By Emerson Drake
2/16/11
Two biomass plants, intended to help the San Joaquin Valley clean up the air, have been tagged with one of the state's largest air-pollution fines in recent history.Global Ampersand of Boston was fined more than $800,000 for excess ozone-related emissions and other violations from biomass plants in Madera and Merced counties, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
The fine is among the largest in the San Joaquin Valley and California over the past several years, say officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Though they didn't have specific numbers, officials said fines of nearly $1 million are unusual in California.
Ampersand agreed to the fines for violations that began in 2008 at the Ampersand Chowchilla Biomass in Madera County and Merced Power near El Nido, the EPA said. The biomass plants burn woody waste from farms and cities to create electricity.
Two biomass plants, intended to help the San Joaquin Valley clean up the air, have been tagged with one of the state's largest air-pollution fines in recent history.Global Ampersand of Boston was fined more than $800,000 for excess ozone-related emissions and other violations from biomass plants in Madera and Merced counties, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
The fine is among the largest in the San Joaquin Valley and California over the past several years, say officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Though they didn't have specific numbers, officials said fines of nearly $1 million are unusual in California.Ampersand agreed to the fines for violations that began in 2008 at the Ampersand Chowchilla Biomass in Madera County and Merced Power near El Nido, the EPA said. The biomass plants burn woody waste from farms and cities to create electricity.
The large fine reflects the amount of pollution and duration of the violations. The violations took place during 2008, 2009 and 2010.
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