrip would bear the brunt of the cost — more than $80 million for new scrubbers and other steps to clean the emissions from its stacks.
Colstrip operator PPL Montana says the proposal carries too steep a cost, and for only marginal improvements. Spokesman David Hoffman said the visibility improvements would be "non-perceptible," a claim disputed by the EPA.
"We're moving very quickly in a short period of time at huge costs to obtain a result that's pretty questionable," Hoffman said. "It's going to be a challenge to the plant."